case study of students with special needs

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

“i just want to stay out there all day”: a case study of two special educators and five autistic children learning outside at school.

• 1 Department of Education and Wellness, Elon University, Elon, NC, United States
• 2 Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

School is often stressful for autistic students. Similarly, special educators are susceptible to burnout because of the unique demands of their jobs. There is ample evidence that spending time outside, particularly in nature, has many positive effects on mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. In this case study of two special educators and five autistic students in a social skills group at an elementary school in the southeastern United States, we sought to identify the effects of moving the class outside several times per week. Findings indicated that while there were challenges, the autistic children experienced numerous affordances that supported development toward achieving Individualized Education Plan goals. Moreover, there were also notable positive effects for the special educators. We found that even with little prior experience, learning outside is possible and beneficial to everyone involved.

Introduction

The first time Jacob, an autistic 1 elementary student with selective mutism, ventured into an outdoor environment at his rural school, he spoke to his friend while they were in the midst of an activity. His special education teachers were shocked. They told us they had never heard him verbalize anything due to selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that inhibits individuals from speaking in certain social situations despite an ability to speak in more familiar or comfortable settings ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ). As the year progressed and Jacob went outside more often with his social skills class, he spoke spontaneously with greater frequency, sometimes asking questions and interacting with his peers. Toward the end of the year, Jacob approached a brick wall near the outdoor learning environment that the class was using that day. He noticed a spider spinning a web on the wall. “Look at this!” he called to his friends. Several other children in the group gathered around, and they discussed what the spider was doing and why it was there. Jacob was an active participant in the conversation, engaged and curious.

Since Jacob was a participant in our case study, we were able to observe the ways that he and his autistic peers interacted with their teachers, with each other, and with the environment. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that consists of several typical behaviors or traits. These include repetitive, stereotyped behaviors and difficulties or impairments with social interaction and communication ( World Health Organization, 1992 ; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ). As it is a spectrum, the needs, abilities, and outcomes of autistic individuals varies greatly. There is limited research on how nature might affect autistic children, especially at school, but there are many anecdotal accounts, which is what inspired our investigation. Higashida (2007) , an autistic Japanese teenager who communicates through a letterboard and computer, shared that nature has the ability to alter his emotions: “Just by looking at nature, I feel as if I’m being swallowed up into it … Nature calms me down when I’m furious and laughs with me when I’m happy” (p. 124). Gordon (2013) wrote about a non-speaking autistic four-year-old child spelling his name for the first time ever while outside using sticks as props. The teacher in Gordon’s article believes that spending time outdoors every day helps children with additional needs accomplish tasks previously believed to be beyond their capabilities. Brewer (2016) highlighted two schools in England that offered opportunities for students with additional education needs to spend time outdoors. According to a teacher at one of the schools, being outside is calming and stress-relieving, especially for autistic students. James (2018) , a British forest school leader, felt so strongly regarding the benefits he saw from taking autistic people into nature that he authored Forest School and Autism: A Practical Guide to encourage others to follow suit. James wrote that there is a lack of research available supporting the use of outdoor spaces with autistic people despite the wealth of anecdotal accounts, including those he details in his book.

Evidence continues to mount that spending time in nature is good for everyone (e.g., Chawla, 2015 ; Williams, 2017 ). While there are numerous studies that demonstrate benefits for typically developing children and adults (e.g., Wells and Evans, 2003 ; Fjørtoft, 2004 ; Swarbrick et al., 2004 ; Morita et al., 2007 ; Berman et al., 2008 ; Abraham et al., 2010 ; Berman et al., 2012 ; Kuo et al., 2018a ), there is limited research on the effects of nature for those with autism. Moreover, using outdoor environments as an accommodation to support autistic students at school is understudied. Therefore, in this case study of two special educators and five autistic students in a social skills group, we addressed the following research questions: What are the challenges and affordances of outdoor learning for autistic children? What are the special educators’ perspectives on outdoor learning with autistic children?

Literature Review

There is growing interest in the use of outdoor environments to benefit children. For instance, the North American Association for Environmental Education (2017) reported that there were 250 nature-based preschools and kindergartens in the United States, a notable increase. Learning outside can serve various educational purposes. The Institute for Outdoor Learning (n.d.) emphasizes “discovery, experimentation, learning about and connecting to the natural world, and engaging in environmental and adventure activities,” which can happen through multi-day trips, residential experiences, and adventure sports. Relatedly, nature-based learning (NBL) is “an educational approach that uses the natural environment as the context for learning” ( Chawla, 2018 , p. xxvii). Forest School (FS) is one example of NBL. The Forest School Association, 2011 , a professional body in the United Kingdom, provides six principles to guide and support FS practitioners. For example, FS takes place in an immersive wooded or natural environment, and learning is child-led. Recent research suggests that FS may facilitate feelings of affinity or ownership over natural spaces, thus encouraging pro-environmental behaviors ( Harris, 2021 ). NBL can, in practice, look many different ways. Access to an immersive wooded or natural environment is not necessary, however. Outdoor learning can occur in urban areas where children explore sidewalks, subways, stores, and parks (e.g., Whitlock, 2020 ).

The effects of engaging with nature are diverse. There are benefits to mental health, including lower stress levels ( Wells and Evans, 2003 ; Morita et al., 2007 ), improved social and emotional wellbeing ( Abraham et al., 2010 ; Berman et al., 2012 ), and feelings of belonging and sense of self ( Swarbrick et al., 2004 ; Cummings and Nash, 2015 ). Interpersonal skills seem to be positively impacted ( Dillon et al., 2005 ), including increased expressions of sympathy toward others and the environment ( Barthel et al., 2018 ). Even nearby nature has notable implications for cognition, intelligence, and development in both educational and residential contexts. Wells (2000) found that, in a study of low-income families with children aged 7–12 years old, moving from a “low naturalness” area to a “high naturalness” area had significant effects for child cognitive function. Similarly, Wells and Evans (2003) , using a four-item naturalness scale, reported that nearby nature may be a buffer for stressful life events for children with a mean age of 9.2 years in rural residential contexts. In a study of adults in Australia, Astell-Burt and Feng (2019) reported that higher amounts of tree canopy (30%) as well as total green space were associated with lower psychological distress and better general health. Bijnens et al. (2020) found that residential green space could have positive impacts on intelligence for children ranging in age from 7 to 15 years old in urban settings.

The benefits of nature for educational purposes have also been documented. Dadvand et al. (2015) , in their study of over 2,500 7 to 10-year-olds in Barcelona, suggested the possibility of improvements in cognitive development associated with surrounding greenness, particularly greenness of schools. Kuo et al., 2018b studied grass and tree cover in a sample of over 318 public schools in Chicago in relation to achievement on state-level assessments. Tree cover was related to academic achievement, particularly for math, while grass cover was not related. Thus, the presence of green spaces in and around schools seems to offer benefits to children. Additionally, Kuo et al., 2018a concluded that classroom engagement from 9 to 10-year-old children increased following lessons that took place in nature, suggesting the potential for what the authors refer to as “refueling in flight” for student focus. This reinforces Kuo et al.'s (2019) sentiment that “it is time to take nature seriously as a resource for learning and development” (p. 6). Considering the existing research, could the same be true for engaging autistic students with nature?

The accommodations and supports each autistic individual requires, if any, are highly variable. A large number of interventions exist to address supposed impairments in autistic populations; these include commonly known interventions such as Applied Behavior Analysis ( Baer et al., 1968 ), TEACHH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communications - Handicapped Children; Mesibov et al., 2005 ), and intensive interaction ( Nind and Hewett, 1988 ). The type of intervention or support that an autistic school-age child will receive is dependent on the specifications of that individual's Individualized Education Plan (IEP); the IEP, when used correctly, serves as a roadmap of interventions and supports to attain specific, measurable goals ( Blackwell and Rossetti, 2014 ). Difficulties with social interactions, for example, may prompt the use of an intervention like a social skills group. Group social skills training involves the teaching and practice of social skills among peers. This is the context of our case study. The worthwhileness of such an intervention for targeting the social skills of autistic children remains unclear, with some evidence of effectiveness ( Hotton and Coles, 2016 ) and other authors concluding that the intervention has little impact ( Bellini et al., 2007 ); despite this, the teaching and practicing of social skills in a group setting remains a common practice in special education ( DeRosier et al., 2011 ).

School experiences can be difficult for autistic children, leading to increased mental health issues and additional support needs. Due to the differences or difficulties in social communication common in autistic people, interactions with peers can be complex and challenging, causing stress and anxiety. Autistic children are also more likely to be bullied at school because of their behavioral differences ( Rowley et al., 2012 ). In fact, autistic children and teenagers are more likely to experience bullying and victimization than typically developing peers and peers with intellectual disability. Additionally, autistic children may experience gaps in academic achievement as well due to social impairments and other difficulties not related to intellect or ability ( Estes et al., 2011 ). It is not surprising, then, that mental health issues are more prevalent among the autistic population than the general population, with some researchers reporting estimates of 20% of the autistic population experience co-occurring anxiety disorders ( Lai et al., 2019 ). Confounded with the usual difficulties of childhood and adolescence, school can be a tumultuous time for autistic students.

One potential avenue of support for autistic individuals that is underutilized and understudied is the use of outdoor environments. While there is extensive research showing that time spent in nature offers benefits for wellbeing, particularly mental health, and even cognition and intelligence in typically developing populations or those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there is far less research on what nature might offer autistic people, especially children. According to Blakesley et al. (2013) , gardening projects, summer camps, field visits, and animal therapy have shown to have positive effects for autistic children; however, more research on the potential of outdoor learning for autistic children at school is needed.

The research that does exist is promising. Bradley and Male (2017) interviewed four autistic children, ages 6–8 years old, who participated in FS as well as their parents. Despite the small sample size, several benefits were identified from the interviews; these included friends/friendship development, challenges and risk taking, learning outcomes, and experiencing success. Zachor et al. (2016) utilized quantitative methods to study the impact of an outdoor adventure program on the autistic symptomatology of 51 autistic children between the ages of 3–7 years, with findings indicating a reduction of symptomatology after participation in the outdoor group when compared to a control group. Additionally, Li et al. (2019) interviewed caregivers of autistic children in China, who ranged in age from 4 to 17 years old, and “identified multiple sensory-motor, emotional, and social benefits of nature for children with autism” (p. 78). The findings from these three studies demonstrate that learning outdoors may need to be considered an accommodation and intervention for autistic children. Further evidence, especially in a school context, would bolster the research base and potentially lead to nature-based accommodations for autistic children.

Theoretical Framework

This study is framed by the theory of stress recovery put forward by Ulrich et al. (1991) . Stress recovery theory (SRT) suggests that following a bout of stress, individuals who are exposed to natural settings are able to reduce that stress more quickly than those who were not exposed to natural settings, demonstrated even at a parasympathetic level. The authors noted that the idea of stress recovery occurring in natural settings is not a new one; it has been documented throughout history, including in evolutionary theories. Stress reduction has also been observed in a study using nature sounds rather than visual natural scenes ( Alvarsson et al., 2010 ). Decades of research show that natural settings contribute to decreased stress and associated mental health issues ( Wells and Evans, 2003 ; Morita et al., 2007 ; Abraham et al., 2010 ; Berman et al., 2012 ).

SRT has also been applied in a sample of 18 11-year-olds, some of whom were considered to have “bad” behavior. Roe and Aspinall (2011) measured mood and reflection on personal development before and after a typical indoor lesson and a FS session. The authors reported that greater positive behavioral change occurred after time in the forest environment, suggesting that the restorative potential of nature may have been at play. Additionally, SRT underpinned work conducted by Shao et al. (2020) in which 26 elementary-aged children performed first an electronic gardening task followed by a real-life horticultural activity. Various physiological measurements (e.g., heart rate variability and skin conductance) indicated that the children experienced positive impacts from the real-life horticultural activity, including a decrease in sympathetic nervous activity. Thus, SRT has been applied to work with a range of ages, including younger children.

