There has been growing interest in the use of outdoor spaces in school institutions and in outdoor learning (Dinkel et al., 2019; Kalpogianni, 2019). Also in Portugal, research has pointed to the growing relevance of being and playing outside at an early age (Bento & Portugal, 2019). Still, there isn’t a widespread use of the outdoor space in creches (0-3 years old). Several factors influence this situation. A study conducted in some European countries, including Portugal, states that weather conditions and aversion to risk are considered by parents and teachers as the main reasons to prevent outdoor time (Sandseter et al., 2020). McClintic and Petty (2015) claim that although positive thoughts about the use of outdoor spaces are associated with childhood memories (space to express creativity, imagination, and time to explore), that vision is not incorporated in daily practice, where the adult assumes a supervisor role, responsible for maintaining the security and conflict resolution.

The adult’s role is central to the educational experience of the children, not only outdoor but as an important indicator of quality. Research on quality in early childhood education highlights how quality contexts are essential for assuring long-term benefits for children (Cash, Ansari, Grimm & Pianta, 2019). In Portugal, studies conducted in early childhood institutions raised concerns about quality at the creche level (Barros et al., 2018) reinforcing the importance of the adult role as a quality indicator (adult-child interactions), also referring space organization, including the outdoor spaces of the institutions.

In Portugal, the creche is supervised by the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security and not by the Ministry of Education, so there are no curriculum guidelines for early childhood education teachers who work with these ages (only for 3 to 6 years old which are included in the educational system as the first stage of basic education). Kalpogianni (2019) refers that in the absence of such a document, the early childhood education teachers’ opinions and personal experiences gain more value regarding decision-making concerning the use of outdoor spaces, reinforcing that the adult role is strongly affected by teachers’ conceptions.

Acknowledging the centrality of the adult-child relationships, this study looks into the outdoor space learning experience for children by focusing on the adult’s role or profile: what dimensions of the adult’s role/profile are considered important by early childhood teachers in their interactions with children from 3 months up to 3 years old in outdoor spaces aiming at a quality practice. For the adult’s role/profile we have combined dimensions from Laevers’ framework on Experiential Education (Portugal & Laevers, 2018) with dimensions from the CLASS Infant (Jamison et al., 2014) and CLASS Toddler (La Paro et al., 2014).

In this paper, we present part of our study by analysing the results of a survey that has been answered by early childhood education teachers in the centre region of Portugal. This survey aimed to: a) Describe spaces, practices, and routines at outdoor creche spaces; b) Identify problems associated with the use of outdoor space, and c) Design a profile of the use of the outdoor space at creche’s settings. 

This study assumes an interpretative paradigm (Cresswell, 2014) that seeks to understand the meaning that different experiences and/or interactions have for the participants. An online survey was developed based on an integrative literature review. This review aimed to understand how adult-child interactions were studied through the analysis of 21 papers focusing on quality assessment instruments and their application in early childhood education contexts. The collected data referred to instruments such as Classroom Assessment Scoring System, CLASS-Toddler (La Paro et al., 2014), CLASS-Infant (Jamison et al., 2014); Adult Involvement Scale (Portugal & Laevers, 2018); Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) (Bjørnestad & Os, 2018); Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) (Jamison et al, 2014); Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing Scale (SSTEW) (Howard et al., 2020) and Caregiver Interaction Profiles (CIP) (Helmerhorst et al., 2014). From the corpus analyses, we identified adults' key actions at early childhood education centres revealing quality interactions and educational action. We also identified instruments assessing outdoor spaces and their use, such as the Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale (POEMS) (Larrea, et al, 2019); Go-Exterior (Bento, 2020) and the Outdoor Play Rating Scale (OPRS) (Hu et al, 2015) which reinforce the adult’s role as a curriculum co-constructor. Through these analyses, we defined the following three dimensions: characterization of the participants, characterization of creche institutions, and characterization of the adult’s role in the outdoors. The construction process was engaging and debated, ending in the validation process. First, the survey was revised by experts in three areas of early childhood education concerning outdoor space use, adult-child relations, and quality practices. In the second phase, a group of early childhood education teachers working at the creche piloted the survey. After both feedbacks, the survey was re-check. Both groups agreed with the main topics and approved the survey. The final version of the survey focus on the three dimensions allowing for a profiling of the institutions and the use of outdoor spaces, including the adult’s role. It also includes open questions for teachers to express their perspectives. Accordingly, the analysis will combine statistics with content analysis. The survey was launched in the second week of January and is still underway. It was sent to all 122 creches in the centre region of Portugal.

This study is still underway, so at this moment, conclusions are yet to be obtained. By the time of the Emerging Researchers Conference, we will be able to present the results of the survey analysis. We expect that the collected data will enable us to trace a profile of the use and practices developed at outdoor spaces in creche with particular attention to the adult’s role/profile. The discussion of these results together with the dimensions of quality, studied mainly indoors, will be relevant for supporting practices in the outdoor. The survey was launched in the second week of January 2023, focus groups and interviews will follow. Focus group and “go-along” interviews will help us to go deeper in the subject connecting with the early childhood education teachers’ conceptions at real contexts. This work is financially supported by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the project UIDB/00194/2020.

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