Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, cilt.0, sa.0, ss.1-33, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
Forest kindergartens have become increasingly popular worldwide,yet this popularity has brought about its set of challenges, such asa loss of the original forest kindergarten philosophy due to its cap-italization/McDonaldization. Thus, there has been a call for main-taining the core principles of forest kindergartens while addressingissues related to cultural adaptation. Therefore, the study aim wastwofold: 1) examine practices employed by forest kindergartens inthree distinct geographical regions of Türkiye, and 2) investigatechallenges encountered by teachers in these kindergartens whilealso exploring strategies they used to address said challenges. Datawere collected through non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and field notes involving nine forest kinder-garten teachers through a qualitative multiple-case study design.The findings revealed that the kindergartens followed similar prac-tices, such as year-round use of schoolyards and 7Rs of sustainabil-ity, yet differed in various other practices, such as curriculumdevelopment, risk assessment, and daily schedule. Teachers facedcommon challenges, including parental concerns about safety andacademic readiness; therefore, they adopted their strategies to bal-ance risk-taking and safety, school readiness, and free play. Thestudy emphasizes the need to develop culturally responsive adap-tations of forest pedagogy and calls for enhanced teacher trainingin ecological literacy and risk management