dissertations on forest school

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Dissertation: An investigation into the benefits of Forest School interventions for young people with ADHD in the education system.

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Current Developmental Disorders Reports

Robert J Volpe

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

Janet Williams

As Forest School has become more widespread throughout Britain an understanding is needed of its impact. This paper outlines a two-phase evaluation project undertaken in Wales and England from 2002 to 2005. The evaluation was undertaken through a partnership between Forest Research and the New Economics Foundation. A methodology was developed to explore the impacts of Forest School on children and this was then used to track changes in 24 children at three case study areas over an 8-month period. The research highlights that children can benefit in a range of ways. Six themes emerged from the data of the positive impacts on children in terms of confidence, social skills, language and communication, motivation and concentration, physical skills and knowledge and understanding. Two further themes highlight the wider impacts of Forest School on teachers, parents, and the extended family. Contact with the natural environment can be limited for children and young people in contemporary society due to concerns about safety outdoors and issues of risk and liability. Forest School provides an important opportunity for children to gain access to and become familiar with woodlands on a regular basis, while learning academic and practical skills. The constructivist theory of learning seems to be particularly suited to the Forest School approach as children make meaning from their direct experiences. The participatory action research approach taken in this study promoted reflective practice amongst the stakeholders involved and provided them with a sense of ownership of the study, as well as an opportunity to learn from each other.

valerie harwood

Dr Linda Graham

In offering a critical review of the problem we call ‘ADHD’ (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), this paper progresses in three stages. The first two parts feature the dominant voices emanating from the literature in medicine and psychology which, when juxtaposed, highlight an interdependency between these otherwise competing interest groups. In Part 3, the nature of the relationship between these groups and the institution of the school is considered, as is the role that the school may play in the psycho-pathologisation of fidgety, distractible, active children who prove hard to teach. In so doing, the author provides an insight as to why the problem we call ‘ADHD’ has achieved celebrity status in Australia and what the effects of that may be for children who come to be described in these ways.

British Journal of Educational Psychology

Simon Clarke

BackgroundAttention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity. Young people with ADHD have poorer educational and social outcomes than their peers. We aimed to better understand educational experiences of young people with ADHD in the UK, and make actionable recommendations for schools.MethodsIn this secondary analysis of qualitative data, we used Thematic Analysis to analyse information relating to experiences of education from 64 young people with ADHD and 28 parents who participated in the Children and adolescents with ADHD in Transition between Children's services and adult Services (CATCh‐uS) study. Emerging patterns within and across codes led to organization of the data into themes and subthemes through an iterative process.ResultsTwo main themes were generated. The first described young people's early experiences of education, often within a mainstream setting; we labelled thi...

Ilina Singh

International Journal of Inclusive Education

Beryl Exley

Claudia Malacrida

A sociological approach to ADHD begins from the position that social and historical contexts matter deeply in the ways that ADHD is understood, experienced and managed. Thus, for example, intra-professional or parent-teacher discord over the correct way to deal with symptoms, shifts in economies and educational systems that provide services to families and children, gendered stereotypes and processes of racialization, or ways of framing children as risky to others or at-risk to themselves, are important aspects of how ADHD exists in the social world. ADHD is, sociologically speaking, a very interesting and important problem in great part because these social and historical aspects of ADHD continue to trouble medical and educational approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic rates of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have burgeoned over the past decades, beginning in the United States in the 1970’s and 1980’s, then moving primarily into other developed countries in subsequent decades.. Despite much public debate, ADHD has been enormously ‘successful’ as a diagnostic category. Similarly, rates of treating ADHD-identified children with stimulant drugs have risen in much of the developed world, although diagnostic rates vary considerably both within and between countries. Some of the controversies underpinning the ADHD debates can be seen in sections on *Diagnostic Uncertainty* , * Nevertheless, ongoing and highly public debates persist concerning the diagnosis and medical treatment of ADHD. Researchers and lay writers have argued, for example, that children with ADHD symptoms who go untreated are at risk for adult depression, heightened rates of addiction and criminality, and increased school dropout rates. On the other hand, the risks for children who do receive a diagnosis have been argued to include stigmatization as a result of being labeled with a mental health condition and dependencies on medication in both the short and the longer term for children whose treatment is typically psychopharmaceutical ather than behavioural. Some writers have argued that while ADHD may be a legitimate medical or psychological condition, medication is not the most appropriate response to its treatment, and classroom interventions should be the first, and perhaps the primary, response to children’s challenges, particularly iwhen those challenges are experienced mainly in the classroom. Within this contested terrain, parents, children, educators and helping professionals must make critical decisions about how to best respond to and assist children who are identified as problematic. It is our hope that the following bibliography may help inform such decision-making positively.

