Esplorazione qualitativa delle esperienze e delle pratiche di Education Outside the Classroom: osservazione partecipante e walking interviews con docenti di scuola primaria in Danimarca e in Italia

This research explores Education Outside the Classroom (EOtC) practices in primary schools, analyzing how teachers conceive, organize, and experience outdoor teaching in two different contexts: Italy (Tuscany) and Denmark (Midtjylland). Adopting a qualitative multicase study approach with phenomenological and ethnographic influences, the study involved six teachers (three Italian and three Danish) through participant observation, walking interviews, and narrative vignettes. The theoretical framework integrates Dewey’s experiential learning, Self-Determination Theory, and Schön’s reflective practitioner model. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) reveals that in Denmark, EOtC is a fluid and institutionalized practice, where managing weather uncertainty and risks becomes a curricular resource to stimulate autonomy and "positive energy". In Italy, EOtC emerges as a deeply regenerative act for teachers and a tool for active citizenship connected to the local territory, although it frequently faces bureaucratic and organizational resistance Finally, through Participant Validation and a transnational webinar, the research demonstrates that professional dialogue is crucial to countering the isolation of innovative teachers, paving the way for the creation of future European Communities of Practice.