Elevating Early Childhood Outdoor Pedagogy: Harnessing Schemas and Embracing Loose Parts

Amanda Thomas is Senior Lecturer in Early Years Education at the University of South Wales, UK. She began teaching in a primary school in 1997 and successfully led the Early Years provision for over 10 years. Amanda also taught in further education for four years, training childcare practitioners. She was awarded her PhD in researching schemas in the Foundation Phase in 2018.

Pavla Boulton is Senior Lecturer in Early Years Education at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. She has taught in primary, secondary and further education, and her main interests are in the pedagogies of outdoor learning and play. Pavla provides continuing professional development for external partners in understanding the holistic development of children and the affordances of outdoor pedagogy. She is currently a PhD student investigating pedagogies of outdoor learning.