As previously noted, autistic individuals have a more difficult school experience. Additionally, the levels of mental health issues among the autistic population is much higher than that of typically developing peers ( Lai et al., 2019 ). It is likely that those challenging and sometimes traumatic school experiences are among several factors contributing to increased mental health issues among school-age autistic children. Due to its significant and continued impact upon wellbeing and various outcomes, the school experience and associated mental health issues should be of focus for teachers, caregivers, counselors, interventionists, and other practitioners who engage with this population. Stress recovery offered by educational activities occurring in nature could be beneficial, then, by mitigating the stressful experiences of attending school or interacting socially with others.

Research Methods

As a case study, this is a preliminary investigation of a phenomenon over which we had little control ( Yin, 2017 ). According to Miles et al. (2019) , a case is “a phenomenon of some sort occurring in a bounded context” (p. 44). Thus, our case is a social skills group consisting of two special educators and five autistic students who used both indoor and outdoor environments at an elementary school in the southeastern United States. Furthermore, this is an exploratory case study given that it was not intended to test a particular hypothesis ( Yin, 2017 ). As noted by Hancock and Algozzine (2011) , exploratory case studies serve as a prelude for more expansive investigations that might seek to confirm a hypothesis or work with a concept in a more in-depth manner. Given the small sample size, our findings are not generalizable.

The case study was carried out at a public K-5 elementary school with approximately 600 students, an estimated 47% of whom are eligible for free or reduced price lunch. The school, which we will call Belington Elementary (pseudonym), has a special education department consisting of two teachers, both of whom participated in this study. They provide both push-in and pull-out support for students with IEPs, and they also co-facilitated a 30-min social skills group with five autistic students every day.

The purpose of this social skills group was to offer guidance and practice for communicating and interacting with peers through a variety of lessons. Sometimes the teachers provided direct instruction regarding specific concepts. For example, the teachers might read a book in which one of the characters demonstrates emotion regulation, or they might facilitate a matching activity that required students to align particular situations, as stated by the teacher, to the coordinating emotions that the individual in the fictional situation was likely feeling. Sometimes the teachers prompted the students to engage with each other through games and free play. For example, the teachers invited the students to build well-known international monuments using materials found outside in small groups, which required cooperation and collaboration. Social skills interventions are commonly used for autistic children, particularly those in mainstream environments, as they teach the social interaction behaviors that would be considered “typical” in society. The behaviors may include maintaining eye contact, reducing atypical speech patterns, and expressing interest in what other conversation partners are saying ( White et al., 2010 ). Social skills training programs have been reported to be effective in targeting perceived “deficits” or differences in social interaction (e.g., Kamps et al., 1992 ; Webb et al., 2004 ; Cappadocia and Weiss, 2011 ).

There were four outdoor environments generally used by the teachers for this case study (see Figure 1 ). First was a small pavilion situated very close to the school building. Next to the pavilion was a small garden, but it was overgrown and not actively used by anyone at the school. The second area was referred to as “the outdoor classroom” and was located in a more open area next to the school. The outdoor classroom consisted of several picnic tables under a large covering. Both the pavilion and the outdoor classroom were located just outside the door from the special education classroom, which both teachers shared. The third area was the playground, blacktop, and field located at the back of the school. Finally, there was a nature trail that led to a small clearing in a wooded area. There were wooden benches that formed a circle in the clearing. Accessing the nature trail required a slightly longer walk out of the building, across the parking lot, and over a small patch of grass. For the purposes of our research, we considered the pavilion, outdoor classroom, and playground/blacktop/field areas to be sites for outdoor learning; activities that took place in the nature trail and clearing in the wooded area were considered NBL due to the more immersive setting.

FIGURE 1 . Belington elementary campus. A = Indoor Classroom, B = Outdoor Classroom, C = Pavilion, D = Playground and Blacktop Area, E = Nature Trail, F = Forest Classroom

Participants

Participants included two special educators and five autistic students. The teachers, Mrs. Barrett and Ms. Smith (pseudonyms), were both in the early stages of their careers in special education. While Ms. Smith graduated from university two years prior, Mrs. Barrett worked for over 10 years in several other education and childcare contexts before seeking a special education qualification. Both teachers had minimal experience taking autistic children outside the classroom and no formal training or experience with outdoor learning. The social skills group was composed of five students from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. All of them identified as male and white, had autism diagnoses, and spoke English as their first language. Basic descriptive information regarding the participants can be found in Table 1 .

TABLE 1 . Participant information.

Data Collection

A total of 31 visits were carried out, with 26 observations taking place outside and 5 taking place indoors. One visit was completed at the end of January while 7–8 visits were completed per month from February to May. Visits were typically on Mondays and Wednesdays, though seven of the visits were on other days of the week due to events at the elementary school, which meant the class was unable to meet, or to observe the children indoors. The 30-minute social skills classes met in the afternoon each day during the last lesson block of the day. At the start of the study, the teachers agreed among themselves that they would take the children outside on Mondays and Wednesdays. This plan sometimes changed due to weather or a change in lesson plans. Thus, the decision regarding which days to go outside was predetermined, but the teachers had the autonomy to make adjustments day-to-day. We did not observe the students during other subjects.

Field notes were handwritten when at the school and later typed on a shared document. We elaborated on the field notes on the shared document, which resulted in longer narratives. We also tracked the frequency of certain behaviors exhibited by three of the students (Curtis, Jacob, and Tracy; pseudonyms) in our field notes. The target behaviors were related to the IEP goals for each student; the purpose of focusing on IEP goals was to observe if an outdoor environment facilitated any progress or development in regards to those particular goals. Behavior frequency was noted throughout the entire class period, with tally marks indicating the presence of the target behavior. Further details denoting the content of the behaviors were recorded as well. For example, if Curtis asked a question, we would write down what he asked. The decision to track behaviors for only three of the five students was made due to the other two children’s IEP goals. That is, their goals were generally conversation-related but difficult to track using frequencies. Thus, we focused on tracking behaviors of three students with goals that could be more easily quantified.

Finally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with both teachers at the beginning, middle, and end of the data collection period. Interviews lasted 30–45 min and were carried out in person at the school. The first two interviews were with each teacher separately (i.e., two interviews for each) and the final interview was with both teachers together in an effort to provide a space for reflection and discussion between them. In the first interview, questions focused on their previous experiences working with children (both indoors and outdoors), their own relationship with nature, their feelings about incorporating outdoor learning, and their initial impressions or observations of their first few sessions outdoors. The second interview included questions regarding outdoor lesson planning inspiration, how the teachers felt the group was managing with outdoor lessons, how they themselves were impacted by taking their lessons outside, any difficulties they encountered, and how they were beginning to use outdoor learning with their other groups throughout the day. The final interview focused on reflections from both teachers regarding the challenges they faced throughout the experience and what they felt they did to be successful in outdoor environments. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed.

Data Analysis

We followed Miles et al.'s (2019) guidance regarding qualitative data analysis. To start, we conducted two phases of coding on the interviews and field notes. Coding served to categorize like pieces of data. The first cycle of coding utilized several of the many types of coding, including descriptive, in vivo , and emotions coding. The purpose of the first cycle of coding was to summarize two of the available data sources. The second cycle of coding served to identify patterns in those codes. Codes were then grouped together into categories or themes.

Next, we completed a round of jottings. Jottings documented our thinking as we analyzed the data. These brief notes were written directly into the interview and field note documents to ensure continuity between the data that prompted the thought and the thought itself. Following the use of jottings, analytic memoing then served to “synthesize (descriptive summaries of data) into higher level analytic meanings” ( Miles et al., 2019 , p. 97). Beyond just noting thoughts about the data, analytic memos extend and connect various data with theory and researcher perception.

To formalize and organize our thoughts and findings, we produced assertions and propositions based on all sources of data. According to Miles et al. (2019) , assertions are declarative statements while propositions are conditional statements that serve to predict. These statements allowed us to look at the findings comprehensively and better determine the entire picture of what occurred throughout the study, based upon the available data. To summarize and conclude the process, we carried out a within-case analysis to describe what occurred within the single case of focus in our study.

Limitations

Case studies, particularly those that are exploratory and utilizing within-case analysis, are not generalizable as they focus in depth on one particular case to better understand some aspect of that case. More time observing the participants and conducting the study over a longer period of time would have given us a more robust set of data. Finally, the special educators in this case study were not experts in outdoor learning and had very limited experience taking students outside. Therefore, the challenges and affordances we found may be unique to this context.

When Mrs. Barrett and Ms. Smith agreed to participate in this case study, we had to rely on their willingness, creativity, and resilience to regularly use outdoor environments with their social skills group. Our first research question pertained to the effects of being outside on autistic students, but the second research question about special educators’ perceptions of outdoor learning was perhaps more significant. Mrs. Barrett and Ms. Smith decided what days they would go outside, where on the school campus they might go, what concepts and topics to integrate into their lessons, whether they were adequately meeting IEP goals, and how to respond to autistic students’ needs during transitions and disruptions to their routines. They were the conduits for the entire case study. If for any reason they were not comfortable using outdoor environments, we would not have been able to observe their students.

Neither of the special educators had significant prior experience or training with NBL. During our first interview, Ms. Smith said that she had not used the outdoor environments at her school very often, “just taking them out a few times last year.” She continued, “I would take them out to the outdoor classroom... sometimes on a nice sunny day” but confessed she did not have “a lot of experience incorporating, like, outdoor instruction or environmental education.” When we asked what inspired her to use the outdoor environments a few times, she said,

I thought that was really cool, and I kind of wanted to explore them too, um, just 'cause I knew we had a trail. I knew we had the outdoor classroom there for a reason, and I enjoyed it outside, especially like when the weather was nicer, and I figured it was a fun break for my students, too.

Even without much prior experience or training, both Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett found going outside to be appealing enough to participate in this study, and their comfort levels increased the more they used the outdoor environments. Mrs. Barrett noted during her second interview, “We were kind of hesitant before (about) going outside,” but then quickly followed with, “Now that we (are more) experienced... it's just like, calmer. It's peaceful. I just want to stay out there all day.” Both special educators found that outdoor environments offered more than just a fun break for students.

Before we began observing the social skills group, Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett shared with us the general IEP goals for their five autistic students. In an email, they highlighted the specific skills they would be working on during the study:

• Engaging in appropriate conversation with others (listening to others, asking relevant questions, using a “social filter”)

• Using “appropriate verbalizations” to express feelings and needs rather than shutting down or using aggressive/physical behaviors

• Identifying others’ perspectives and feelings

• Identifying the problem in a social situation and creating a solution to meet both party’s needs (problem-solving skills)

• Completing non-preferred tasks

• Asking for a break when frustrated

• Demonstrating verbal control in different social situations

They also stressed that there was not a set curriculum that they were required to follow, which allowed them the flexibility of creating their own lessons in ways that would meet their students’ needs and IEP goals. In fact, they were used to developing their own curriculum. “Last year we didn’t have any type of curriculum (provided),” they wrote in the email, “so we pulled from a lot of online resources.” From the beginning, Mrs. Barrett and Ms. Smith were both cautiously optimistic about regularly using outdoor environments with their autistic students. Their lack of experience and training was not insurmountable. Rather, they displayed a growth mindset throughout the study. This was especially apparent in the lessons they developed.

