Outdoor play as a third space: micro-cultural transitions of multicultural children between home and school

Abstract

Outdoor play and learning have been introduced into Scotland’s national curriculum and are actively promoted in early childhood education. Meanwhile, Scotland is experiencing increasing cultural diversity, particularly within early years and school-age populations. Although extensive research has documented the developmental benefits of outdoor play, its role in supporting cultural transition and cultural formation remains underexplored, especially for multicultural children.

This ethnographic doctoral research explores how outdoor play supports the cultural formation and transition of multicultural children. It investigates the issue from both institutional (home and school) and individual (children) perspectives to explore how children’s cultural knowledge is constructed through interactions and negotiations with peers and adults, and how outdoor play helps them navigate cultural dissonance across institutions and facilitates micro-transitions.

This research was carried out in two phases. First, I conducted participant observation with two Primary 1 classes at a primary school in Edinburgh, focusing on children’s interactions during both free and adult-led outdoor play. In the second phase, I conducted interviews with multicultural families from the broader Edinburgh and Glasgow communities. The interviews offer insights into parents’ beliefs about outdoor play influenced by two cultures, and children’s understanding and experiences of how outdoor play supports their transition into a new cultural setting. A drawing activity was provided to children before the interview to help them express views that might not be easily verbalised.

The study uncovered the misalignments between individual (children’s) motives and institutional (school and home) demands, showing that while the societal and institutional beliefs influence children, they are also actively reshaping their activity settings and social relationships during outdoor play, thereby contributing meaningfully to their own cultural formation. This research emphasised that language is not necessarily a barrier to multicultural children’s outdoor play. Outdoor play provided children with a mediating space that encouraged them to navigate conflicts, exercise their agency, negotiate power, and develop new cultural understandings through interactions with peers, adults and the natural world.

This study argues that children’s cultural formation is a dynamic and complex process that should be viewed holistically. The transition is not simply a macro-level shift between institutions; it is also shaped by multiple micro-level interactions and moments in children’s daily experiences. Outdoor play functions as a third space, affording multicultural children the opportunity for transition and identity exploration, and can help parents and educators bridge the cultural gap between home and school.