Beyond the four walls of the classroom: Incorporating nature into a creative pedagogy for children and young people with special educational needs and learning difficulties

Since the inception of mass education in the late nineteenth century, the archetypal learning environment has changed very little from that of the traditional classroom (van Merrienboer et al., 2017). Research suggests, however, that such an environment may exacerbate barriers to learning, particularly for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (Jones, Hanley and Riby, 2020; Pritchard, 2018). Historic pedagogues, such as Froebel and Steiner, advocated the importance of alternative learning environments including natural, outdoor spaces in the pursuit of holistic child development. More recently and following Wilson's (1984) biophilia hypothesis, Louv (2005) has identified a potential nature-deficit, particularly amongst younger generations, whilst Nussbaum (2006) advocates nature and an affiliation with other species as one of the ten central human capabilities. Despite this, research into nature-based pedagogies remains focused primarily within the early years' sector, with limited evidence as to its practice and outcomes for older students, including those with Special Educational Needs and learning difficulties.

A qualitative multi-method study, with a focus upon pupils with a 'cognition and learning' difficulty (Department for Education and Department of Health, 2015, p. 97), specifically moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties (ibid., pp. 97-98) was conducted across twenty-four special school settings within the United Kingdom (UK). This included semi-structured interviews (n=20) and focus groups (n=5) with educators, exploring the pragmatic utilisation of Outdoor Learning and socio-political links between national curricular and nature-based pedagogy. Further, ethnographically-informed research methods incorporating focused ethnographies were utilised across three of the schools comprising participant observation (n = 31 pupils) in both classroom and outdoor settings, alongside semi-structured interviews with pupils, utilising photo elicitation and a range of augmentative and alternative communication aids to gauge pupil voice.

Thematic analysis (Braun and Clark, 2006) of the data has identified a number of significant differences between classroom-based and outdoor settings including both the Physicality of the Spaces themselves and the subsequent impact upon the Creativeness of Pedagogies. These include increased liberation outdoors, both physically and pedagogically, such as opportunities for rhizomatic learning (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987), tailored preparation for next steps and adulthood (Department for Education and Department of Health, 2015), a slower pedagogy (Clark, 2023) and more equal power dynamics between educators and pupils. Furthermore, subsequent impact upon pupils indicates enhanced opportunities to develop social and communication skills, experiential, real-life and multisensory learning alongside, and crucially, enhancement of mental and physical wellbeing (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2018).