The first outdoor lesson we observed took place in the blacktop area just outside of their classroom (location D on Figure 1 ). The main objective was to support students’ identification of emotion states, so Ms. Smith wrote “happy,” “sad,” “angry,” and “afraid” on four distinct spaces on the blacktop in chalk. The students were then tasked with drawing pictures or writing words with chalk that they associated with the emotion words. The spaces for drawing were approximately five feet away from each other; the children worked in pairs, rotating to the various spaces as the lesson progressed. Throughout the lesson, students were observed laughing and smiling. Some children found nearby rocks on the ground and threw them toward the field while they were taking breaks from drawing. At the end of the activity, everyone sat on the ground in a circle to summarize what they learned. The students were largely engaged in the activity, though some noted that sitting on the hard ground hurt their hand or that the cracks in the asphalt got in the way of their drawing. Despite the colder weather on this day, the only comments about feeling cold came from adults present.

During the second outdoor lesson we observed, the children were noticeably different in their expressions of emotion and interactions with one another compared to their behavior at the start of the class indoors. When observation began at the start of class, before the group had moved outside, the children were being kept on the carpet because the teachers felt they were not following instructions to be quiet and still. Once outside, the activity, which involved running to various parts of the playground to select an emotion word that described the scenario being read aloud (e.g., happy, sad, angry), prompted smiles, laughter, happy screaming, and talking among the students. This was true for Jacob as well, which caused Ms. Smith to comment that she’d never before seen Jacob speak to peers unprompted during an activity.

Several days later, they took a book about emotion regulation outside to the picnic tables to read as a group. While Ms. Smith read aloud, many of the students moved their bodies, tapping on the tables and alternating between standing and sitting. At one point during the lesson, Jacob was moving around rocks and items he found on the ground. Ms. Smith asked a question specifically addressed to him in what appeared to be an attempt to re-engage him in the story. During the following outdoor lesson, the group reviewed the book. Then, to enhance their understanding of the book, Mrs. Barrett and Ms. Smith showed the students a container of bubbles, pulled out the plastic wand, and blew a few into the air. The bubbles were meant to indicate feelings of anger that eventually build up until they pop. The students provided answers to the question, “What makes you angry?” and then were to chase a bubble and “pop” it. Jacob and Tracy in particular seemed to enjoy the opportunity to run after and pop bubbles, as they laughed and smiled throughout this portion of the activity. Mark seemed eager to help Ms. Smith with blowing the bubbles.

During the next outdoor lesson, the concept was advanced further through the use of a liter bottle of soda. The lesson began with a discussion of what they learned about being angry or frustrated from the bubble popping activity. During this review, Tracy and Jacob were moving around, displaying stimming behaviors, and standing up. The teachers shook the bottle to indicate the process of getting angry. The bottle was then opened, and some of its contents spilled out, much to the delight of the children. This prompted a conversation about what strategies could have been used to prevent the spill. The students suggested taking a break while shaking the bottle to allow the fizzing to calm down, which they demonstrated with another bottle of soda. They waited a few minutes after shaking the bottle, and the students discussed whether this was a long enough break to prevent another explosion. During this portion of the lesson, Tracy was corrected by the teachers for not paying attention. This was then related to strategies that they could use to defuse anger. These strategies were demonstrated through the use of skits; the students were put into two groups and tasked with acting out a situation where someone was upset and had to employ a strategy to diffuse their anger. The children largely participated in the skits, though Tracy commented that he was cold and spent some time zipping and unzipping his jacket. Additionally, Jacob was not taking part in this activity, as he was slightly away from the group, touching one of the gazebo’s columns. This was not acknowledged by the teacher.

Continuing with the theme of emotion regulation, another activity on a particularly warm and sunny day included four hula hoops with colors coordinating to the Zones of Regulation, an emotional control system created by Leah Kuypers. The four colors help to categorize different emotions, with blue indicating low alertness, green indicating calm states, yellow indicating elevated emotions, and red indicating extremely elevated emotions. One of the teachers read a scenario, and the children responded by moving to the hula hoop that corresponded to the regulation zone they felt was represented by the scenario. For instance, one scenario was, “Tommy was walking to his table in the cafeteria when he dropped his tray of food. All of his food went on the ground. What zone do you think Tommy was in when this happened?” At first, all of the children moved together, seeming to make the same decisions. Eventually, students broke off and made their own choices about what zone matched best. Throughout the activity, Alex appeared to be dancing as he participated. When students did choose a hula hoop that no one else went to, the teachers asked them to justify their choice, prompting a discussion. For instance, toward the end of the activity, Jacob broke off from the group and went to a different hoop than his peers. The teachers then asked him to explain why he made that choice.

After several months of incorporating outdoor environments into their instruction, the teachers planned a series of lessons to develop teamwork skills. During an indoor class lesson, the students began to work on a small group project. The groups were tasked with building well-known structures out of Legos (e.g., Statue of Liberty, Sphinx, Great Wall of China). The next day, the class took their Lego projects outside to work at the outdoor classroom under the pavilion. Several classes later, the teachers told the students that they would be repeating the same process of building famous structures in small groups; this time, though, the students would be utilizing whatever natural materials they could find outside. Over the course of several outdoor lessons, the students, in their groups, brainstormed what types of materials they would need, where they could get those materials outside, and how they would build the structures. One day was spent on the nature trail collecting materials in a bucket to take back inside. Then, several lessons, both indoor and outdoor, were spent creating their structures. The outdoor lessons to prepare for making a famous structure out of natural materials were interspersed with indoor lessons teaching, reviewing, and discussing what teamwork looks like. That is, concepts were taught inside that were then immediately incorporated into outdoor activities, creating an indoor-outdoor transfer of skills and knowledge.

The aforementioned are only a small sample of the lessons planned and executed by Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett for their social skills group with autistic students. Table 2 presents details about all of the lessons that were observed during the study.

TABLE 2 . Descriptions of lessons.

Our analysis of the data revealed the challenges experienced by the special educators and their students, the adaptations the teachers made in response to the challenges, and the affordances for everyone in the case study.

Not surprisingly, taking autistic children into new learning environments has its challenges. To begin, there were several reasons why the teachers, who taught at a school with several well-developed outdoor spaces, had never utilized these locations before. The main barrier was timing; the teachers had only 30 min with their social skills group and were hesitant to use some of that limited time to travel to and from the outdoor environments. Once the teachers tried taking their group out, they realized that “it didn’t take as long to get out there as I thought it would.” Importantly, they used that transition time effectively, as we explain below, incorporating it into their lesson so that travel time was not “wasted” time.

Once the group started going outside more regularly, the teachers found that an additional barrier was the weather; more specifically, a lack of appropriate clothing and footwear for adverse weather conditions sometimes stopped the class from going outside. On one day, the teachers changed the plans to go outside “because it was raining and cold, and we didn't want anybody getting sick.” Another day, the class decided to stay inside because one of the students had new shoes on and didn’t want to get them muddy on the nature trail.

Over the course of the study, the teachers also came to realize that not all of the outdoor spaces available to them were equal. That is, the class had several options, including a pavilion close to the school that had a view of the front parking lot, where buses and parents would line up at the end of the school day; the playground, blacktop, and field behind the school that had a view of a road; and the nature trail and outdoor classroom that was secluded from any views of the road or the school. Ms. Smith quickly found that “they’re able to focus more when we're in areas further away from the road.” Both teachers agreed that the students were less “distracted” when they were in the nature trail and forest classroom, leading them to prefer taking the students there.

It seems that this preference was shared by the students as well; during one lesson, Ms. Smith told the students they would be going to the pavilion, and several students groaned and expressed that they felt that space was boring because “it’s just land.” When outside at the pavilion or on the field that had views of the road, there were several instances of children becoming noticeably “distracted” when large trucks passed by, often commenting on what they saw. Additionally, several of the children experienced anxiety related to knowing what time it was and having sufficient time to prepare for going home. Thus, when the class was at the outdoor pavilion and the students could see parents and buses arriving for pickup, this anxiety increased and became disruptive to the lesson.

Despite the clear barriers that existed, the teachers persisted in incorporating outdoor learning into their social skills class. This persistence necessitated a willingness by the teachers to adapt accordingly.

Adaptations

On a larger scale, both teachers underwent a transition in their approach to teaching this particular social skills group. As mentioned previously, neither teacher had experience taking children, particularly autistic children, outside for educational purposes. Throughout the study, both became more confident and comfortable with taking autistic children, and children with other additional needs, into outdoor environments. They became so comfortable, in fact, that they began taking children from their other groups, including reading and math support groups, outside. This was not an expectation of the study; rather, the teachers noticed the effects on themselves and their students and were compelled to try it on their own.

In a more literal sense, the importance of transitions to the success of the group’s outdoor lessons was quickly apparent. An initial apprehension existed with both teachers regarding the amount of time that would be spent walking to the outdoor environments in use for that lesson. Because of this, the teachers often opted for closer locations when going outside, such as the playground, grass field behind the school, or pavilion that was right next to the building; the students often complained when they were told this was their destination for the day, however. Additionally, there were downsides to these more easily accessible outdoor environments such as proximity to roads and parking lots and the presence of other classes. This challenged the teachers to find a way to access a more secluded outdoor location and deliver a meaningful lesson within the 30-minute time frame of the class session.

To do this, Ms. Smith found that transition time could be effectively harnessed so that the five-minute walk to the more secluded outdoor environment on the nature trail became a feasible option for the class. During several sessions, Ms. Smith used the time spent walking back into the building to have individual “check-outs” with the students. Describing her thought process for doing this, Ms. Smith said, “That’s why I was like, let’s just do individual check-outs as we walk back instead, where I just talk to them one-on-one, because they’re not listening to each other as a group … I just checked in with a couple as we walked to ask them, ‘Hey, do you think you met your goal today, and how did you do that?’ I talked to at least three or four of them.” On trips from the building out to the nature trail, the teachers sometimes explained rules, procedures, and expectations for the day, told the class what the planned activity was, or asked individual students what emotion regulation zone they felt they were in at that time. On other days, transition time was used to play “I Spy” to encourage students to pay attention to their surroundings. With their newfound realization of the impact that effective transitions can have, both teachers felt that “trying to plan for those transitions” during lesson planning was particularly crucial to increasing the chances for success.

While we offered the teachers support with brainstorming ideas and developing lesson plans, they did not ask for this help and were insistent on using their own ideas. To start, the teachers often opted to take the lessons they would use indoors and simply move them to an outdoor environment. For instance, they did this several times with read-aloud books and post-reading discussions. Early in the study, Ms. Smith mentioned that she was “very comfortable taking indoor activities outside. But I don’t necessarily feel like I’m great at using what’s outside for the lesson.” After observing this, we found that lessons could be categorized in four ways: indoor lessons delivered inside, indoor lessons that are simply moved into an outdoor setting, indoor lessons that are adapted to utilize some element of the outdoor setting, and lessons designed for use only outdoors.

An added difficulty was the topic that this particular group needed to cover: social skills. Ms. Smith found this more difficult as “social skills was something like, I don't know if I was, if I would say I was necessarily, like, really taught how to teach necessarily.” In an effort to utilize the outdoors for social skills lessons more effectively, the teachers found that it was easiest to search for one of those elements -- outdoor learning or social skills -- and then adapt the idea they’ve found to include the other element. Thus, they avoided the frustration of trying to find ideas for “social skills lessons outdoors,” which may not readily exist online.

To source ideas for their outdoor lessons, the teachers utilized online searches and platforms like Pinterest as well as asking their colleagues for input, and they had success with these methods. Lesson planning required a learning curve, though, as Ms. Smith noted that she had to realize that “it’s okay to, like, go back to something that's worked because it's familiar and it's good … good for them, too. Because I think some, at the beginning, I was just feeling pressured to like come up with something new every time, too.” Additionally, the teachers had to remember that going outside meant they were able to utilize an entirely new set of materials. Ms. Smith found that her “normal frame of mind is worksheets. Videos … maybe a game inside. But now, it's like I need to think about a different space, different materials and what not.” With this, Ms. Smith demonstrated how she adapted her approach to lesson planning during the study.

