It depends on the priorities: the presence and profile of outdoor education on school websites

Abstract

School websites are one way in which school leaders inform the public about their school’s vision, values, achievements and the learning opportunities on offer in a way that highlights its distinctiveness in the most positive light. If outdoor education is perceived as a valued learning context and/or helps to differentiate one school from another, it is likely that it would be reflected on a school’s website. An interpretive thematic analysis of the websites of 20% of the secondary schools in New Zealand suggested that outdoor education has a presence in schools, although the magnitude of this presence depended on the priorities school leaders wished to promote. The positive outcomes and opportunities afforded by outdoor education were portrayed to emphasize a school’s appeal. However, policy and design constraints of websites restricted teachers’ input into their content, making it somewhat challenging to gauge the relationship between the presence of outdoor education on a school website and the quality of its pedagogical practice.