South Carolina Educators for Practical Use of Research. Outdoor Capital: A Call for Outdoor Literacy Classes for Adolescents

• In Event: Consortium of State and Regional Educational Research Associations Distinguished Paper Session 2

Abstract

This paper argues for the inclusion of outdoor lessons as a practical way to alleviate inequities in classrooms. Incorporating research from a variety of areas, but focusing specifically on literacy for teens, the argument relies on Bourdieu’s theories of capital as well as Lareau’s theories on child rearing practices as a foundation of the argument, which posits time outdoors as a form of social and cultural capital. Providing evidence of unequal access to outdoor experiences based on wealth and race, the paper claims that incorporating outdoor lessons into the classroom structure will help build social and cultural capital for marginalized communities while reaping academic, mental, and physical benefits for all students.
Keywords: literacy, outdoor, informal, adolescent

Author

• Kristie Clawson Camp, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author