Slovak Elementary Teachers’ Attitudes towards Schoolyard Education

The sum of literature and research emphasising the use of schoolyard as a teaching tool grows every year, however, research that investigates the teachers’ attitude towards this novel educational concept is quite limited. Even fewer papers focus on usage of schoolyard as an educational tool in Central European conditions. Therefore, a questionnaire-based research was conducted on 306 Slovak teachers. The research aimed to investigate teacher’s attitudes towards schoolyard education, including the frequency of teaching at schoolyard, and to identify factors that may influence the attitude. The results imply that the attitude towards schoolyard education is generally positive. The factors that showed significant influence on the attitude were teachers’ personal preference and the region of Slovakia that they come from. On the other hand, no significant relationship has been identified between attitude and gender, experience, and the location of school (rural-urban). Results also imply, that teachers of vocational and physical education teach outside the most often. An open question asking the teachers for suggestions to make the schoolyard education at their school better was also included. The answers imply, that the most important barrier that the Slovak teachers face is the lack of material equipment and finance.