Teachers’ posture in promoting agency in outdoor educational contexts

The contribution presents reflections on the role of the adult in outdoor educational contexts: his posture can support children's agency, interests and participation. As passionate researchers on the topic and teachers in the field, we believe that reflecting on the possibilities supported by adults in outdoor contexts can be interesting in promoting the development of democratic and participatory learning contexts. The literature suggests that promoting autonomous experiences outdoor supports the expression of children's agency: free and self-directed experiences are possible when adults are responsive to children's interests in outdoor experiences. In this sense, the posture of adults, who can use the natural environment's resources to promote children's autonomy, appears crucial. Adults are often driven by the achievement of predefined learning objectives and ask questions with precise expectations, risking to extinguish children's curiosity. But if the adult listens to the propensities of children outdoor, abandoning his position of power and welcoming children's curiosities, he turns out to be a supporter of agency, enabling children to act as primary agents, encouraging them to solve problems on their own and shaping their own experiences by negotiating meanings with the context. In conclusion, cultivating contexts in which children can perceive themselves as subjects with agency appears crucial: for this reason, it is necessary to rethink the role of the adult in outdoor experiences, starting from the awareness that the outdoor fosters personal forms of independent action.