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<p>This study examines differences between outdoor teachers (OT) and classroom-based teachers (TT) in Israeli elementary education in relation to professional practices, teaching motivation, and self-efficacy. While outdoor education has received growing attention, relatively little is known about how teachers who engage in outdoor teaching differ from those who primarily teach in classroom-based settings within the same educational system. Using a comparative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 153 in-service elementary school teachers (OT = 83, TT = 70). Group differences were examined across demographic characteristics, teaching motivation, general teaching self-efficacy, and outdoor-related professional practices. Associations between outdoor teaching practices and outdoor teaching self-efficacy were examined within the OT group. The findings indicate that OT and TT were similar in demographic characteristics, teaching motivations, and general teaching self-efficacy. In contrast, OT reported substantially higher levels of outdoor-related professional practice, including more frequent outdoor teaching, greater comfort with outdoor instruction, and stronger perceived centrality of outdoor education to their professional work. Within the OT group, outdoor teaching self-efficacy was positively associated with several practice-related indicators, although the regression model did not reach statistical significance. Community volunteering emerged as a positive predictor of general teaching self-efficacy. These findings suggest that differences between OT and TT are more clearly reflected in domain-specific professional practices than in broader professional characteristics, highlighting the importance of context-specific forms of teacher self-efficacy in outdoor education.</p>

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Outdoor education in elementary schools: Comparing professional practice and self-efficacy among outdoor and classroom-based teachers

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月6日

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  • Gili Howard,
  • Carmen CRETU

摘要

This study examines differences between outdoor teachers (OT) and classroom-based teachers (TT) in Israeli elementary education in relation to professional practices, teaching motivation, and self-efficacy. While outdoor education has received growing attention, relatively little is known about how teachers who engage in outdoor teaching differ from those who primarily teach in classroom-based settings within the same educational system. Using a comparative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 153 in-service elementary school teachers (OT = 83, TT = 70). Group differences were examined across demographic characteristics, teaching motivation, general teaching self-efficacy, and outdoor-related professional practices. Associations between outdoor teaching practices and outdoor teaching self-efficacy were examined within the OT group. The findings indicate that OT and TT were similar in demographic characteristics, teaching motivations, and general teaching self-efficacy. In contrast, OT reported substantially higher levels of outdoor-related professional practice, including more frequent outdoor teaching, greater comfort with outdoor instruction, and stronger perceived centrality of outdoor education to their professional work. Within the OT group, outdoor teaching self-efficacy was positively associated with several practice-related indicators, although the regression model did not reach statistical significance. Community volunteering emerged as a positive predictor of general teaching self-efficacy. These findings suggest that differences between OT and TT are more clearly reflected in domain-specific professional practices than in broader professional characteristics, highlighting the importance of context-specific forms of teacher self-efficacy in outdoor education.