If you've been following along with me over the past several months, you may have caught my ramblings here and there about how I'm working towards a masters degree in environmental education at the moment. That means that along with getting to deliver Forest School programmes, I'm also immersing myself in an ocean of literature, theories, and coursework about the topic. There's certainly a lot to soak in, but I've been learning so much about the context and influences behind why Forest School (and its relatives, Forest Kindergartens, Nature Schools, Forest Days... etc.) exist today.
Over the past 8 months, I've been researching and writing a literature review that takes a historical perspective on how the Forest School movement emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States (focus is limited to the UK and the US since those are places I've lived... so apologies to those who don't live in those countries!).
The result is a document I've titled A History of the UK & US Forest School Movement, with an emphasis on the "A" - this is because I want to acknowledge that histories are portrayed in different ways depending on who's telling the story. So I'd like to share with you the culmination of my research as one version of the story of the Forest School movement in the UK and US. I found it fascinating to research and write and hope you find it interesting to read!
