A History of Outdoor Education

Outdoor education is not a recent invention. Long before the term was coined or programs were institutionalized, people learned from and through the natural world. From nomadic tribes to classical philosophers, medieval monks to modern naturalists, humans have always turned to the outdoors for knowledge, growth, and meaning. Yet in all these diverse traditions, a crucial element has often been missing: the knowledge of the one true and living God, who created the world and filled it with beauty, order, and purpose.

Throughout history, outdoor education has taken many forms—some rooted in pragmatic survival, others in philosophical reflection or emotional healing. While these movements have yielded valuable insights and practices, they have also often exchanged the Creator for the creation, elevating nature to the level of deity or viewing it through purely secular or mystical lenses. The result has been a fragmented vision: rich in method but often poor in truth.

This post surveys the wide-ranging history of outdoor education, tracing its development across cultures and centuries. Each section explores a key era in the evolution of outdoor learning, highlighting the values, goals, and philosophies that have shaped the field. By doing so, it reveals both the strengths and the blind spots of those who have sought to educate through the natural world.

Ultimately, this historical survey leads to the formation of Cedarwood Outdoor School’s philosophy—a model that seeks not merely to recover ancient wisdom or emulate modern methods, but to redeem outdoor education through a thoroughly biblical worldview. At Cedarwood, creation is not an end in itself but a means to know the Creator; not just a classroom, but a witness to truth. This vision re-centers outdoor education where it belongs: under the authority of God’s Word, for the glory of Christ, and for the good of those He has made.

Ancient and Indigenous Traditions

Long before "outdoor education" was formalized, indigenous peoples across the globe lived in deep, dynamic relationship with the land. Their educational methods were not held within the walls of classrooms but rather emerged in the wilderness itself—through observation, imitation, storytelling, and survival. Among the Native American tribes, for example, children learned by shadowing elders during hunts, foraging trips, and tribal ceremonies. Lessons in botany, astronomy, and animal behavior were seamlessly integrated into daily life, passed on through oral tradition and hands-on mentoring.

In Aboriginal Australia, education took the form of "walkabouts" in which young men ventured into the bush to undergo rites of passage. These journeys were not only survival tests but also spiritual pilgrimages that tethered individuals to their ancestral past through the Dreamtime—a complex system of stories that interpreted the landscape as a living narrative.

Similarly, in Polynesian cultures, children learned to navigate vast ocean distances by reading wave patterns, stars, and bird migrations—skills essential for both survival and cultural continuity. In Africa, countless tribes passed down sophisticated ecological knowledge through initiation ceremonies, songs, and ritual.

These early systems were holistic, intergenerational, and deeply sacred. Nature was not merely a backdrop but a living teacher, moral compass, and spiritual guide. Today, many of the outdoor education programs intentionally look back to these indigenous models as a way of recovering what has been lost in modernity.

Classical and Medieval Roots

In the West, the classical philosophers of ancient Greece sowed seeds that would later blossom into educational theories valuing the outdoors. Plato, in his seminal work The Republic, emphasized the formation of virtue through both intellectual training and physical discipline. His ideal society included gymnasia and outdoor exercises to shape character. Aristotle, his student, was known to teach while walking in the Lyceum gardens, stressing the role of observation and experience in acquiring knowledge.

In the medieval period, monasteries became centers of learning where nature was both utilized and revered. Benedictine monks tended medicinal herb gardens and taught agricultural practices alongside biblical studies. The labor of working the land was seen not as menial but as a spiritual exercise—one that trained the soul through humility and attentiveness. This integration of the physical and spiritual paved the way for later educational theories that would hold outdoor labor as a formative discipline.

The scholastic method may have privileged indoor study, but the agrarian lifestyle of most medieval Europeans meant that outdoor experience remained integral to life. Monastic and cathedral schools often had access to land, gardens, and natural environments that subtly reinforced an understanding of creation's order and provision.

Enlightenment and Romantic Influences

The Enlightenment, with its emphasis on reason and empirical observation, reawakened an interest in nature as a source of knowledge. Thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau challenged the rigid scholasticism of their age by proposing that education should follow the natural development of the child. In Emile (1762), Rousseau argued that children learn best not from books but from direct experience—touching, tasting, observing, and experimenting with the world around them.

This philosophy deeply influenced Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who developed educational methods centered on the "head, heart, and hands." He taught children by engaging their senses, placing them in natural settings to observe plants, animals, and landscapes. Friedrich Fröbel, inspired by Pestalozzi, would later found the kindergarten movement, in which play and outdoor exploration formed the foundation of early childhood education.

At the same time, Romantic writers and naturalists like William Wordsworth, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir began to articulate the idea that nature was not just useful but spiritually essential. For Thoreau, the woods around Walden Pond were a cathedral. For Muir, the Sierra Nevada was a sanctuary. These thinkers elevated nature to a place of moral and aesthetic reverence, and their writings would become canonical texts in the philosophy of outdoor education.

Institutional Movements of the 19th and Early 20th Century

As industrialization transformed Western societies, educators began to worry about the loss of physical vitality and moral character among youth growing up in increasingly urbanized environments. The answer, for many, was a return to the outdoors.

