Exploring the involvement of Italian primary and secondary school teachers in related Outdoor Education and Scouting activities: Findings from a Survey

Outdoor education is an important part of school curricula. However, in some countries, teachers express fears and perplexities regarding its implementation, as they do not feel ready. Outdoor activities, which are related to the Scouting movement in some countries, provide some benefits: psychophysiological, psychosocial, social, and pedagogical. This paper investigates whether Italian preschool and primary school teachers are involved in Outdoor Education and Scouting activities, in what way school teachers employ such activities, and how they are associated with student cooperation and personal care. We hypothesized that preschool teachers would be more willing to become involved in Outdoor Education and Scouting activities than primary school teachers. In addition, when the sample was divided into Outdoor Education and Regular Teachers, we hypothesized that scores for the former would be higher regarding all the survey items, compared with those for the latter group (see Table 2). Results did not reveal differences between the preschool and primary school teachers in all survey items. However, our results did indicate differences between Outdoor Education and Regular Teachers in each item except for item 11. When teachers receive appropriate instruction and teaching tools from their universities, their students' schooling experiences and skills are likely to improve.