Outdoor Education

Friluftsliv pedagogy is the study of how people learn in and about nature within the Norwegian friluftsliv tradition (friluftsliv being the Norwegian tradition of unhurried, outdoor open-air living). It is not only a school subject — it is a discipline just as relevant to DNT trip leaders, paddling instructors, climbing-course tutors, Scout leaders and parents who take their children out and think about how the child develops through the trip.

The pedagogy arose in Norway in the 1970s as an alternative to instructive school pedagogy. It drew its strength from Nils Faarlund, Bjørn Tordsson and the generation at the centre of Norges Høgfjellskole (Norway’s High Mountain School) and the friluftsliv programme at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (Norges idrettshøgskole). Today, Norwegian friluftsliv teaching and course work still carry the clear fingerprint of their thinking.

The tradition — where the pedagogy came from

Friluftsliv as a school subject entered the Norwegian curriculum in the 1974 national curriculum (Mønsterplanen). But a decisive development came after the Easter disaster of 1967 (ulykkespåsken 1967), when 17 people lost their lives in the mountains. This created interest in preventive training (Horgen 2010; Leirhaug et al. 2019).

In 1967, Norges Høgfjellskole (Norway’s High Mountain School) was founded with Nils Faarlund at the helm. An important contribution to the literature was the compendium Friluftsliv, hva — hvorfor — hvordan (Faarlund 1974). Friluftsliv became a specialisation subject at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in 1972, with Faarlund and his ideas about friluftsliv and nature conservation at its centre.

Friluftsliv and nature conservation were two sides of the same coin: friluftsliv was the means, nature conservation the goal (Haslestad 2002). Winning more “friends of nature” was a stated objective. The spelling vegledning, with a G, symbolised joy and dannelse (Bildung) in free nature.

Basic pedagogical principles

Faarlund and his circle formulated principles early on that still apply:

• Guidance happens in nature — not on paper
• The trip area should be matched to the participants — ferd etter evne
• Participants are encouraged towards shared responsibility and shared decision-making — the group is self-governing, with the guide as one of its members
• Diversity within the group is a strength — heterogeneous groups learn more from one another
• Self-learning and dannelse (Bildung) through trying and experiencing for oneself. The folk tale of Askeladden was held up as a model for self-learning (Faarlund 2000)

Friluftsliv pedagogy is built on a conviction that knowledge and skills are developed by trying and experiencing for oneself.

— Gurholt (2010)

A guide, not an instructor

The term veileder (guide) was deliberately chosen as a counterweight to the instructor. The guide is not “the one who knows best”, but the one who invites participants towards mastery and reflection. The guide has subject expertise, but leaves room for the pupil/participant to be active themselves.

The difference between the two roles is practical:

• Instructor: shows, explains, corrects — the pupil copies
• Guide: sets the frames, observes, asks — the participant explores

Different situations call for different doses of each. Leadership should be situation-dependent — in a crisis situation (avalanche, injury) the instructor role is the right one; in a mastery situation (learning to pack the rucksack for the first time) the guide role is the right one.

The didactic relation model

To plan teaching, the didactic relation model (Bjørndal & Lieberg 1978; Hiim & Hippe 2009) is often used — a diamond in which all the factors influence one another:

• Aims — what is to be learned?
• Content — what do we take up?
• Working methods — how do we work (the learning process)?
• Assessment — how do we see that learning has taken place?
• Framework conditions — equipment, transport, area, time
• The group — pupils and teacher
• Risk — a point of its own for practical friluftsliv (Tordsson, among others)

Whatever aim we have influences who ought to take part, which framework conditions are needed, what is suitable content. Change one factor and you have to check the others.

More about the didactic relation model and its elements →

The 3×3 filter method for risk assessment

For trip planning and risk assessment, the 3×3 filter method (Munter 2017) is much used. Three criteria:

• Conditions (weather, snow, visibility)
• Terrain
• Human (the group, yourself)

Assessed at three scales:

• Regional — in advance: weather, map, avalanche forecast
• Local — today’s situation when you park: does it match the plan?
• Zonal — specific slopes or areas that require extra attention

More about the 3×3 filter method in the avalanche category →

Key Norwegian voices

The Norwegian friluftsliv-pedagogical tradition has been shaped by several generations:

• Nils Faarlund (1937–) — founder of Norges Høgfjellskole and the friluftsliv programme at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. The man behind “ferd etter evne” and the vegledning tradition.
• Bjørn Tordsson — friluftsliv philosopher, who has written broadly on the existential and pedagogical side of friluftsliv. Perspektiv på friluftslivets pedagogikk (2007) is central.
• Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng — eco-philosopher, who linked friluftsliv to deep ecology
• Annette Bischoff — has documented how the guide tradition meets the frames of the school reality
• Per Egil Leirhaug and Karen-Marie Østrem — contemporary subject voices who build further on the tradition
• Kirsti Pedersen Gurholt — research on children and friluftsliv, dannelse through nature
• Kristin Abelsen — friluftsliv didactics in the school context

Uses beyond the school

Friluftsliv pedagogy is just as relevant for:

• Trip leaders (DNT, local mountain-sport groups, paddling clubs)
• Instructors with Våttkort, mountain-climbing courses, randonee courses
• Scouts and uniformed youth movements
• Businesses in nature experiences and nature-based tourism
• Kindergartens and friluftsbarnehager (nature kindergartens) with an outdoor-pedagogical profile
• Parents who take their children out and think deliberately about dannelse, mastery and fellowship

For all of these, the pedagogy is a tool for creating good experiences in which people actually learn something, rather than simply being transported through a piece of terrain.

The relationship to other fields

Friluftsliv pedagogy overlaps with:

• General pedagogy and didactics — uses much of the same framework (Bjørndal/Lieberg, Hiim/Hippe)
• Sport and physical-education pedagogy — several shared authors (Säljö, Beames, Higgins)
• Reform pedagogy and experience-based learning — the ideas of Dewey and Kolb run underneath
• Eco-philosophy and deep ecology — especially in Kvaløy Setreng

The Norwegian distinctiveness is the combination of Faarlund’s ferd etter evne, Tordsson’s existential approach, and the eco-philosophy — a holistic pedagogical tradition that fits well with Snuitide’s Scandinavian calm rather than an American outdoor-industrial-complex approach.

Learn more

Detailed sub-articles on each part of the didactic relation model:

• Aims
• Content
• Working methods
• Assessment
• Framework conditions
• The group
• Risk

Related: The meaning and value of friluftsliv (philosophy and dannelse) · Trip guide and trip leader (the practical guide role) · The teachers’ room (school-specific content)

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Text: Snuitide (2022), revised 2026.

Sources: Faarlund, N. (1974). Friluftsliv. Hva — Hvorfor — Hvordan. · Tordsson, B. (2007). Perspektiv på friluftslivets pedagogikk. · Bjørndal, B. & Lieberg, S. (1978). Nye veier i didaktikken. · Hiim, H. & Hippe, E. (2009). Undervisningsplanlegging for yrkesfaglærere. · Munter, W. (2017). 3x3 Lawinen — Ein Reduktionsmethode für Praktiker. · Bischoff, A. (2000). Veiledning i friluftsliv. · Leirhaug, P.E. et al. (2019, 2020). · Abelsen, K. & Leirhaug, P.E. (2017, 2022). · Säljö, R. (2016). Læring. · Gurholt, K.P. (2010). Norwegian friluftsliv and ideals of becoming an “educated man”. · Horgen, A. (2010). Friluftslivsveiledning vinterstid.