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A forest‐based environment as a site of literacy and meaning making for kindergarten children
Author(s) -
Streelasky Jodi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1741-4369
pISSN - 1741-4350
DOI - 10.1111/lit.12155
Subject(s) - expansive , literacy , context (archaeology) , meaning (existential) , pedagogy , psychology , space (punctuation) , mathematics education , sociology , geography , linguistics , philosophy , materials science , compressive strength , archaeology , composite material , psychotherapist
This study analyses the valued school experiences of 15 five‐ and six‐year‐old Canadian children, through their creation of multimodal texts. Throughout the school year, the students spent a large portion of each school day in the expansive forest on the school grounds, and their texts revealed their significant interest in this natural outdoor environment. Specifically, the data revealed that the outdoor space provided a context where the children could engage with each other and the environment in meaningful, creative and collaborative ways. This research has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the capacity of young children to share their thoughts on their school experiences by drawing on a range of modes and to contribute to our understanding of the power of alternative learning spaces, such as forest environments, on children's literacy learning and development.