Adaptations were evident throughout the five months of the study. For instance, the teachers learned that their class responded best when new concepts were introduced indoors and follow-up activities were conducted outside, rather than trying to teach new concepts in the outdoor environment. The teachers believed that this was the case because “when you’re outside, you don’t want to just be sitting and listening. They’re ready to move and be active.” Allowing for movement and physical activity -- taking advantage of having more space outdoors -- was another key to success for the class as the teachers focused on “trying to incorporate more movement, so we've done a lot of games.” Additionally, understanding that lessons don’t have to be complicated to be impactful meant that outdoor lessons felt more approachable for the teachers. Ms. Smith stated that “coming up with your own ideas is a little bit easier now. Like, just thinking of the spaces that we have and … just it's easier to think about. I was like, ‘Well, we can take a walk outside,’ like even just something as simple as taking a walk outside to see all the different places.”

The teachers also expressed that flexibility, both in carrying out lesson plans and in expectations, was key when taking their autistic students outside. For instance, on one day that was intended to be an indoor lesson, the class took a vote to decide where they would prefer to work; four of the students voted to work outside, so the class moved locations and simply took the indoor lesson into the outdoor classroom. This happened quite frequently, as Ms. Smith noted that the class was spending more time outside than what was required from the study because “the kids have been asking to.” During another lesson, Mrs. Barrett realized that she had forgotten one of the key materials, a small whiteboard, inside. She adapted the lesson to account for this, having the children act out the scenarios she was going to draw instead, resulting in a successful lesson.

While the class certainly discussed and adhered to rules and procedures for being outside in order to keep all of the students as safe as possible, the expectations that students were held to evolved as the class spent more time outside. Certain behaviors were discouraged in any setting, such as interrupting teachers or classmates by speaking out of turn. Others, however, were allowed in the outdoor space as the teachers noticed that they adapted their own attitudes toward what constituted acceptable behavior while outdoors. Mrs. Barrett admitted that, when taking the class outside, she was “more flexible with [them]... I don’t expect them to sit still.” She also shared that while she still expected students to listen to her as she teaches, those specific listening behaviors that she is looking out for are also different outside, noting that “I can tell. I can say, ‘Okay. So who … ’ And they say it right back. I know they're listening.” Additionally, observations of the class and teachers indoors showed that sitting still and showing body language that was indicative of focus on the teacher were expectations; children who deviated from these expectations were given reminders of “proper” behavior. When outdoors, however, bodily movement became more accepted, with Mrs. Bartlett sharing, “One chose to sit on the boardwalk and the other three sat on the bench. Well, one started off on the bench and he went off, under the bench. Like, okay. Whatever. As long as you're listening, I'm good.”

Despite the adaptations that the teachers made toward more accepting and flexible behavioral expectations when outside, styles of instruction that would align more closely with NBL or FS, the lessons remained fairly “traditional” in that they were teacher-centered and lesson-centered. Each lesson focused on a particular skill that was addressed; these skills aligned with expectations of what a social skills group should cover and included, during the time of the study, constructs such as emotion regulation, teamwork, problem solving, and conversational turn-taking. A further shift toward an embrace of NBL or FS would result in lessons being more child-centered, child-led, and inquiry-based. These adaptations were not observed during the study.

Affordances

During our observations, we tracked the frequency of certain behaviors exhibited by three of the students, Jacob, Tracy, and Curtis; the target behaviors were selected based upon the students’ IEP goals. Jacob’s goal involved “being able to communicate basic wants and needs and … asking and answering questions.” Tracy’s IEP goal was to utilize self-regulation skills to identify and remove himself from situations that made him over-stimulated, and Curtis’ goal was to ask questions to elicit more information, rather than staying silent, which can then lead to frustration. We wanted to see if being outside might help these students meet the goals in their IEPs.

In tracking Curtis’ goal, we found that his question asking increased more indoors compared to outdoors. Those indoor questions, however, pertained to going outside. For instance, during one session, Curtis asked about a specific material that was being brought outside and if he could help carry it. In another, he asked if he could wear his sunglasses outside. While outdoors, Curtis noticed a helicopter leaf on the ground. After he asked what it was, Ms. Smith helped him to pick it up and throw it in the air to watch how it floated to the ground. The number of times Curtis asked questions certainly increased overall, and it appeared that his interest or enjoyment in going outside prompted those questions.

During the study, Tracy did not utilize any self-regulation techniques. We did not observe him reach a point of being over-stimulated during any of the outdoor or indoor sessions that we observed. This suggests that, despite some fears from the teachers, the outdoor environments did not overwhelm or worsen any feelings for Tracy. To the contrary, we noticed that Tracy enjoyed being outside and looked forward to learning in the outdoor environments. In fact, several situations occurred while outdoors that reasonably could have led to conflict or feeling overwhelmed but did not. For instance, during the lesson where the class read a book about diffusing anger, one of his peers seemed to become annoyed with Tracy’s movements (stomping on the ground) and yelled, “Stop!” In response, Tracy stopped what he was doing and further conflict was avoided. In several other instances, Tracy was directed to pay attention or stop a certain behavior; in each case, Tracy effectively followed the teacher or peer’s directions and re-engaged with the activity. This was in contrast to the indoor lessons, where his behavior was observed to be more chaotic and unsettled. During one indoor lesson, Tracy interrupted the lesson by whispering, “Tornado!” unprompted. He then pretended to play the drums on his legs and moved his body and mouth throughout the rest of instruction. In another indoor lesson that required the students to sit on the carpet and watch a video, Tracy repeatedly spoke aloud during the video.

Perhaps most strikingly, Jacob’s goal of increasing his utterances as well as his responses to questions was clearly and certainly addressed while outside. Jacob spoke and responded to prompts more frequently while outside compared to inside; it also seemed that teachers and peers prompted Jacob to speak more frequently while outside as well. Reflecting on this, Ms. Smith said, “[Jacob] speaks up more. He speaks up more to his classmates, I would say, outside. Like, I think, ‘cause … he feels like there’s more space between him and the teacher … but he does initiate more conversation to his peers outside than he does inside.” Mrs. Barrett attributed this to the outdoor environment, noting, “[Ms. Smith] told me that he talked, had a conversation with another student in front of her, and he asked a question, point blank, to her … Very unusual. That’s where we see him, like, even after school, when they're outside playing, that's when we see him really interacting, is outside. That's when he … That’s his forte, I guess.” This was evident from the first outdoor lesson, when Ms. Smith noted that Jacob was speaking to his peers as she’d never observed before, through to one of the last sessions that we observed when Jacob and his peers found a spider on its web. When asked if he preferred the classroom or being outdoors, Jacob replied, “Outdoors.”

Separate from the frequency tracking of specific IEP goals, the group also experienced additional affordances from spending time outside. Ms. Smith observed “a higher energy level outside, just in more of an eagerness to participate because it's almost like it’s a surprise, what we're gonna, like, what are we gonna do now? And the kids really do look forward to it every time they come in.” The unpredictability of the use of outdoor environments excited and interested the students.

Both teachers repeatedly mentioned that all of their students were more focused while outside and exhibited clearer signs of listening during activities. Additionally, several students who were more prone to shouting out or interrupting other speakers inside were noticeably calmer and shouted out far less while outside. This was particularly true for Mark; according to Ms. Smith, “(Mark) doesn't call out as much outside. He listens more. I don't know why, but he does. I don't know if it's the environment or he knows we're doing something new so he has to pay attention more.” One of Mark’s daily behavioral goals was to reduce instances of blurting out in class; thus, these observations were particularly significant to the teachers.

Finally, the students seemed to benefit from the fresh air, the ability to more freely move around, and the ability to fidget or move when necessary while still listening without disrupting their peers’ learning. Additionally, while instances of the students struggling with behavior outside were very infrequent, Mrs. Barrett did note that the class “did have one incident out there where (a student) shut down, but after the … incident, like, he refused to move. So, we just calmly had everyone come back in because it was at the end. I let him sit there … He got up. Because usually before in the classroom, he would throw chairs, desks, things.” Thus, students potentially had more space to safely work through the process of regulating their emotions when outside. Most importantly, perhaps, in assuaging any fears that teachers may have about taking their autistic students into a new environment is Ms. Smith’s view that “no one’s (behavior has) gotten worse outside.”

The students were not the only participants who experienced clear positive effects from spending time outside. Both teachers repeatedly noted ways that they benefited from the experience as well. The teachers felt that the outdoor environments required them to be more creative in lesson planning. While this may have been challenging at times, they also noted that it made them “more thoughtful about the space we use and how we use it.” Additionally, the teachers seemed to harness the feelings of being challenged by their mission to use the outdoor environments in a productive way, sharing that while it was sometimes intimidating, they found the experience exciting as well. The other main impact that the teachers experienced was increasing feelings of peacefulness and calm while taking the students outside. Ms. Smith said that she doesn’t “feel quite as drained after being outside. I think it’s more refreshing because it's a break from the usual.

Nature can serve as an accommodation to support autistic students in meeting IEP goals, particularly due to the positive impact time outside has on stress reduction ( Ulrich et al., 1991 ). Our observations suggest that the outdoor environments did not hinder progress in meeting IEP goals and, in some cases, may have facilitated opportunities to work toward those goals due to lower stress levels.

Jacob, for instance, did not speak unprompted in the social skills class for the first half of the year when the class was inside, likely due to selective mutism. Selective mutism is reported as being connected to stressful life experiences, including those occurring at school ( Muris and Ollendick, 2015 ), though some autistic individuals with selective mutism are reported as not speaking due to a lack of interest in the social context rather than shyness or anxiety ( Steffenburg et al., 2018 ). It is possible that this was a factor for Jacob as well. During the first trip outside and in many subsequent sessions, Jacob participated verbally. There could be a number of reasons that Jacob felt more able to speak while outside; these include having physical distance from the teachers, feeling more relaxed and enjoying class more, or the different style of activities used in some instances outside (e.g., incorporating more physical movement). Additionally, the stress reduction that occurs in nature might have allowed Jacob to feel comfortable enough to speak. Whatever the reason, it was evident from tracking Jacob’s utterances, both prompted and unprompted, that being outside led to an increase in utterances, moving him closer to that specific IEP goal.

In the case of Tracy, the outdoor environments did not cause him to feel overstimulated to the point of having difficulty regulating his feelings or behavior. While we are not able to conclude whether this was from being in an outdoor space or if another alternative education space that was indoors would have had a similar effect on him, it is possible that the stress reduction from being outdoors minimized feelings of overstimulation. Regardless, the impact of the outdoor environments on Tracy was not a negative one. Both Jacob and Tracy’s suspected experiences of lower stress levels outdoors are supported by prior research (e.g., Wells and Evans, 2003 ; Chawla, 2015 ).

Finally, the outdoors seemed to provide a topic of conversation for Curtis, as he asked several questions regarding the details of his class going outside. In the case of all three students, being outside did not hinder their progress toward addressing their IEP goals; rather, our data suggest that outdoor environments moved them closer to reaching those goals. Given the well documented negative effects that poorly designed indoor classrooms can have on autistic children ( McAllister and Maguire, 2012 ), accessing an educational space that does not have those same detrimental impacts could have additional beneficial effects and should be considered as a relatively accessible support or accommodation. Despite the aforementioned benefits, it is important to avoid romanticizing the positive impacts of time outdoors for autistic children. It is unreasonable to expect that all people, including all autistic children, will enjoy being outdoors all of the time or respond positively; in some cases, time in or near nature may increase anxiety ( Larson et al., 2018 ).

