The present dissertation, The Landscape as a Source of Knowledge – in the Context of Outdoor Education and Didactics, is partly based on a licentiate thesis, Knowledge Through Action – Teachers’ perceptions of the landscape as a learning environment (Articles I and II), partly on two separate articles (III and IV). Using a phenomenographic approach all four articles are published in scientific journals. For this dissertation a thematic reanalysis (TA) of the same research material (60 interviews) was carried out. The aim was to describe the core and identity of outdoor education from a didactical point of departure, based on the conceptions of practising teachers and expert university professors. Main research question: What perspectives and dimensions of outdoor education in teaching and learning can be identified? Specific research question for the Thematic Analysis: How is the landscape, in town and countryside, used in teaching and learning? The theoretical background of the dissertation is found in Dewey’s reform pedagogy and its tradition of action-based knowledge and education. Based on the TA, the core and identity of outdoor education is defined in five dimensions: knowledge, landscape, body, time, and environment. In the knowledge dimension the connection between theory and practice becomes obvious when teaching is arranged in contexts and places outside the classroom. In the landscape dimension the importance of authenticity is mentioned, i.e., that students experience a sense of place when learning in various places in the landscape. This also applies to the body dimension, as physical activities impact body, brain and all senses, thus stimulating students’ learning. The time dimension refers to the school organization and its willingness to offer alternative learning environments, but also to natural and cultural variations in the outdoor environment with respect to different seasons and ages – the present, the past, and the future – which could be studied in various places. The environment dimension is described in terms of ecology, natural cycles, recycling, and sustainable development.

Doktorsavhandlingen Kunskap i landskap – ut(i)från ett utomhuspedagogiskt och didaktiskt sammanhang baseras dels på licentiatavhandlingen Handlingsburen Kunskap – Lärares uppfattningar om landskapet som lärandemiljö (artiklarna I och II), dels på två fristående artiklar (III och IV). Samtliga fenomenografiskt inriktade delstudier är publicerade i vetenskapliga tidskrifter. En tematisk reanalys av totalt 60 intervjuer utgör grunden för avhandlingens utformning. Avhandlingens syfte är att beskriva utomhuspedagogikens kärna och identitet baserat på verksamma lärares och sakkunniga professorers uppfattningar avseende undervisning och lärande utomhus. Övergripande forskningsfråga: Vilka perspektiv på och dimensioner av utomhuspedagogik i undervisning och lärande kan identifieras? Specifik frågeställning inför den tematiska analysen (TA): Hur används landskapet, stad och land, i undervisning och lärande? Avhandlingens teoretiska bakgrund utgår från Deweys reformpedagogiska bildnings- och kunskapstradition med fokus på handlingsburen kunskap. Utomhuspedagogikens kärna och identitet belyses i fem dimensioner: kunskap, landskap, kropp, tid och miljö. I kunskapsdimensionen framhåller respondenterna att sambandet mellan teori och praktik synliggörs genom att undervisning sker på andra platser och i andra sammanhang än i klassrummet. I landskapsdimensionen nämns vikten av autenticitet, att eleverna upplever platskänsla genom att vistas på olika platser i landskapet. Detta berör också kroppsdimensionen genom att fysiska aktiviteter påverkar kroppen, hjärnan och sinnena, vilket stimulerar elevers lärande. I tidsdimensionen beskrivs dels vilka möjligheter skolans organisation erbjuder för att nyttja lärmiljöer och sammanhang utanför skolan, dels variationer i landskapets natur och kultur som kan upplevas på olika platser under olika årstider utifrån samtiden och dåtiden samt inför framtiden. Miljödimensionen beskrivs i termer av ekologi, kretslopp, återvinning och hållbar utveckling.

