ABSTRACT

Outdoor education means increasing the opportunity to encounter and experiment with nature, butabove all, it means rethinking one’s own relationship with nature. Professionals working in the fieldof education cannot transmit to children what they do not know or share. Therefore, to fostereducation in nature with pedagogical skill, it is important for each practitioner to become aware oftheir own way of thinking and be willing to undergo an authentic noological revolution (Bateson,1976), reviewing their own relationship with the environment in an educational key. Starting fromthese premises, the participatory research focuses on the role of the early childhood practitioner, theemotions they feel, and the meanings they give to the outdoor spaces of the educational facility theyinhabit in on a daily basis and share with the children. Placing the focus on the adult’s viewpointmeant investigating their experiences and how these can condition the children's relations with morenatural, destructured spaces. The results gathered by two tools, heart maps and lived-experiencedescriptions reveal difficulties teachers experience in connection with some spaces which areconsidered challenging and the necessity to support teachers in the reappropriation of those spaceswith a view to identifying new perspectives for improvement.

Keyword :