While this began as a study focused on how outdoor environments might affect autistic students, the picture that emerged following five months of data collection placed the teachers’ experiences front and center as well. The two special educators demonstrated a growth mindset; they began the study with no outdoor learning experience, confronted the barriers that they came across throughout the process, and appreciated the benefits that outdoor learning offered to themselves and their students. This growth mindset was likely supported by the impacts to teachers that we did not expect. There are many legitimate reasons why teachers may be hesitant to take their students outside; these include time constraints, safety concerns, lack of confidence, or rigidity in developing lessons to adhere to standards ( Rickinson et al., 2004 ; Dyment, 2005 ). Several of these barriers were factors for the teachers in the study, particularly the lack of confidence and feelings of having insufficient time. Despite the presence of these challenges, Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett persisted and continued to take their students outside. Thus began what seemed to be a feedback loop: the more the teachers took their students outside, the more the students looked forward and expected to go outside. Furthermore, as the teachers gained more experience taking their social skills group outside, their confidence increased to the point that, unprompted, they began taking their other classes outside as well.

Additionally, teachers are undoubtedly under a tremendous amount of stress, which can lead to burnout and negative impacts to wellbeing ( Richards et al., 2018 ). While we initially expected Ulrich et al.'s (1991) SRT to be a factor influencing how autistic students responded in the outdoor environment due to reported stressful school experiences, it is possible that the teachers equally benefited from stress reduction while outside, evidenced by continued mention of feelings of calm, enjoying the peace of the outdoors, and feeling less drained. It would seem that in the midst of a chaotic school day, spending time outside offered a reprieve for the teachers that outweighed the difficulties of identifying and planning lessons to execute outside. Feelings of lowered stress and increased relaxation are among the most commonly noted positive effects of exposure to nature for adults ( Maller et al., 2006 ; Morita et al., 2007 ; Cole and Hall, 2010 ).

In particular, Mrs. Barrett seemed to undergo a stark transformation. When approached about the research, we received a more reluctant acceptance from Mrs. Barrett; it seemed that Ms. Smith naturally took the lead, likely due to a higher comfort level with the topic or more motivation to tackle the opportunity. Whatever the reason, it is due to this initial hesitance that Mrs. Barrett’s experience taking her students outside is more striking. When interviewing her at the end of the study, she reported having opted to take her other special education classes outdoors as well, citing the positive feelings that she got from the experience as a driving factor. She made at least three references to feeling peaceful and calm while outdoors in her second interview. Mrs. Barrett also seemed to evolve in her expectations of her students while outside, mentioning that as long as she knew her students were listening, she did not mind them moving around or choosing to stand or lay down while she taught outside. This contrasted with her teaching style inside, which was far more structured and emphasized traditional listening cues such as sitting upright, being quiet, and maintaining eye contact.

Future Research

Despite our initial focus on the development of the students, the teachers in our study, Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett, became crucially important to the overall case. The evolution and impacts that they experienced suggest that future research should explore the wellbeing effects for teachers who take their students outside as well as the implications this may have for job satisfaction, teacher retention, and reducing burnout.

In our observations of a social skills class consisting of five autistic students and their two special education teachers who incorporated outdoor learning into their day for five months, we saw a range of affordances available to teachers and students alike and ample evidence of their enjoying these affordances. Harnessing such benefits in an educational context requires teachers who are willing and capable of supporting students in engaging with the outdoors. Ms. Smith and Mrs. Barrett, neither of whom had any previous experience or training with taking autistic children outside to learn, were able to adapt their existing knowledge and skills to support their students in learning in the new environment. Additionally, there was no evidence of students experiencing negative outcomes or feeling worse while outside. Coupled with the progress that students such as Jacob showed during the outdoor lessons, this suggests that nature should be considered as an option to meet the needs of autistic children during the school day. This case study serves to demonstrate that, even for teachers with no prior experience taking children into nature, outdoor learning is possible and beneficial to everyone involved.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Elon University Institutional Review Board. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.

Author Contributions

SF and SM contributed to conception, design, and recruitment for the study. SF collected data. Both SF and SM contributed to analysis. SF wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and both SF and SM revised and approved the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jessica Wery and Maddie Craft for their assistance on this study.

1 Following Kenny et al.’s (2016) study of preferred terminology in the autism community, we are using identity-first language throughout.

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Keywords: outdoor learning, nature-based learning, special education, case study, autism

Citation: Friedman S and Morrison SA (2021) “I just want to stay out there all day”: A Case Study of Two Special Educators and Five Autistic Children Learning Outside at School. Front. Educ. 6:668991. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.668991

Received: 17 February 2021; Accepted: 30 April 2021; Published: 20 May 2021.

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*Correspondence: Samantha Friedman, [email protected]

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• Published: 14 December 2023

Preventing bullying of students with special educational needs through dialogic gatherings: a case study in elementary education

• Garazi Álvarez-Guerrero   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0632-4391 1   nAff5 ,
• Rocío García-Carrión   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5520-5105 2 ,
• Andrea Khalfaoui 3 ,
• Maite Santiago-Garabieta 3 &
• Ramón Flecha 4  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  956 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Scientific literature has clarified that bullying is a global challenge and students with special educational needs (SEN) are at a higher risk of experiencing it. Educational actions focused on dialogue and interaction as dialogic gatherings (DG) have been widely studied as a successful educational action (SEAs) rooted in egalitarian dialogue that promotes social cohesion. However, its potential to prevent bullying among students with SEN remains to be investigated. This qualitative case study explores the impact of implementing DG in two elementary classrooms and its potential to prevent school violence in a comprehensive school setting (43 students, 10–12 years old, from which 5 had SEN). Classroom observations of DGs and focus groups with teachers and students were conducted. Data analysis indicated that DG effectively contributed to students’ increased awareness regarding the distinction between violent and non-violent relationships, and influenced their personal preferences, guiding them towards non-violent behaviours. Implications for practice highlight the potential of DG to enhance non-violent behaviours among elementary students, which is particularly relevant to ensure students with SEN’s protection and inclusion.

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Introduction.

Violence in schools is a global challenge that affects one out of three students in the world (WHO, 2020 ). The devastating consequences of suffering bullying include low academic achievement, and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem (Solberg & Olweus, 2003 ). While this issue could affect all students, those with Special Educational Needs (hereinafter, SEN) are particularly vulnerable, as they are twice more often at risk of suffering school violence than their peers without SEN, according to studies conducted in Sweden (Annerbäck et al., 2014 ), Finland (Repo & Sajaniemi, 2014 ) and the U.S. with school-aged children (Sentenac et al., 2013 ). Perceived differences in terms of physical and verbal limitations between students with and without SEN might explain the higher risk of suffering school violence (Malecki et al., 2020 ). This type of bullying, specifically targeted to students with disabilities, whether in a regular classroom or online setting, is known as, ‘Disablist bullying’ (O’Moore & McGuire, 2021 ).

In addition, fewer opportunities to interact with peers appear to be related to a higher risk of suffering victimisation among students with SEN (Glumbic & Zunic-Pavlovic, 2010 ). These findings are reinforced by Bowker et al. ( 2006 ), who showed that when students with SEN do not have peer support in the classroom are more likely to be victimised. These results highlight the crucial role peer interactions and supportive classroom environments might play in preventing school violence for all students, which is particularly important for those with SEN.

Building on the potential of peer interactions and dialogue-based actions to prevent school violence (Ríos-González et al., 2019 ), some educational actions have put together those critical components such as family and community participation, to orchestrate a safe and supportive learning environment (Morlà-Folch et al., 2022 ). In this vein, one of the most studied interventions is dialogic gatherings (DG), which are a reading activity rooted in sharing meanings, interpretations and reflections around a particular text collectively agreed upon beforehand (Ruiz-Eugenio et al., 2023 ). This particular action is identified in scientific literature as a Successful Educational Action (hereinafter, SEAs), which are school-based interventions identified by the European Project INCLUD-ED: “Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education” (Flecha, 2015 ) that “can improve school success and contribute to social cohesion in every context where they are implemented” (Flecha, 2015 , p. 3). This is aligned with the theory of Dialogic Society (Flecha, 2022 ), which understands that citizens can participate and benefit from the cocreation of scientific knowledge, which can lead to achieve social impact, following the criteria of the Horizon Europe framework.

As of the present, a systematic review by Ruiz-Eugenio et al. ( 2023 ) has identified over 60 scientific articles that delve into the effects of Dialogic Gatherings (DG) across a broad spectrum of academic areas, including reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition, as well as their social implications. These studies have highlighted positive outcomes, encompassing enhanced social cohesion and improved classroom climates. Furthermore, when DG is implemented using evidence-based texts that factor in their social impact, as proposed by Soler-Gallart and Flecha ( 2022 ), the results have indicated significant benefits. For instance, Buslón et al. ( 2020 ) reported that DG has a positive impact on enhancing scientific literacy among adult participants. Additionally, Garcia-Carrión et al. ( 2020 ) found that DG fosters a secure and inclusive environment for children, where every contribution is recognised and respected. Numerous studies focusing on DG have shown that this intervention can effectively increase student’s awareness of violence when implemented in early adolescence (López de Aguileta et al., 2020 ), and with girls, some of them victims of violence against women and living out-of-home care (Salceda et al., 2020 ), and girls with disabilities (Rodrigues et al., 2021 ). However, the potential of DG to prevent and counteract violence when implemented in mainstream schools and exploring especially its potential benefits for children with SEN remains to be investigated.

School violence against students with SEN and inclusive learning environments

School violence, also known as bullying, refers to aggressive behaviour aimed at inflicting injury or discomfort on another individual, which involves continuous aggression, (whether physical, psychological, or social) and usually occurs in school settings such as classrooms, the playground, or school surroundings (Olweus, 1978 ; 1993 ). According to the results of a longitudinal study developed in the United Kingdom with over 13,000 pupils aged between 7 and 15, the percentage of children who had been excluded from school is 15%, as they suffered bullying daily (Anti-Bullying Alliance, 2016 ). These data show one of the most urgent challenges educational systems must address to guarantee the right to education in schools where children might be safe (Ríos-González et al., 2019 ), as a prerequisite to learn and thrive.

Indeed, offering a high-quality and inclusive education for all, as the sustainable development goal 4 establishes (United Nations, 2015 ), entails guaranteeing a safe school environment that includes all students. For this to happen, Iñiguez-Berrozpe and colleagues ( 2021 ) highlight the importance of creating collective norms in the school to overcome violence. This collective creation of rules and standards, that set the grounds for a safe and supportive daily life in schools, is more effective if it includes in its entire process the involvement of the families and the community (Iñiguez-Berrozpe et al., 2021 ). This is consistent with other research that has also evidenced that the participation of the entire school community seems to be fundamental in reducing school violence (Espelage et al., 2015 ). Thus, this factor seems particularly relevant for students with SEN, since they are highly vulnerable to violence in school (UNESCO, 2019 ).

Among the multiple variations in the terminology used to refer to students with SEN, a generic term widely used in the literature for decades, include “all children who have developmental difficulties that affect: their learning; their behavioural, emotional and social development; their communication; and their ability to care for themselves and gain independence” (Lindsay, 2007 , p. 3). Furthermore, students with SEN often experience more bullying, discrimination, and isolation than their peers without SEN (Turner et al., 2011 ). Indeed, they are also more likely to suffer incidents of physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse being highly vulnerable (Malecki et al., 2020 ; Reiter, Lapidot-Lefler ( 2007 )). In addition, this student body might have fewer opportunities to interact with their peers in a mainstream classroom, which also increases the likelihood of being victims of school violence (Bowker et al., 2006 ). Since the context matters to enable or hinder students’ opportunities to learn and feel supported, creating learning environments that generate opportunities for peer interactions seems particularly relevant for students with SEN.