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The importance of Forest School and the pathways to nature connection

• Original Paper
• Published: 18 February 2021
• Volume 24 , pages 71–85, ( 2021 )

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• Dave Cudworth   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4952-4676 1 &
• Ryan Lumber 2  

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Over the past 25 years Forest School in the UK has been growing in popularity as part of a wider resurgence of interest in outdoor learning. A key driver behind this recurrence of interest has been a growing concern over the lack of child exposure to outdoor experiences and with the natural world and their ensuing nature-deficit disorder. This article considers Forest School as linked with the concept of nature connection that is the sensation of belonging to a wider natural community. This sense of belonging developed by being in nature can also be a key factor in promoting attachment and sense of place which in turn is associated with the promotion of health, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. As such the origins towards achieving nature connection are a formal part of the Forest School Association’s (FSA  2016 ). Forest School principals, with growing research linking Forest School and nature connection as concomitant. Recent work has suggested that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are key pathways for the formation of nature connection and there is a strong need to better understand children’s nature connection in this context. Further, from the premise that what goes on in spaces and places is fundamentally linked to both social and spatial processes, this article also attempts to understand the spatialities of Forest School in order to frame the development of nature connection within a socio-spatial analytic.

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Play and Learning Outdoors: Engaging with the Natural World Using Forest School in the UK

Psychological Benefits of Attending Forest School for Preschool Children: a Systematic Review

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Cudworth, D., Lumber, R. The importance of Forest School and the pathways to nature connection. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 24 , 71–85 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-021-00074-x

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-021-00074-x

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Inside out: a case study on the impact of forest school learning for pupils in a secondary school specialist send class.

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Johnson, Emma (2023). Inside out: a case study on the impact of Forest School learning for pupils in a Secondary school specialist SEND class. Student dissertation for The Open University module E822 Masters multi-disciplinary dissertation: education, childhood and youth.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.000175b3

Forest School research involving adolescents is notable by its near total absence from the field. Research involving SEND learners in their own right is also limited and there is an apparent lack of conceptual framework or theory underpinning current research. This proposal aims to fill these gaps by using Vygotsky’s Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) to understand to what extent Forest School can be developed to aid engagement for Secondary aged SEND learners struggling to access traditional forms of learning and, if Forest School activities can be as beneficial for adolescent learners as they appear to be for younger children.

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The Forest School initiative and its perceived impact on children’s learning and development: an investigation into the views of children and parents

The study investigated the perceptions of children and parents relating to the Forest School initiative. The aims of the research were to explore children’s and parents’ perceptions of Forest School and consider the potential influence Forest School can have on children’s learning and development. The study explored these views within a setting that had implemented the Forest School initiative at a whole primary school level for a number of years. A qualitative approach was taken and the study used thematic analysis of key concepts and codes. Emerging themes were drawn from children’s and parents’ comments and main themes were identified. The study found that children were able to communicate the fun, excitement and enjoyment they had experienced when talking about Forest School as an initiative. Children conveyed a caring attitude and respect for nature and the outdoor environment and that it was important for them to look after their surroundings. Parents expressed that they valued the initiative and that supporting their children’s education at home was important. However, they felt that children took the Forest School initiative for granted and perhaps saw it as a privilege. In relation to children’s learning, a key theme was children’s apparent enthusiasm and desire to learn. The Forest School experience enabled children to develop and reinforce a multitude of key skills. With regard to children’s development, references were made to a growing sense of awareness and maturity. Concepts of trust and responsibility were conveyed with some reference to a growing sense of freedom being afforded to children as they get older. Further research could seek to establish which professionals are aware of the existence of Forest School and gain their perceptions of its potential benefits. Also, further exploration focusing on the difference in Forest School experiences between the Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 could provide interesting results. This takes into account the perceived impact the Forest School initiative appears to have contributed to, in relation to the children’s and parents’ perspectives and the context of this study.

