An ethnography of the outdoor classroom Á how teachers manage risk in the outdoors Ina Stan* and Barbara Humberstone School of Sport, Leisure and Travel, Faculty of Enterprise and Innovation, Buckinghamshire New University, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK This article explores the approaches to risk that some teachers adopt when they are involved in facilitating outdoor activities. The research was carried out at a residential outdoor centre as part of a PhD study and a follow-up pilot project. The participants were primary school pupils, their teachers and the centre staff. For the purpose of this article, the term ‘teacher’ is used to refer to both visiting teachers accompanying the school groups and the centre staff. This research was eclectic. It took an ethnographic approach using participant observation and semi- structured interviews to collect a variety of data. Ethnography was considered as the most appropriate for this research because it puts an emphasis on under- standing the perceptions and cultures of the people and organisations studied. The findings of the research have shown that, on occasion, teachers take a controlling approach when facilitating outdoor activities in order to manage the perceived risk of being in the outdoors. This tended to result in the disempowerment of the children and put the teachers in a position of power, which had serious implications for the pupils’ learning experience. By giving the children specific instructions, and mainly focusing on maintaining discipline during the activities, teachers do not allow their pupils to workout how to deal with risk. The article argues that this had a negative impact on the educational process by taking away opportunities for learning from the children. Keywords: ethnography; outdoor education; risk; the educational process; control Introduction This article explores the way some teachers approach risk when taking part in outdoor activities and how their approaches impact on the children’s outdoor learning experience. The focus is mainly on the educational process and the interactions between the participants in order to provide an in-depth critical analysis of the social phenomenon being studied. The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto launched in November 2006 by the Department for Education and Skills of the Ministry of Education stresses the importance for young people to learn outside the classroom. Also the Second Report of the Education and Skills Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament of 10 February 2005 acknowledges the cross-curricular nature of out-of-classroom learning and states that outdoor education contributes to learning in a range of areas, amongst which group activities that develop self-confidence and social skills. *Corresponding author. Email: ina.stan@facebook.com Ethnography and Education Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2011, 213Á228 ISSN 1745-7823 print/ISSN 1745-7831 online # 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/17457823.2011.587360 http://www.informaworld.com