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In this editorial introduction, we outline recent debates on geographies of education, specifically on themes of nature, place, and outdoor landscapes. We argue for the need to extend these discussions due to the rising popularity and politicisation of educational encounters in outdoor landscapes, as well as their long‐standing relationship to a series of moral geographies. We introduce the main focus of the five papers in this themed collection, and show how together, they add to our understanding of the spatialities and experiences of both formal and informal educational sites, through both historical and contemporary perspectives. We reflect on some of the themes that tie these papers together, the UK‐based focus of this collection, and its wider geographical contributions. In this editorial introduction, we outline recent debates on geographies of education, specifically on themes of nature, place and outdoor landscapes. We introduce the main focus of the five papers in this themed collection, and show how together, they add to our understanding of the spatialities and experiences of both formal and informal educational sites, through both historical and contemporary perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the spaces, materiality, and practices of (in)formal education and citizenship bound up in the educational cultures of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England (CPRE) in 1930s England. Founded in 1926, the CPRE aimed to preserve rural amenities through concerted action, by working through their constituent societies as a centre for furnishing or obtaining advice and information, and importantly, by educating public opinion. While much work has examined inter‐war preservationism and the CPRE's focus on planning legislation and design, less attention has been paid to the CPRE's cultures of education for children and young people. Drawing on archival research, this paper considers two educational topics, namely, nature study and school design, and makes three key contributions to the geographies of education. First, that the CPRE mobilised the notion of amenity to provide an experiential and intuitive education in preservationism: amenity was both education and educator. Second, that this education was linked to notions of (future) citizenship, hope, and (future) preservationism, becoming an education that would remain with the child throughout their life. Third, this article explores the CPRE's authority, revealing the ways in which it was often complex and precarious, as well as the ways in which the Council drew on other forms of authoritative identities, spaces, and structures. In so doing, this paper contributes to ongoing academic debates on the complex and fluid boundaries of (in)formal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current challenges (increasing levels of integration in the biological sciences) facing the teaching of zoology and the structure of the zoology curriculum are explored herein. General context is provided and a more focused scrutiny of the situation in North America is presented. The changing emphases in more broadly-based biological sciences programs in North America are outlined, and their influence on the role of zoology as part of fundamental biological training is considered. The longer term impact of such changes in emphasis on the teaching of zoology is discussed, and the central role that zoology can play in dealing with both science content and science education is advanced. Based upon a focal workshop on the future of the zoology curriculum in Canada, a perspective on the challenges facing curriculum evolution is provided. Extensive curriculum redesign is called for to ensure that zoology provides a broad-scale integrative approach to the understanding of biodiversity in evolutionary, ecological and functional contexts. Barriers to, and drivers of change are identified and the need for collaborative approaches to curricular evolution is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phenomenological approach was used to investigate the longitudinal recollections of participants of an out-of-school science program. The experience was a field trip to the Shenandoah National Park (USA) conducted in the fall of 2004. The science topic was geologic history and features related to the Shenandoah Valley. Two major themes relating to the participants 'long term recollection of the out-of-school science field trip were identified after the interview data was analyzed. First, recollections were highly influenced by actions taken by the students, and, second, program content/subject matter were retained by all of the students to varying degrees. The interactive experiences that aided in memory retrieval from this study closely relates to the interactive experiences associated with memory and learning theory associated with the psychological domain. This linkage and its impact on how students learn in out-of-school science experiences are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]