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Search for dissertations about: "forest school"

Showing result 1 - 5 of 6 swedish dissertations containing the words forest school .

1. Essays on forest conservation policies, weather and school attendance

Author : Laura Villalobos-Fiatt ; Göteborgs universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; Economics ; Forest conservation policies ; Education ; weather ;

Abstract : Sammanfattningar: Paper I Heterogena lokala spridningseffekter från skyddade områden i Costa Rica Spridningseffekter kan reducera eller förstärka nettopåverkan av policies kopplade till markanvändning. Relativt lite är emellertid känt om storleken på sådana effekter. READ MORE

2. The Financialization of the Swedish Growth Model : Four Essays on Capitalist Regulation and Institutional Change

Author : Viktor Skyrman ; Handelshögskolan i Stockholm ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; The Regulation Approach ; covered bonds ; the forest industry ; the financialization of nature ; financial market institutionalization ; European capital market integration ; innovation system governance ; spatio-temporal fixes ; welfare state transformation ; securitization ; Business Administration ;

Abstract : Financialization, the increasing influence of financial markets, actors, practices and measurements in political, economic and social life, continues to draw attention from scholars from diverse academic fields. Contributing to the literatures on household financialization, financial market institutionalization and the financialization of nature, this dissertation explores the underlying factors that enabled and facilitated the financialization of Sweden’s growth model. READ MORE

3. Barriers to change? : understanding the institutional hurdles in the Russian forest sector

Author : Mats-Olov Olsson ; Luleå tekniska universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; Political Science ; Statsvetenskap ;

Abstract : The ongoing transformation of the Russian society largely consists in changes in the institutional framework constraining actors' behavior in the emerging market economy. While we have a substantial knowledge about the functioning of a market economy we know very little about how to create such a system. READ MORE

4. The Environment, Education, and Media: Essays in Applied Microeconomics : Essays in Applied Microeconomics

Author : Erik Sebastiaan Merkus ; Handelshögskolan i Stockholm ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ;

Abstract : This doctoral thesis in Economics consists of four chapters. In chapter 1, I study the economic consequences of environmental enforcement. In the Brazilian Amazon, I study how the enforcement of anti-deforestation policies affect agricultural and economic outcomes. READ MORE

5. Beyond IT and Productivity : Effects of Digitized Information Flows in the Logging Industry

Author : Maria Kollberg ; Birger Rapp ; Thomas Falk ; Bo Carlsson ; Linköpings universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; Information technology ; productivity paradox ; digitization ; logging industry ; Business and economics ; Ekonomi ; Economic Information Systems ; Ekonomiska informationssystem ;

Abstract : The IT and productivity paradox has been the subject of considerable research in recent decades. Many previous studies, based mainly on macroeconomic statistics or on aggregated company data, have reached disparate conclusions. Consequently, the question whether IT investments contribute to productivity growth is still heavily debated. READ MORE

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Story Contest 2018 #1 - Outstanding Stories (Junior) »

The stellirist.

“The Stellirist” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Sophia Melkumova, Krasnodar School, Russia.

I don’t know it was my dream or reality, but I was standing on the pink, mild sand of absolutely unusual planet. Something like a blue sun was shining and the sky was yellow. There were flowers growing around. They looked like big trees with strong trunks. Their leaves were sticking out like branches. They had huge flowers instead of crowns. The odor of the flower-trees was pleasant. But most of all I was surprised by sounds which were flying up to the sky, and then fell down like a waterfall – til’-din’, til’-din’, din’. Who was playing? It was so interesting for me to see an extra terrestrial musician. I went quietly towards the sounds.

I saw a green being with long tentacles, standing on the pink sand.

“So that's how they look like, the little green men!” I thought.

The strange being used the part of the hind tentacles as a chair, and played the hammock with the front and side tentacles. There was something like a stretched hammock between flowers with a parallel strings like a staff. There was one string above the hammock with the bells, reminding stars. The green being put several tentacles on the strings and touched the bells with the others. The melody was very beautiful.

“Bravo, Maestro!” I thought to myself.

“Nothing special … ” the being mumbled, as it seemed to me.

In fact we didn’t say a word, our thoughts were transmitted telepathically.

