Development of the concept of education in nature in the international context, and its definition in the Czech Republic
Abstract
Interest in 'education in nature' in the Czech academic sphere has begun to rise with the accreditation of study specializations or programmes under the names"Outdoor activities" or "Outdoor education", or the inclusion of subjects of similar names into university study programmes. The aim of this review is to introduce the development of the concept of education in nature, výchova v přírodě, in the Czech environment using the background of international literature and outdoor contexts.
Selected theories of outdoor learning are analysed and evaluated. We then try to define 'education in nature' in the Czech Republic.
Comparing the focus of our workwith different theories internationally, we found similarities to the outdoor and environmental education, and personal and social development focus of Gilbertson et al. (2006, 2022).