In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts in England, soon followed by Ernest Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard's parallel movements in America. These groups taught wilderness skills, civic duty, and moral uprightness through outdoor adventure. Hiking, camping, knot-tying, and fire-building became rites of passage for millions of boys, and eventually girls as well.

Around the same time, the Nature Study Movement gained traction in schools across the United States. Led by figures like Anna Botsford Comstock and Liberty Hyde Bailey, this movement encouraged teachers to take students outside to observe local ecosystems. Armed with magnifying glasses and field notebooks, children learned the names, habits, and interrelationships of plants and animals in their own backyards. This marked a major pedagogical shift: nature was no longer something merely read about, but something lived in and studied firsthand.

These early outdoor institutions emphasized character formation, citizenship, and a connection to one’s place in the world. Though often gendered and culturally narrow by today’s standards, they laid the groundwork for more inclusive models in the decades to come.

Experiential and Character-Focused Models (Mid-20th Century)

World War II and its aftermath created a climate ripe for innovation in education. One of the most influential figures of this period was Kurt Hahn, a German-born educator who fled the Nazis and founded Gordonstoun School in Scotland, as well as Outward Bound in 1941. Originally designed to prepare young British sailors for the rigors of war, Outward Bound used physically demanding outdoor experiences to cultivate resilience, teamwork, and self-awareness.

Hahn believed in what he called "six declines of modern youth," including the decline of compassion and physical fitness. His solution was what we now call adventure education: putting young people into unfamiliar, challenging environments where they would have to rely on others, face adversity, and reflect on their inner resources.

In the U.S., Paul Petzoldt, a mountaineer and veteran of the Grand Teton climbs, founded the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 1965. NOLS combined rigorous wilderness training with leadership development, teaching students how to navigate both terrain and team dynamics. Meanwhile, Project Adventure emerged in schools to bring experiential learning into gymnasiums and schoolyards, using ropes courses and games to teach communication, trust, and emotional intelligence.

These programs marked a shift from nature study to personal transformation, bringing outdoor education into the psychological and developmental realms.

Integration with Mainstream Education (1960s–2000s)

As environmental awareness grew during the 1960s and 70s, outdoor education found a new ally in the burgeoning environmental movement. The first Earth Day in 1970 galvanized millions to care for the planet, and education followed suit. Environmental science became a standard subject in many schools, and outdoor classrooms became viable alternatives to indoor ones.

Authors like Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) and Aldo Leopold (A Sand County Almanac) introduced the concept of ecological citizenship, helping students and teachers see their actions within broader environmental systems. David Orr and others began pushing for "ecoliteracy" as an essential component of education.

School systems developed residential outdoor education centers, often in partnership with parks, forests, and non-profits. Field trips evolved into week-long immersion experiences, and science curricula began to include soil testing, water quality monitoring, and species identification in real-world settings.

Universities began offering degrees in outdoor education, outdoor recreation, and environmental leadership. While the field remained somewhat fragmented, it gained legitimacy and funding as a multidisciplinary approach to learning that addressed physical, emotional, and ecological well-being.

Contemporary Trends and the Future of Outdoor Education

In recent decades, outdoor education has diversified in both method and mission. The rise of forest schools, especially in Europe and North America, has transformed early childhood education by moving learning entirely outdoors. These programs allow children to play, explore, and take calculated risks in nature, believing that such freedom fosters resilience, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

At the same time, outdoor education has become a tool for trauma recovery, mental health, and social inclusion. Programs now serve not only schoolchildren but also veterans, at-risk youth, refugees, and neurodivergent individuals. Nature is increasingly understood as a form of therapy, capable of grounding and healing in ways that traditional classrooms often cannot.

Technology has entered the space as well. Apps like iNaturalist and eBird engage students in citizen science, while others argue for screen-free, rewilded education. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this tension by necessitating outdoor learning for safety reasons, reminding society of the adaptability and value of outdoor spaces.

Today's outdoor education is at a crossroads: it must balance tradition and innovation, accessibility and depth, digital engagement and embodied learning. Yet the heart of it remains the same as in every era: to encounter the world firsthand, to grow in wisdom, and to connect with something larger than oneself.

The Cedarwood Philosophy

Cedarwood Outdoor School stands on the shoulders of history, yet it seeks to chart a distinctly biblical course forward. We affirm the value of nature-based learning, hands-on experience, and outdoor challenge—but we reject the idea that creation is ultimate or autonomous. Instead, we hold that the created world is a glorious and intentional witness to its Creator, and that outdoor education is most meaningful when it leads students to worship, wisdom, and wonder rooted in God’s revealed truth.

At Cedarwood, students are not merely taught survival or ecology; they are trained to see the world through the lens of Scripture. Every rock, river, bird, and tree becomes a parable of God's providence, a display of His craftsmanship, and a call to steward His world with humility and joy. This is not nature mysticism. It is creation discipleship.

Our mission is simple: to cultivate disciples of Jesus Christ who learn from creation, live wisely within it, and long for the day when the earth will be made new. In this way, outdoor education finds its highest aim—not just in the development of skills or character, but in the formation of worshippers who walk with their Creator in the world He has made.