There was a music desk in front of the hammock, where I saw a piece of paper with strange signs.

“What sort of blots,” I thought.

The green being heard my thought.

“Why blots?!!! Calligraphically written notes. You are absolutely incompetent in music, as I see.”

May be I am not an expert in music, but I have been practicing about a year, so I was a bit offended.

“Even if I am a total zero, your music is wonderful,” I thought, “I came from the Earth.”

“But who are you to judge! Someone came from the peripheral galaxies with their own meaningless opinion,” the green being became irritated, “I have read on the Cosmonet about your planet, what a horror! The sky is blue, the sun is yellow! All the colors are upside down!”

“Everything is OK with colors on our planet. How can you…”

“Sorry, I’m playing, but it’s not what I want!!! You see, that nothing happens.”

The green being rose all his tentacles to the sky and put them on the strings again with a load groan.

I was standing near him, thinking to leave or to stay.

The disappointed being calmed down a bit and said.

“Please, pardon me, I am very nervous before the All Universe Contest. Let me introduce myself. My name is Til’-Din’. I’m a Stellirist, I’m a laureate of the Intergalactic Stellira Playing Contests. Stellira is from “stella” (star in Latin) and lira.”

“Your instrument sounds like our electronic music,” I said.

“No! How can you compare the electricity itself with the star music?!! Every night the stellira remains in the open air and it is charged with the stars.”

“Sorry, sorry,” I whispered.

“And nothing, nothing is happening…”

“But what is it going to happen?” I asked.

“Oh, don’t bother me!” Til’-Din’ sighed.

He started playing again and it was wonderful, but he was still unhappy.

While he was playing amazingly I heard a light rustle, and the small bright lights began falling down from the yellow sky.

“Hurrah, I’ve managed to do that!” Til’-Din’ cried.

“Wow! He just needed the special effects. How is it concerned to music?” I thought.

“No, that’s not you have thought about,” Til’-Din’ said. “They are Angels who have been applauding me. A musician having a talent must work day and night, to reach an artistic excellence.”

“I think everyone should work hard in any field to become a professional, not only a musician,” I added.

“You are not quite right,” Til’-Din’ replied. “You can get sick and lose your job. Unfortunately such things can occasionally happen even on our planet. The main thing is to treat the people around in the way you could hear the Angels applauding you.”

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Post-Tribune | Gary woman charged after driving grandkids…

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Post-tribune | gary woman charged after driving grandkids while drunk to river forest elementary school: records.

A Gary woman faces charges after admitting she drank a pint of Wild Turkey bourbon several hours before driving her three grandkids to school last year.

Court records show Annamargaret Miller, 49, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.211% — almost three times the legal limit.

She was charged Tuesday with three counts of neglect of a dependent, one count of operating while intoxicated and a misdemeanor.

River Forest High School Principal Hayley Morris called the school resource officer at 7:40 a.m. Feb. 10, 2023, saying a school bus driver spotted a “reckless driver” in a maroon Dodge near Evans Elementary, located 2915 E. 35th Ave.

The bus driver followed the vehicle on her route, then radioed for another driver to follow it.

Miller pulled into the Evans Elementary parking lot and parked. Cops later found her asleep behind the wheel and two grandkids, aged 6 and 7, were unrestrained in the back.

The woman had trouble getting out and cops smelled booze on her. She had glassy eyes, slurred speech and she was unsteady on her feet. She said she had two shots of Wild Turkey before midnight the day before.

She failed multiple field sobriety tests and a blew 0.228% on a breathalyzer. Later, at the police station, a chemical test showed her blood-alcohol content was 0.211%.

Miller later admitted she drank a pint of whiskey before midnight. Her daughter, who came off the night shift, asked her to take the kids to school. Miller dropped off one grandchild, aged 12, at River Forest Middle School, before heading with the two younger kids to Evans.

The first bus driver told cops she saw the vehicle going south on Indiana Street while repeatedly crossing into oncoming traffic. Miller then slowed down under the speed limit on the road, she said. The second bus noted Miller was headed from 37th Avenue to Liverpool Road and nearly hit a tree at one point.

Another witness said Miller did not appear to leave the vehicle once she pulled into the school.

The school’s cameras did not capture Miller’s vehicle.

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