Explaining and analyzing the elements of learning and the position of children and facilitators in nature schools

From time immemorial, various experts have emphasized the role and place of nature in education, especially in childhood. One of the practical experiences in using nature to learn children is the experience of establishing nature schools. The school of nature is similar to the idea of ​​experienced forest schools outside of Iran. The first Iranian nature school, "Kaveh Konj", was launched in 2014 in Mashhad. According to statistics provided in February 2019, 61 nature school are working in our country. Considering the fact that the establishment of nature schools in Iran is a new and different experience with the official education system of the country and has been less studied in academic studies, this article aims to provide learning resources, teaching-learning features, Evaluation methods and the role of children and facilitators in nature schools. The present study was carried out using a qualitative method of phenomenological type. In order to carry out the research, among the nature school facilitators who were engaged in the academic year of 2018-2019, 12 were selected as samples and semi-structured interviews were conducted; besides collecting data through interviews with facilitators, the observation and visiting of the nature schools of the sample member and the study of previous studies and related resources existing in relation to the nature schools were also used. The purpose of this research is to answer the following questions: 1) What is the nature of materials and learning resources in nature schools? 2) What are the characteristics of teaching-learning in nature schools? 3)What role do facilitators play in the learning process of nature schools learning? 4) What role do children play in the learning process of nature schools learning? 5) What are the assessment methods of how children learn in nature schools?  Summary of the answer to the first question: The nature of the learning resources that exist in the schools of nature, with the idea that there are traditional schools, varies greatly. The learning resources used in nature schools are more natural than natural materials such as wood, rope, wood part of a tree, sand, and so on. Though in cases of abnormal materials such as hut, magnifier, magnets, computers, books, but they decide on their use of their children. Summary of answer to second question: The use of experience, multiple senses, and the use of games in learning, interacting with non-aged children, the lack of emphasis on learning learning and teaching directly from teaching-learning features in nature schools.  Summary of the answer to the third question: A good facilitator in the first stage should be a strong and sensitive observer in order to be able to see the child well and see and record his changes and activities, and then adjust his actions based on what he has seen and experienced. A facilitator is sometimes required to observe for a long time patiently the behavior of a child and have no intervention, and Sometimes it may be his thrill and play with him and in some situations it is possible to disclose that by providing data the window opens the window of information for children. In other words, facilitating the role of not giving information but providing opportunities for children to experience the richness of their environment. He listens carefully to the advisor, hears heartily and responds to their questions as indirectly and as straightforwardly as possible. Summary of the answer to the fourth question: Children an important role in the school of nature, because all activities of the children are carried out by themselves; They are free from judgment by anyone, so that they can execute, discover, touch, and experience what is in their minds. Summary of the answer to question 5: The method of evaluation in the schools of nature varies with the evaluation method in the traditional schools. The results of an interview with facilitators can be found that there are no examinations and grades in the nature school, and therefore there is no competition and ranking among children. In a conclusion, according to the results of this study, it can be seen that the school of nature is a place where children from 3 to 12 years old can spend time from nature to the observation of their time from day to day of the week. According to some facilitators of these schools, in the interviews conducted, nature schools do not have an approved educational program, and there is no curriculum there. In these schools, there are people who have an eye on observing children's environmental experiences and contributing to their experience in nature. Recent research results suggest that the school's nature is working to provide a rich platform for creating diverse and varied experiences for Helping to boost children's talents, although the vacancy of this issue is felt strongly in current school curricula, but the lack of presentation of specific curriculum areas, especially for children using these schools as alternative to traditional schools, can be It will challenge these children in the future. It's also a meme The position of these schools simply because extra-curricular activities are reduced. In order to overcome this concern, joint training of specialist education specialists, in particular curriculum studies with school principals and the use of global experiences, especially the experience of forest schools, can be effective in developing a curriculum and improving the quality of these schools. Given the fact that the establishment of nature schools in Iran has not been taking place for a long time, this could be the subject of research for future researchers. Examples are the comparison of nature schools with traditional schools, the impact of these types of schools on children's learning and the comparison of nature schools and schools Forest and comparative studies in this field can be the subject of future research. In this study, as in any other research, there were some limitations. A summary of this limitation could be as follows: - The lack or lack of research and the lack of similar work on nature schools - Distribution of nature schools and access problems - The lack of cooperation of some schools