Unit 4: Forest School History and Key Influences

It is widely thought that the UK model of Forest School came from Scandinavia countries that is connected to their culture of ‘friluftsliv’ (free-air-life). ‘Brief History of Roots,’ by Jon Cree article published in Horizon (see supporting documents) sets out the wider influences that have shaped the UK model of Forest School.

Long-term nature-based programmes are now found all over the world and share many common principles.  This training teases out the differences and the similarities between the different cultural and educational approaches to these long-term nature-based programmes, and the resulting soft and hard outcomes you might expect.

Across the world, we are seeing a proliferation of Forest School-type programmes for children as the benefits of nature and child-led programmes become more widely researched and understood.