Outdoor activities and natural environments for young children in Saudi Arabia
Date
2015-05-05
Authors
Alansari, Maryam
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Abstract
This Masters’ project examines the lack of outdoor activities in Saudi Arabia and
demonstrates the need for support of these activities in the education system. Through
this project I have explored academic literature related to outdoor play experience in
early childhood education. I was interested in how the information that I found about how
the outdoor play experience in Canada connected with my home in Saudi Arabia.
I recognized five main challenges when applying approaches to life in Saudi
Arabia. Of particular interest is understanding the term “outdoor activities”, the different
education systems, the extreme environmental and weather conditions, being
unacquainted with the importance of outdoor activities, and significant changes which
need to be made in the outlook of individuals and communities. Important understanding
from this small-scale project indicated that there are many challenges which face the
Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education which could account for the lack of support of
outdoor activities in schools. The common consensus was that the first step in solving
this issue was to inform the Ministry of Education, teachers, and parents about the
importance of having outdoor activities and to suggest the necessary steps to support
these activities. It will require concerted effort, time, commitment, and patience,
nevertheless, transformational change in the Saudi Arabian education system is a
conceivable notion.
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Keywords
Saudi Arabia, Environments, Outdoor, Children