A Phenomenological Study on the School Concept of the Children Attending the Forest School

Abstract

The current study aims to understand the experiences of the preschool children attendingforest school in relation to the school phenomenon. To this end, the current study was conducted on astudy group comprised of 32 children. The study was carried out on the basis of thephenomenological model, one of the qualitative research methods. The data of the study werecollected through the children’s drawings and interviews. The collected data were analyzed by usingthe triangulation technique, one of the researcher-centered methods built on post-positivistphilosophy. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the children perceive the forest as a placeand experience it in this way. The forest schools were found to have some strengths in terms of childnaturerelationship, sense of discovery, friendship relations and the place of the play in the child’sschool life. Moreover, a significant number of children stated that they feel good in the forest school.On the basis of all these findings, the researchers point out the importance of the studies to beconducted with different associates and it can be argued that the forest school can reshape thephenomenon called the school and that this is worth researching.