Utomhuspedagogiken erbjuder variation mellan klassrum och utomhusmiljöer, stad och land, utifrån skolans alla ämnen och teman i undervisning och lärande, baserad på vetenskaplig grund och beprövad erfarenhet. Detta bekräftas av de många lärare jag mött under åren och som bedriver utomhusundervisning, genom att variationen mellan olika lärmiljöer inomhus och utomhus upplevs stärka undervisningen. Läroplan för förskolan (Lpfö 18) (Skolverket, 2018) har som enda läroplan i utbildningssystemet en tydlig skrivning om att växla mellan olika aktiviteter under dagen, både utomhus och inomhus i varierande miljöer i undervisning och lärande, vilket saknas för årskurs 1–9 i Läroplanen för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet (Lgr 22) (Skolverket, 2022). En viktig utgångspunkt inom det utomhuspedagogiska forsknings- och utbildningsområdet består i att få Utbildningsdepartement, lärarutbildningar, Skolverket, rektorer och lärare att förstå betydelsen av varierande fysiska lärmiljöer och därmed utveckla förutsättningar för utomhusundervisning och lärande.

Pupils’ learning experience can be improved if part of the teaching takes place in a natural outdoor environment. Golf courses and the land that surrounds them as outdoor classrooms could become particularly important at a time when most of the world's population lives in urban landscapes and when local areas suitable for outdoor activities are becoming scarce. A consequence of the Coronavirus crisis is higher demand for outdoor activities in the urban landscape, including outdoor teaching. The Swedish National Curriculum advocates the development of cognitive as well as affective competencies and skills, which makes outdoor teaching a natural and integrated part of today's school and education, where outdoor and indoor learning activities complement each other. In this project, at Motala Golf Club, in collaboration with the Smedsby School in Motala, methods for outdoor teaching on golf courses and the most suitable areas of the golf course for use as an outdoor classroom were investigated. A training course for participating teachers was held in autumn 2017, and the children visited their new classroom at the golf course in spring 2018. Through this project, Motala Golf Club has become a pilot model for outdoor teaching on golf courses. The concept of the golf course as an outdoor classroom is being implemented in Stockholm municipality and Jönköping municipality. 

Friluftsliv explored doesn’t only include nature knowledge, techniques in the outdoors and outdoor pedagogics but also covers ecology, human ecology, geography, environmental and societal questions, history, health, biology, craft and lots of practical activities -both for urban and rural friluftsliv. In this translation to English of the revised fifth edition of the Swedish book there are many activities and the text is suitable for the modern day.

Friluftsliv embraces the feeling around the campfire, paddling along winding rivers and walking towards the distant blue mountains. But, it is also to whittle a stick, to remember your waterproofs and to find your way home.

Knowledge emerges when you combine imagination with facts and the glint in your eyes, using all our outdoor environments: forests, water, the coast, mountains and the nature close at hand.

Emotion is to swim in crystal clear water far out in the archipelago and to see the clouds gliding across the sky. But also, to be able to present other sides of yourself, to be fascinated by your own body, the struggling ant and the sight of frost on trees.

Quality of life is to experience friluftsliv – as it happens!

Anders Szczepanski är lärarutbildare och forskare i utomhuspedagogik och didaktik vid Linköpings universitet. Här berättar Anders om vikten av att ha lektioner utomhus för att involvera alla sinnen, aktivera välgörande signalsubstanser som dopamin och endorfin och därigenom öka elevernas inlärningsförmåga och till och med själva livsglädjen.

This paper describes a research project that explored the use of mobile augmented reality combined with outdoor education in a Swedish primary school. Special attention was paid to mobile augmented reality (AR). Project documentation and communication were reviewed, three iterations of design and usability evaluations of the Minnesmark mobile AR platform was made. Observations and interviews were held with teachers and students. The results describe early experiments, and both the opportunities and challenges that faced the participating teachers. The opportunities included connecting the outdoor learning environment and the indoor learning environment, directing the students' focus, posing questions and affording actions, rendering symbols and timelines visible, providing a point of entry to the context and the narrative, and facilitating conceptualization. Challenges concerned how to make pedagogical use of the landscape, producing or choosing content, structuring processes, setting up student groups, and aligning activities and content with learning objectives. It is concluded that the teachers and the students used the mobile augmented reality to make places in the local environment, outside the classroom, the starting point to increase the authenticity of the teaching.