In this regard, decades of research have been looking at what schools can do to foster violence-free inclusive learning environments, which are defined as natural and non-restrictive contexts, where all students are granted the opportunity to interact with each other in egalitarian conditions (Schoger, 2006 ). For instance, when Draper et al., ( 2019 ) explored effective strategies to support peer interactions for students with severe disabilities in music classes in the USA, they found that activities that allowed students to work together and help each other were significantly efficient to increase positive peer interactions. Indeed, inclusive learning environments prioritise dialogue-based practices to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to participate, and that the voices of all students are heard and considered (Donnelly et al., 2016 ). This happens to be crucial since a lack of peer interactions in the classroom has been pointed out as a risk factor linked to school violence (Glumbic & Zunic-Pavlovic, 2010 ). In this sense, The report “Achieving student well-being for all: educational contexts free of violence” contracted and funded by the EC to find the programmes that have succeeded in preventing violence against children found that a common element in all programmes that overcome violence against children is the involvement of the whole community, its scientific training and its union in the response to cases, always supporting the victims (Flecha, Puigvert & Racionero-Plaza 2023 ).

These dialogue-based interventions have been defined by the INCLUD-ED: “Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education” (Flecha, 2015 ) project as successful educational actions (SEAs hereinafter) (Flecha, 2015 ). Research has reported these SEAs promote social cohesion and foster academic success among students across the globe, including in special education settings (Navarro-Mateu et al., 2021 ; Álvarez-Guerrero et al., 2021 ). There are several benefits SEAs have achieved when implemented accurately; as research has shown students have improved their interpersonal relations (García-Carrión et al., 2020 ) and communicative competence (Fernández-Villardón et al., 2021 ), among others. Within the seven successful educational actions (Flecha, 2015 ) identified in the INCLUD-ED project, this article focuses on the Dialogic Gatherings (DG hereinafter), that have been applied in the frame of the Dialogic Model of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts, two specific successful educational actions aiming at preventing and reducing school violence.

Putting dialogic learning to work to prevent and reduce school violence

Educational research has provided relevant insights on how to prevent school violence using a dialogic approach (Padrós, 2014 ). Using a variety of texts such as literary or scientific works to open dialogues on bullying or child abuse has been a recurrent tool for deepening the understanding of bullying (Salceda et al., 2020 ; Williams, 2020 ). Moreover, it has been used to implement classroom strategies for overcoming bullying among students of different age groups (Aubert, 2015 ; Rosen et al., 2023 ).

In this framework, Dialogic Gatherings can be implemented in the classroom to engage students in a collective construction of knowledge and meaning when they discuss a previous reading of the same text (García-Carrión et al., 2020 ). In DGs, participants choose based on reasoning and validity arguments (Habermas, 1984 ) one of the greatest works in different cultural or scientific fields, such as literature, art, music, or science. Then, students read the text individually and select a piece or paragraph that appeals to them for any reason to be shared later in the DG where they engage in meaningful and critical dialogues around the previous reading. In addition to the positive effects documented in the utilisation of DG (Ruiz-Eugenio et al., 2023 ), as previously stated, there has been a paucity of research that has examined its specific potential in cultivating protective factors aimed at mitigating school violence, with a particular focus on children with SEN.

However, DGs can be implemented as a specific strategy within the Dialogic Model of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts, one of the successful educational actions addressed to reduce and prevent bullying. This dialogic model is characterised by using dialogue as the tool for fostering egalitarian relationships involving students, teachers, families and community members in creating rules and reaching agreements of school-wide standards for better coexistence through a dialogic process (Villarejo-Carballido et al., 2019 ). Particularly, the dialogic model promotes a bystander intervention among the students and the entire community to foster solidarity and protective networks in the school (Duque et al., 2021 ). Hence, spaces for dialogue are created with the aim of promoting a culture of protection and rejection of violence through interactions in which many diverse voices are included. Accordingly, the DGs are one of those spaces where egalitarian dialogues take place among the students, including everyone’s voice in a safe and supportive environment where every single child is included.

A case study (Yin, 2018 ) was carried out to achieve an in-depth understanding of how Dialogic Gatherings might have an impact, if any, in preventing bullying, and particularly against students with SEN, as they are more vulnerable to suffer bullying (Farmer et al., 2017 ). Thus, this research aims to answer the following research questions:

How can Dialogic Gatherings using research-informed texts contribute to improving peer relationships and create safe environments among students with and without SEN in an Elementary school?

To what extent, if any, this environment can protect from suffering bullying students with SEN?

The study was conducted between May and June 2022 in a school located in the Basque Country (Spain) in a low socioeconomic area. It serves students from 2 to 12 years. It is a culturally and linguistically diverse school, where over more than 39% of students are migrants and the rest come from migrant families from 28 different countries mainly from Northern and Occidental Africa, Occidental Asia, and South America.

Participants

A total of fifty-one participants, including students, school staff and parents, who volunteered in the school, were involved in the study. In the DG sessions, 43 students between 10 and 12 years old (see Table 1 for more details), three mothers and one father aged between 30 and 45 years old, and two female teachers participated. Then, in the focus groups, three more female school staff members participated: the School Principal, the Special Education Teacher, and the School Counsellor. Students and parents were the participants in the DG, they contributed with their ideas, sharing their arguments and commenting on each other’s opinions, prompted by the text previously read. The teachers acted as facilitators of the discussion, taking turns ensuring the dialogic principles underlying the activity (Flecha, 2000 ).

As the study has a special emphasis on students with SEN, more details about these participants are provided to frame their specific needs (see Table 2 ).

Data collection

Four classroom observations were conducted during the Dialogic Gatherings (two in each group) in which students discussed the previous reading of the research-informed texts. Following the guidelines of the dialogic gatherings, the participants sat in a circle and participated in the discussion. They were not asked to do anything beyond participating in the session. All sessions were video recorded for a later in-depth analysis to explore dialogues about key elements that help overcoming bullying at schools, and specifically against students with SEN.

After the implementation of the DGs, five focus groups of approximately 30 min each were conducted, and audio recorded between May and June 2022. Four with 5 students from each group -A and B-, and one with teachers and school staff: two teachers, the special education teacher, the school counsellor, and the principal. This technique enabled us to explore both individual and collective perspectives, leading to a more profound comprehension of the experience of bullying, the higher risk that students with SEN have and the factors that might protect them following the Communicative Methodology (Gómez et al., 2010 ). The techniques described in this section were carried out inside the school, and all the participants and they were asked to give their opinions about the intervention. They were also asked if there was something that particularly helped them in the dialogic gatherings to prevent violence. Table 3 summarises the data collection techniques and participants involved.

Procedure and materials

Prior to starting the school year, in June 2021 this school was contacted as it was interested in preventing bullying or any kind of school violence. After reaching a consensus with all members of the community (students, teachers, and families) the school agreed to implement the dialogic Model and the dialogic gatherings using research-informed texts. The study was conducted in the 2021–2022 academic year and two elementary education fourth-grade classrooms (Group A and Group B) implemented the DG. These groups were selected because (a) having a higher number of conflicts among the students and (b) having a higher number of students with SEN than in the rest of the classrooms.

Thus, from May to June 2022, a rigorous implementation of DG was ensured through a close collaboration between the teachers and the researchers. The DG lasted around one hour and a half. The texts used in DG were two scientific dissemination articles about bullying prevention, published in “Kaiera,” a free open-access online journal that publishes research-informed articles. The dissemination article read and discussed in the first session was based on the results of the study by Palikara et al. ( 2021 ) on the mediating role of school belonging in school-aged children, entitled “The relationship between school sense of belonging, emotional well-being and feeling of loneliness”. The second DG was an adaptation of the article ‘A Friend Is a Treasure and May Help You to Face Bullying’ (Navarro et al., 2018 ), which included examples of bullying situations.

During the gatherings, all the participants sat in a circle, so that everyone could see each other. The classroom teacher facilitated the gathering ensuring an equitable participation and a respectful environment, that values arguments and rejects power-based interventions. During the sessions, students share what appeals to them from the text and link it to their own daily experiences, engaging in meaningful dialogues that ultimately lead them to a deeper understanding of the given text.

Students with SEN participated in the DG sessions alongside their peers. In order to ensure their equitable participation, those students had the opportunity to prepare for the gathering beforehand by reading the text in advance with the support of the special education teacher. This was an initiative of the school to support the participation of these students in the DG because they present some level of difficulties in reading skills. The preparation consisted of 2 group sessions with these students, where the assistant teacher helped them to read, underline the information they wanted to share, and assist them in drafting what they wanted to talk about during the session.

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Deusto (ETK-45/21-22). Informed consent was ensured before the study started, which included the right to withdraw from the study at any time without consequences. Participants’ identity is protected by pseudonyms to ensure their anonymity. In terms of data protection, this study has securely stored data in an online cloud only accessible by the researchers. The data collected from the study is treated with strict confidentiality and used solely for the purposes of the study. This study is also part of the competitive project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain: “CHILDPRO: It is never too early to prevent gender-based violence: identification and overcoming of risk behaviours in childhood” (REF: PID2020-115581RB-I00).

Data analysis

All the data collected were transcribed verbatim and analysed. Thus, inductive thematic analysis was carried out which allowed us to determine themes found within our research data (Clarke, Braun ( 2017 )). A total of four main themes were identified: (1) Raising awareness of violent behaviours; (2) Importance of reading evidence-based texts about friendship; (3) Fostering safe inclusive learning environments; (4) Sustainability of the intervention over time.

After that, the data was categorised to explore the barriers and the opportunities of the dialogic gatherings based on the two components of the Communicative Methodology: exclusionary, and transformative dimensions (Gómez et al., 2010 ). The first one, the exclusionary dimension, identifies the obstacles to social transformation. The second one, the transformative dimension, includes the elements that overcome these barriers. Considering this transformative approach is particularly important when doing research with students with SEN, because of their vulnerability to being bullied and excluded.

A total of 863 utterances were analysed. From those, 90% emerged as transformative dimensions of the dialogic gatherings and 10% reported barriers or exclusionary dimensions. Accordingly, this section is structured within these two main dimensions that include the results of the thematic analysis illustrated through participants’ voices. All the participants were asked to fill out an informed consent. In the case of children, their parents signed it, and they were also asked to give their verbal consent. Their participation was voluntary and there were no economic or material compensations for participating in this research.

Transformative dimension

Raising awareness of violent behaviours and challenging them.

The dialogues shared in the gatherings helped students to reflect on their own behaviours and raised their awareness about violent behaviours, their consequences and the possibility to change them. In this regard, Brian, a student with ADHD and mild intellectual disability, usually misbehaved in the classroom and disturbed his peers. In the second DG, dialogues were shared about hypothetical situations when someone tries to force you to do something you do not want to do, and he raised his hand and asked the following question:

For example, someone is with me, tells me to do something I don’t want to do… What can I do? I think I did something wrong, and I regret it. I have also realised that I don’t like being told what to do… (Brian, DG 2, group B).

Later, in the focus group Brian shared he wanted to improve his own attitude, as he realised after the DG that his peers with violent attitudes were influencing and shaping his behaviour. Also, Brian’s mother expressed in one of the DG her concerns about children’s mental health when they misbehave, and she told the students they have to behave appropriately at school with their peers. The following dialogue illustrates how Brian reflected about his own attitude and the behaviours of colleagues from whom he was receiving pressure to do things he didn’t like. In this sense, his classmates Mike, and Ethan, encouraged him to change his attitude to release himself from such pressures.

Brian (student with SEN): Some of those who misbehave to be funny, they make other people follow them and for example. I have done it and I keep… Sometimes I misbehave and I follow them around, and I don’t know how not to follow them around because they only talk nonsense… And after the DG I want to improve my attitude, I want to change, I don’t want to keep misbehaving.

