Children who spend time learning outside may reap benefits physically, academically and emotionally, according to a Texas A&M University researcher.
Dr. Arianna Pikus, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development who studies how nature can be used as a learning environment, said the benefits of outdoor learning may even extend beyond students — to teachers.
Pikus said her research combines her love of the outdoors and her outdoor teaching experiences with the needs she witnessed while working as a preschool teacher.
“My work looks at how we use nature as a context to support children’s learning,”she said. “I’ve since then expanded my research to look at the benefits of more time in nature has on children’s development holistically. So, how does more time outside impact their physical health, their socioemotional development, things like that.”
Her work comes as educators and parents are paying growing attention to concerns about increased technology use among children and less time spent outdoors.
“What we’ve noticed on the research side is that this decrease in time outside is associated with an increase in other problems, like challenging behaviors,” Pikus said. “Is it just that they’re not outside or is it they’re spending less time outside and simultaneously more time in front of screens? We’re still trying to piece that apart, but we do know that when children spend more time outside, there’s all of these benefits to them in multiple areas of development.”
Pikus will be one of 12 faculty members sharing their research on topics covering health, education and communities during the College of Education and Human Development’s Voices of Impact speaker series on Feb. 26. Presentations begin at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center’s Bethancourt Ballroom. The event is free and open to all.
In her most recent study, Pikus and her collaborators compared students in a nature-based setting with their peers in a more traditional classroom. The findings suggest that outdoor learning fosters literacy, physical health and social-emotional skills.
Nature-based school settings “have opportunities to incorporate activities to develop those skills within children in potentially more authentic and meaningful ways than you might find in a traditional setting,” Pikus said.
Pikus, who has also co-authored a book on integrating nature into curriculum, said making outdoors-based learning more widely available will depend on turning research findings into usable guidance for the people who run and choose programs.
“It’s communicating the benefits of these types of programs with program directors, teachers and parents,” she said. “If you get those people on board, that’s where you’re going to actually see those changes.”
Pikus is also collaborating with A&M colleagues on the benefits of outdoor programs for teachers, something she said is especially important amid a national teacher shortage. Early results, she said, suggest teachers who spend more time outside during the school day report lower stress, greater well-being and less burnout.
“We found that teachers who engage in these types of programs or who spend more time outside during a typical school day have less stress,” Pikus said. “They report higher levels of well-being and they are less likely to suffer burnout and thus leave the profession.”
– Valeria Kolster, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications
