Environmental and outdoor education in preschool through family camping: the example of Czech Woodcraft in parents' opinions

Abstract

The present study focuses on the impact of woodcraft-style family camping on preschool children, using their parents' perspectives. Although the history and methodology of Woodcraft have been well documented, the theme of family camping has attracted very little research attention, and even fewer studies have targeted the impact of this leisure activity on preschool children. By inquiring about the parents' experience, the researchers adopted a qualitative approach backed by a phenomenology and hermeneutics-based philosophy for their empirical research. Data was collected through insightful interviews with seven respondents; parents experienced in Woodcraft camping with young children. Interpretative phenomenological analysis, which aims at understanding the uniqueness of one’s experience and the meaning attributed thereto, identified six phenomena describing the fundamental structure of this lifestyle: motivation for family camping; camp life and its principles; outdoor education; education through nature; community; and romanticised experiencing following the Native Americans. Since direct childhood experiences predominantly shape environmental attitudes, this topic should be addressed more in environmental education research.