Mike: I can tell you that those who have driven you to misbehave, don’t listen to them, because they won’t help you to be better.

Ethan: Brian, you… Even if they made you misbehave, try not to have that attitude. I know you have got used to having that attitude but try to get rid of it. I know, it’s very difficult, when you get used to something it’s very difficult to change it… But at least try! And if you can’t… At least you have tried! (Students, group B).

After these dialogues, Brian stayed in silence for a few seconds and answered to Mike and Ethan saying he would change his attitude, respecting others and letting them participate in the sessions without interrupting them.

Well… I’m going to try it; Now I understand that I need to change my attitude and I will. If I don’t change it some people are going to get angry with me, and if I continue misbehaving, my classmates won’t be able to participate in the sessions. (Brian, student, group B).

Also, students reported that the DG has helped them to be more aware of who is their friend and who has violent behaviours towards them, so they do not consider this attitude as desirable when choosing with whom they want to establish their friendships.

Amber: I have friends, but they are not my friends, because they misbehave and have violent behaviours. That’s why I don’t want to be with them, I don’t like it. That’s why they are not my friends.

Sophia: I have good friends who help me in general, who help me to do my work… and when I’m sad they come to me and ask me if I’m fine.

Researcher: And who wouldn’t be your friend Sophia?

Sophia: Well, they wouldn’t be my friends if they hit me, if they treat me badly, if they behave badly… like… if they hurt me. (Students, group A).

The importance of reading research-informed texts about friendship

It was also identified that reading texts that reported scientific evidence about school violence during the DG sessions supported some students in improving their behaviour. In the case of Amber, a girl from group A, she mentions that it has been very significant to read this type of text, as it has helped her to better identify how aggressors behave and that she has perceived how some of her peers also started acting differently after participating in DG.

When we started to read Kaiera’s texts in the DG, some people started to behave better when they read them. Because I think, in my opinion, they saw the aggressor’s behaviour and they didn’t want to be like those aggressors. (Amber, group A)

During the DG students engaged in discussions about their daily experiences at school, particularly focusing on their own behaviours and attitudes. In this specific interaction, the researcher directs the students’ attention to an image showing a playground and a situation where a group of students is bullying another student. Anthony, one of the students, acknowledges that he has experienced a similar situation where a student was mocking another one, and he mentions that he has taken action to help. This illustrates how Dialogic Gatherings can help students reflect on their own experiences and actions, helping students to have a better understanding of bullying and friendship.

Researcher: Look, in this image you can see a playground and how someone is reporting when they see that a group is bullying someone ((points the picture)).

Anthony: I have seen myself in that situation ((referring to a scene in the illustration where a student is mocking another one)) and I have helped.

Researcher: That’s great, Martin has something to add.

Martin: That’s true, he has helped and comforted me. Now I know that to help a friend means to be a true friend. (DG 2, group A).

In that session, the teacher added that this idea seemed very important to her, and another student, Gemma, replied to her, that being a good friend meant being treated well and not letting others hurt you. Julia responded that the text highlights the importance of having good friends who help you getting over bullying.

Group A teacher: Yes, I have also seen that and think it is so important to give support.

Researcher: Definitely, Gemma.

Gemma: I also like it when they are with me and treat me well. A friend is someone who listens to you and doesn’t leave you alone when they pick on you.

Researcher: ((Assents)) Julia.

Julia: As the text says it’s super important to have good friends who help you end bullying. (DG 2, group A).

Finally, when students were asked in the focus group if anything had been done during the academic year had increased their sense of being safe in the school, two of the students, Amber and Sophia answered that the DG helped them to feel safer, highlighting that evidence-based text provided them with relevant information to better understand friendship.

Researcher: Is there anything that has made you feel safer in the school during this school year?

Amber and Sophia: The Dialogic Gatherings.

Researcher: And what do you think is the most remarkable about them?

Sophia: Well, the texts like the one about violent behaviour and the other one about friendship.

Amber: Now after reading the texts we know better who our friend is and who is not. (FG students, group A).

Fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment

Students underline that they have learned that friendship can prevent bullying by reading and sharing the article of Navarro et al. ( 2018 ) about friendship, which made them reconsider the definition of what it means to be a true friend. This also helped bullying prevention, as the text provides them with science-based actions that help to overcome violence in school. In this line, when the students of group A were asked during the focus group if they feel safer at the school after the DG, they answered that now they all feel safer because they know that their friends will protect them if something happens.

Researcher: So, after the DG do you feel safer at school?

Researcher: And why?

Amber: Because now after talking about this we know that when you have friends, they help you not to suffer aggression or abuse, because as it says in the text: “a friend is a treasure that helps you to prevent bullying” and we are better friends now. (Focus group students, group A).

This student, Amber, who is seated in class next to Noa, also underlined that after participating in DG, what they have learned is that being alone increases the risk of suffering bullying, and now they know that if they want to combat bullying, they need to address this issue. Having this in mind, Amber, Sophia, and Anthony, students without SEN who took part in the focus group, reported that after the DG sessions they and other peers began to play with Noa, a student with SEN that was excluded regularly before the implementation:

Amber: Noa (student with SEN) she was always alone, but then we started to understand that you have to play with everyone and not leave someone alone. So, some people started to play with her!

Sophia: I started to play with her too!

Anthony: Me too! (Focus group, students, group A).

In the case of Noa, she had previously reported that she did not have any friends at school, and after the DG sessions, other pupils noticed this and started interacting with her in class and in the playground. The teacher from group A shared in the focus group that the implementation of DG has helped to overcome isolation in the school context:

I think that to prevent violence it is important to say that what happens to you happens to everyone and that everyone is not an isolated individual, but that we are all one. We are group A, and that’s it! That was so important. (Classroom teacher, Group A).

Students were also more aware of the specific needs of other peers with SEN, such as the possible limitations in verbal or social skills. The teacher comments on the case of Martin, a pupil who had self-harming behaviours by hitting his head against the walls when he was alone in the playground. She says that when she told him to stop, he did not, but when his peers told him to go with them, he listened and immediately stopped hurting himself. Since Martin’s classmates knew about the importance of including everyone through the DG, this situation changed and now it does not happen because he is no longer alone.

At the beginning of the school year, Martin (student with SEN) usually was all alone during the playground and all the time was banging his head against the walls, and no matter how many times I told him to get off, he wouldn’t get off. Now he never does it because he is never alone. Sometimes, he tries to isolate himself, and when I try to speak, he doesn’t listen to me. But if someone else from the classroom goes, he immediately pays attention to them. (Classroom teacher, group A).

Rachel’s case is worth to mention, as an outstanding case of a student with SEN that showed that being involved in the dialogic gatherings helped her to enhance her sense of belonging and foster her participation in school. Rachel had communication difficulties that prevented her from participating in regular classroom activities but in the DG, she voluntarily raised her hand to read and comment on the paragraph she had selected, expressing her opinion on it. The special education teacher in that moment reported that was the first time she had participated in class. As we can see in the quote, Rachel’s intervention triggered further discussions because another student responded to her idea by agreeing with her statement:

Rachel: Bullying is a form of aggression, which means it’s behaviour that is used to hurt someone.” It’s a behaviour that is used to harm someone because I believe hurting someone is wrong, and bullying is also wrong because the victim suffers.

Laia: I have chosen the same paragraph because there are some who don’t realise that harm can be done just with words… and I also liked what Rachel said. (DG 2, group B).

Teacher from group B also reported that Rachel has improved in terms of socialisation after the DG as she has started to participate in the class. She explains how Rachel, through this text and the dialogues shared, learnt that the risk of suffering bullying increases with loneliness and this was a crucial realisation since she usually self-isolated. Participating in the DG opened her the door to participate and to feel more included, breaking the dangerous walls of solitude.

There is a student, Rachel (Student with SEN), who joined us last year and usually spent time with two students, but this year those students have left, and she doesn’t want to socialise anymore. It is true that in the last DG we did, when we read about “if you isolate yourself, you are more at risk of being bullied”, it made an impact on her, and she spent a couple of weeks talking more with everyone. In class I also started to notice that she was there, because she was always quiet, and then it was like “I’m listening to your voice! (Classroom teacher, group B).

Exclusionary dimension

Sustainability of the intervention over time.

Teachers reported the limitations they encounter to maintain the gains observed during the DGs over time. That is, some students benefitted from being involved in the gatherings, and that opened new possibilities for participation and socialisation, such as the case of Rachel, as reported by the special education teacher:

I think that for Rachel (Student with SEN), DG has opened a door for her to interact with other children. It took a while for her to understand the text, but when she read that if she isolated herself, she could be bullied, she was the one who wanted to socialise. (Special education teacher).

However, she also acknowledged that Rachel did not continue socialising after the gatherings were over.

But after two weeks she was isolating herself again. That’s why I think that if we had continued with the DG, these impacts would not have been lost. (Special education teacher).

Hence, the special education teacher suggests that extending the DG during the entire school year would enlarge its benefits and argues that if the intervention had continued, these benefits could have been maintained.

Results reveal that Dialogic Gatherings had a positive impact among students in different dimensions. Firstly, by promoting the creation of a safe and inclusive learning environment in which students can share their thoughts and feelings about issues related to school violence. Previous research shows how dialogic interventions for violence prevention can generate an adequate climate to improve social cohesion in schools (Oliver, 2014 ). Through DG, we have seen how students with and without SEN started to communicate effectively, creating new relationships with their peers, and taking care of the most vulnerable ones, which is essential for preventing violence in the school context (Dunn, 2004 ). Through dialogues shared in DG, students have also learned to respect and appreciate differences among their peers, which can lead to a more inclusive and comprehensive school environment (García-Carrión et al., 2018 ).

Secondly, there has been an improvement in reducing the attractiveness of violent behaviours. This, in turn, has increased the greater appreciation of positive behaviours, leading students to prefer or prioritise friendships free of violence. These results feed previous research about the effectiveness of Dialogic Gatherings in the prevention of gender violence among girls with intellectual disabilities (Rodrigues et al., 2021 ). Indeed, dialogues about the importance of not letting anyone behind and friendship were particularly relevant results of DG, as those make students be more aware of the key role everyone holds in ensuring an inclusive and violence-free environments at school. Also, sharing their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs on a particular reading under the dialogic conditions of the DG facilitates the participation of students with SEN, which bridges relationships with their peers without SEN. These kinds of relationships have proven to act as a protective factor to counteract school violence (Farmer et al., 2016 ).

Thirdly, DG has offered the participants the opportunity not only to read high-quality research-informed texts but also to make students reflect about their own daily experiences and relationships, leading them to choose non-violent friends. Through the dialogues developed during the Dialogic Gatherings and the focus groups, students with and without SEN have developed strategies to distinguish between those who are their friends and those who are not, by reflecting on how their peers treated them and vice versa. It also has helped students with SEN to reflect about their own behaviour, which opens new possibilities to prevent conflicts and to autoregulate themselves, which is essential for human development (Vallotton & Ayoub, 2011 ). This is consistent with the preventive socialisation theory that raises awareness about the link between violent actions and attractiveness, unveiling violent models in society and eliminating their appeal (Valls et al., 2008 ).

Limitations and future research

Although this is a highly relevant topic that has been little studied so far, the implementation of DG in mainstream elementary education has shown promising results in overcoming and preventing bullying. The study acknowledges some limitations: on the one hand, the number of participants and the sessions carried out were limited, and even if the results are promising, they cannot be generalised. It has also been noted that the positive impacts on students with SEN were sustained over the period during which the DG was carried out. Also, future research could include playground observations, in addition to DG observations, by a pre-post design to better inform the possible changes in students’ relationships. Also, it may be studied how the sustainability of this action over time would benefit students with and without SEN. Finally, it will also be valuable to explore the transferability of DG to other contexts and settings such as special education, and how it can be adapted to meet the needs of more diverse students.

