Do English primary school inspection reports mention outdoor learning and if mentioned, how does the inspectorate represent outdoor learning in the reports?

Diggory, Olivia (2021) Do English primary school inspection reports mention outdoor learning and if mentioned, how does the inspectorate represent outdoor learning in the reports? Masters dissertation, University of Cumbria. Item availability may be restricted.

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Abstract

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) is recognised in England as the authority on educational quality. The inspections they carry out result in school’s receiving graded judgements and the publication of a summative report available for anyone to access via the internet. This research
explores whether outdoor learning is recognised by Ofsted in their inspection reports of state-maintained, mainstream English primary schools. To do this, a sample of reports was identified by the researcher and data were collected from them. It was found that 42% of reports mentioned outdoor learning. Furthermore, exploration of the data investigated what aspects of outdoor learning repeatedly featured. It was found that most comments (71%) made in inspection reports about outdoor learning related to the Early Years Foundation Stage. Further consideration of the data collected provided insight into the way the inspectorate in England presents outdoor learning in
reports. The comments were found to be positive with some neutral comments made. Negative comments about outdoor learning were not identified although criticism regarding the state of outdoor learning areas was a theme.

Item Type:	Thesis/Dissertation (Masters)
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Outdoor Studies
Depositing User:	Heather Prince
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2021 13:20
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2024 12:32
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6279