The teacher's role in the relationship between creativity and outdoor education: a review of the literature

Abstract

The contribution is a review of the scientific literature of the past 10 years, putting creativity, outdoor education and teachers into relation with one another, with particular attention to their role and attitude. The interest derives from cross-referenced reading between creativity as a socially desirable quality which does not always find room in the classroom and outdoor educational experiences as an alternative way of schooling with benefits on development and learning, including in relation to creativity. The analysis of 53 studies on 3 levels of study (creativity and teachers, outdoor education and teachers, creativity and outdoor education) has allowed highlighting some characteristics which seem to indicate some aspects of the attitude of the teacher according to common trajectories. The role emerges of a contemporary teacher who appears capable of recovering active and co-constructive educational and didactic orientations and who tends to recognize and uphold emerging questions, the perceptions and personal beliefs with organizational and practical implications. This interpretation allows hypothesizing a positive relationship between contexts of outdoor education and the evolution of the teacher’s attitude in the framework of creativity teaching, allowing styles and ways of teaching connoted by great contextuality and responsiveness to be reinforced.