The findings from this study suggest that dialogic gatherings (DG) have had a positive impact on students generating safe inclusive learning environments in a mainstream schools, and resulting in benefiting students with SEN. The DG, as a Successful Educational Action, created and structured an inclusive space where students shared their experiences and engaged in critical readings, reflections, and discussions on important issues in addressing bullying such as friendship as a protective factor and bullying. After the intervention, students have reported feeling safer and more supported in the school environment. Overall, DG fostered a greater sense of belonging to the school and redefined the concept of friendship to exclude all kinds of violence from it. In addition, this inclusive learning environment raised awareness of the situation of loneliness some students with SEN were experiencing and helped in self-harm prevention by generating support networks. Also, participants of this study understood the importance of standing up for those who are particularly vulnerable, such as students with SEN and fostered positive peer interactions towards students that were usually left apart. Furthermore, DG has opened the door to greater empathy towards students with SEN, so that they do not feel alone at school.

In summary, DG about friendship has had a positive impact on students with and without SEN, helping them to develop a greater understanding of what friendship means, reducing the appeal of violent behaviours, raising awareness about bullying, and advancing toward more inclusive school environments. These findings present promising results to enhance safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments in mainstream schools, and to ensure quality education for all.

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Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the Project “CHILDPRO: It is never too early to prevent gender-based violence: identification and overcoming of risk behaviours in childhood” (REF: PID2020-115581RB-I00) funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain.

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Garazi Álvarez-Guerrero

Present address: University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

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University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain

University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

Rocío García-Carrión

University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain

Andrea Khalfaoui & Maite Santiago-Garabieta

University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

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RG-C and RF contributed to the conception and design of the study. GÁ-G did the data collection, organised the database. GÁ-G wrote the first draft of the manuscript. RG-C, AK, MS-G and RF revised and edited the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript revision, and read and approved the submitted version.

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Álvarez-Guerrero, G., García-Carrión, R., Khalfaoui, A. et al. Preventing bullying of students with special educational needs through dialogic gatherings: a case study in elementary education. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 956 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02470-8

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02470-8

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The effect of badges on the engagement of students with special educational needs: A case study

• Published: 03 January 2017
• Volume 22 , pages 3037–3046, ( 2017 )

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• Ourania Sitra 1 ,
• Vangelis Katsigiannakis 1 ,
• Charalampos Karagiannidis   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9461-9677 1 &
• Sofia Mavropoulou 2  

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This paper addresses the perceived benefits from gamification in the context of special education. It presents the findings of a study evaluating the effects of a specific gamification element (badges) on the engagement of five students with special learning needs, through online courses developed on the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The results indicate that this particular gamification element yielded positive effects on students’ engagement and on their overall attitude towards the educational process in general.

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Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

Ourania Sitra, Vangelis Katsigiannakis & Charalampos Karagiannidis

School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, Australia

Sofia Mavropoulou

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Sitra, O., Katsigiannakis, V., Karagiannidis, C. et al. The effect of badges on the engagement of students with special educational needs: A case study. Educ Inf Technol 22 , 3037–3046 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9550-5

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Published : 03 January 2017

Issue Date : November 2017

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9550-5

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A CASE STUDY OF A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEED/LEARNING DIFFICULTY Researcher

2018, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CREATIVE RESEARCH THOUGHTS(IJCRT)

The study has been conducted to investigate the levels and kind of difficulty the child/student is facing in learning things in or outside the classroom. It also examines the relationship between the school and home environment of the student with special needs who is facing difficulty in learning i.e. reading, writing listening or speaking. The case study was conducted by keen observations of the special needed child by involving and getting information directly from different reliable sources like,concerned teachers, peer groups from the school, parents, family members and peer groups of the child from the home environment. The tools used in the study were 1. Qustionnaire. 2. Direct observation. Etc.The study reveals the fact that the actually the child not having any slow learners like problem nor she is shy or un interested in learning by nature but she loves to read , learn , take part in different activities, she is having a creative mind by birth or nature but only the problem of her difficulties in learning is because of the depression she has laid in her mind of part of the home environment and improper treatment given to her by parents,family,teacher' s, elder' s in the school or at home.

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The main purpose of this study was to find out the contributions and challenges of Sebeta Special School for the students with visual impairments. The research design used was qualitative case study method as this would enable the researcher to make in-depth study of the case from different perspectives. For responding to this main purpose of the study, purposive sampling was used and the subjects of the study were selected by purposive sampling technique as they were taught to have the necessary information for the problem under study. Accordingly, twelve teachers, (six males and six females), ten members of the support staff (five males and five females) and twelve students of grades five to eight (six males and six females) were selected for focus group discussions. Besides, interview was conducted with the director and vice-director of the school and two teachers (a male and a female) and two students of grades five to eight (a male and a female).Relevant documents and observation checklists were also used as data sources. Finally, the data collected were organized, thematically analyzed and presented. Regarding the contributions made, the findings revealed that the school has been serving the students as school to learn in and succeed, home to live in and family to leave with. There were also services being delivered for the students and different resources were also available in the special school. Findings displayed that challenges to the special school as manpower assignment was not need based and there were lack of skills necessary to run activities in the special school as reading and writing braille, inadequate budget and resources like student textbooks transcribed in to braille and wastages in usage of the available resources. Besides, there were conditions that violate the safety of students. The recommendations made included such things as alleviating the challenges the school encountered such as appropriate use of resource, availing the necessary resources as braille textbooks, budget and others.

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" The ramification and still over effect of learning disability affect so much that education of school children find hard reality to attain its universal character. At the same time the problem continues to be the most baffling one for the state thriving for universalization of elementary education and ensuring right to education for all. Many interventions and policy measures although were initiated to increase the achievement level of students but at the Psycho-social level addressing the problem still remained attempted. Providing appropriate literacy and innumeracy learning opportunities especially, continues to be a challenge both for the teachers so also parents. Observing the gravity of the problem an earnest attempt has been made in this paper to understand the conflicting currents of the problem from a psycho-social perspective. A diagnosis also has been made to address the challenges of learning disability among school children, so that the objective of universalization of education could be well attained with.

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Learning Disorder is not single disorder but include disabilities in any of seven areas related to Reading, Language and Mathematics. These separate types of learning disabilities frequently co-occur with one-another and with Social Skill Deficits and Emotional or Behavioral Disorder. Approximately 7% of all school children under the age group of 3-6 years are identified as Learning Disability in the Composite Regional Centre (CRC) according the Survey done during the period of 2018. Using many tests and assessments, it was found that these children with LD are also attributed to other emotional or behavioral disorders. While learning disability, learning disorder and learning difficulty are often used interchangeably, they differ in many ways. Disorder refers to significant learning problems in an academic area. These problems, however, are not enough to warrant an official diagnosis. Learning disability, on the other hand, is an official clinical diagnosis, whereby the individual ...

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Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is a neurological problem which creates lots of challenges in the life of children. Academic challenges are the most significant one when it comes to SLD. Aims: To realize the academic challenges that children experienced with Specific Learning Disability. Setting and Design: Phenomenological method with purposive sampling technique was used to understand the perspective of children. Materials and Methods: Semi-structured Interview Schedule was administered on 10 SLD children who are already diagnosed by clinical psychologist studying in elementary grade i.e. 6th grade to 8th grade of private inclusive schools of Delhi. Analysis Used: Content Analysis was used to elicit the data from open-ended questions. Results: (i) Children with learning disability are not lazy & dumb, they perceive and process information in a different manner. (ii) They encounter difficulty in comprehending what they have read, experience making mistakes while reading, repeating the sentences, taking pause, trouble in remembering & mispronouncing same sounding words. (iii)Children doesn’t want to write because of the fright behind committing spelling mistakes. (iv) Many children experience problem of illegible writing, pain in hand, extra efforts & longer time for writing and trouble in expressing their own ideas & feelings in writing. (v)They struggle while comprehending & solving the word problems, issues of learning formulas, making things in order of operations, basic calculations, understanding time, directions, money related work and difficulty in keeping scores of games & matches. (vi) Have trouble in adjusting to new situations, take time to adapt new changes in their life, demand lots of coordination & organization, face problem in rote learning & remembering, comprehending meaning from text and thinking out of box (vii) Complained about inability to perform activities that require sequential order, meeting deadlines, following schedules, arranging things, setting priorities and managing time for themselves. (viii) Experience inability to interpret their own environment as a consequence react inappropriately, misunderstood situation and comprehend different meaning with incorrect interpretation. (ix) Trouble in understanding what they hear and making differences in sound, difficulty in comprehending meaning from sounds, require frequent repetition and struggle in remembering what they heard. (x) The foremost problem of misunderstanding in analyzing and synthesizing visually presented information. (xi)They experience inability to differentiate between same sounding words, struggle while copying from writing board, mispronouncing the words while reading, difficulty in comprehending meaning out of what they read and figuring out what is there in pictures & graphs. Conclusions: The present study has identified various challenges faced by children academically. Proper support & motivation of parents & teachers can help children in developing positive attitude towards learning. Keywords: Specific Learning Disability, Children, Education, Academic Challenges, Phenomenological Analysis

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Sara Sadiki , Fitore Bajrami

The qualitative method was the research method used in this study as the most appropriate to the purpose, objectives, and research questions of the study. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of parents during education of their children with special needs. The research question of this study was: What experiences have parents had during the education of their children with special needs? The sample in this paper consists of 13 respondents, citizens of Debar parents of children with special needs. The interviewed sample consisted of 10 mothers and 3 fathers. From the analyzes made, it appears that 99% of parents regarding the inclusion of children answered that it is very necessary, they hope that these laws and rules are respected in schools, that there are no differences and discriminations with children, but that everyone is equal in the classroom and have maximum care, especially children with special needs. 46% of the parents answered that they got enough help from the school, they were not underestimated by others, the teacher supported them and helped them adapt, showing that the children were calmer and more productive. While 53.8% of parents answered that the school does not have help with their child, they express dissatisfaction and non-fulfillment of the conditions for work with children with special needs. Based on the analyzes carried out, 75% of the parents answered that they had difficulties with their child's adaptation to school, and the parents were also forced to stay with them in the classroom for several months.

Dr. Muhammad Irfan Arif

Authors: Kafiat Ullah Khan Research Scholar Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad E-mail: [email protected] Ameer Hasan MS(Management Sciences) Riphah International University Islamabad E-mail: [email protected] Muhammad Irfan Arif Ph.D Scholar University of Education Lahore E-mail: [email protected] "ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to explore and measure the perception and satisfaction level of parents of special children about the role of special education institutes in the adjustment of special children in their families. The researcher used two self developed questionnaires to collect the data about the problem under investigation, one questionnaire to explore the perception of parents of special children about the role of special education school in the adjustment of special children in their families and the other questionnaire to measure the satisfaction level of parents. All special children of District Bhakkar were constituted as target population for the study. The special children of Special Education School Bhakkar were assessable population for the study. Parents of sixty special children from Special Education School Bhakkar conveniently selected as a sample for the study. Simple descriptive statistical techniques such as mean and percentages were used to analyze the collected data. After careful data analysis the researchers concluded that the special education schools may play very vital role in the adjustment of special children in their family but unfortunately due to lack of resources and infrastructure they are not fulfilling the needs of special children and there is also some lack in the awareness about the importance of social adjustment of special children in their families. The researcher identified very important needs, problems, self concept, and adjustment problems of special children through review of literature and research. Key Words: Special Education , Special Children , Family Adjustment "

The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention

Ermira Tati

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