PRIMARY GRADES TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN NATURE

Knowing the environment is very important for primary grades pupils so that they understand the world they are living in, to be able to valorise it appropriately and to be able to adapt as well as possible. In this paper, we analyse primary grades teachers' opinions from the urban area of Romania (Mures County) related to the activities with their pupils, taking place in nature. In order to know their opinions, we administered a questionnaire with questions about the objectives and the typology of activities, organisation frequency, number of participating pupils, the places where those activities took place and their benefits. A significant number of teachers organised 2-4 activities in nature, with pupils from their own classes, during the 2016-2017 school year, especially during outdoor type activities, hiking, and trips. Their favourite places for these activities were the city parks and to a lesser extent the woods and meadows. The most important aims of the activities in nature were learning by experimenting, identifying certain environmental components, and their features, and pupils' relaxation through movement and games. We proposed identifying the difficulties that teachers have to face when organising those activities and investigating also rural area teachers' opinions about these activities and finding out solutions. (c) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK