1 Introduction

Environmental education is an interdisciplinary field that involves natural sciences, social studies, politics, and more (McMillan and Vasseur 2010). It requires effective collaboration among governments, schools, society, businesses, and non-profit organisations (Tsang 2015), which includes both on-campus and off-campus collaboration. However, students are often burdened with heavy academic workloads (Jiao and Wang 2024), and schools are increasingly limiting collective outings due to safety concerns (Feng et al. 2016). Moreover, primary and secondary school students' participation in experiential activities is frequently constrained by a shortage of educators and insufficient capacity at off-campus environmental education sites (Liu 2024). Not all off-campus environmental education bases offer high-quality services, with many providing short, superficial tours with limited interactions with nature or the surrounding environment (Jin 2015). These issues highlight the need for ongoing improvements to environmental education practices.

A qualitative study by Ham and Sewing (1988) identified that the lack of time to prepare for and implement environmental education into busy school schedules was the biggest barrier to environmental education in elementary schools. Early 21st-century environmental education research in Taiwan also found several factors that affect teachers' ability and willingness to conduct outdoor environmental education. These included misalignment with school curricula, logistical challenges, safety concerns, a shortage of trained facilitators, and poor communication among stakeholders (Yu 2002; Hsu 2006). A review of international empirical studies conducted by scholars from Chinese mainland reveals that, while teachers generally recognise the value of outdoor education, significant barriers include safety concerns, additional curriculum pressures, limited logistical support, and low teacher self-efficacy, all of which make it difficult for teachers to conduct outdoor environmental education (Zhai et al. 2021). These practical challenges significantly influence the decision-making process about taking students out for such activities, as direct interaction with the natural environment is key to the effectiveness of environmental education (Collado et al. 2020).

This study explores the factors that promote and hinder frontline teachers in Futian District, Shenzhen, from engaging in environmental education collaboration both in school and at suitable outdoor locations. The objective is to provide empirical evidence that can help environmental education institutions improve on-campus and off-campus cooperation within environmental education programmes. This research also addresses the gap in understanding which factors influence teachers' engagement in outdoor environmental education in Chinese mainland. This study is part of the Futian District Mangrove Science Education Project (referred to hereafter as the ‘project’), which was designed and implemented by the Mangrove Conservation Foundation (MCF) in Shenzhen. Since 2017, the project has facilitated outdoor environmental education activities for primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen. Over the same period, environmental education in China has gradually shifted towards nature education, which focuses on the relationship between humans and nature, emphasising outdoor, nature-based experiences and nature-friendly value guidance (Sha and Liu 2024). As such, the practical experiences in environmental education discussed in this study could also be useful for advancing nature education initiatives in China.

2 Methods

This study was conducted between August 2022 and October 2022 in Futian District, Shenzhen, China. It targeted frontline teachers from primary and secondary schools within the district. The teachers interviewed were informed about the use of data before being interviewed and provided consent to participate. There are 79 schools in the district, including all those within the 9-year compulsory education phase. A stratified sampling method (Table 1) was used to select schools for online interviews. The selection process involved the following steps: (1) 30% of the total schools in the district were selected, which equated to 24 schools; (2) Although the primary-to-secondary school ratio in the district is 3:2, the ratio was adjusted to 4:1 during sampling, as secondary school students were less frequently involved in the project; (3) Schools were categorised into strata based on two criteria: school size (≤ 1500 students or > 1500 students) and previous participation in the project (whether they had participated or not); (4) A proportional sampling approach was used to determine the sample size for each stratum; (5) Schools were randomly selected from each stratum. However, due to pandemic-related policies, only 11 of the 24 selected schools were willing to participate in the interview process (Table 2).

Interviews were conducted with one teacher from each of the 11 participating schools, with no selection process applied at the teacher level. For schools that had previously participated in the project, project staff directly invited teachers to participate. In schools with no prior participation, teachers were contacted through personal connections or the Futian District Education Bureau. Most of the interviewed teachers were science teachers for Grades 4 and 5 (Table 2).

A semi-structured interview outline (Appendix S1) was used to gather information on the respondents' perception of the status, strengths, and weaknesses of environmental education conducted by off-campus environmental education bases in Futian District. The interviews explored the opportunities and challenges faced, as well as potential areas for improvement. Afterwards, the interviewers summarised the content in writing and identified key findings based on the structured questions.

3 Results and Discussion

Teachers reported several challenges, primarily related to insufficient support from schools and difficulties with home–school collaboration. In terms of school support, issues identified included a lack of incentives (e.g., ‘interested teachers must organise student outings independently [Teacher B]’ and ‘if teachers want to take students out, they also need to consider the requirements for class hours in teacher evaluations [Teacher A]’), inadequate resource integration (e.g., ‘teachers must individually contact environmental education bases or activity providers [Teacher D]’), poor internal coordination (e.g., ‘teachers must arrange class schedule changes with other teachers [Teacher F]’), and a lack of shared responsibility mechanisms (e.g., ‘teachers leading student outings are solely responsible for students' safety [Teacher F]’). In terms of home–school collaboration, teachers expressed the need to explain the activities to parents and coordinate student drop-offs and pick-ups. Various strategies to address these challenges have been proposed in other studies, such as minimising the administrative burden on teachers (Lin and Jhang 2021) and involving parents as chaperones to enhance activity safety (Yu 2002).

Teachers also identified characteristics of effective courses, which included: (1) well-structured courses that integrate pre-activity learning with outdoor observation and exploration, covering topics such as ecosystems and species across different grade levels; (2) courses using non-lecture-based teaching methods (e.g., ‘experiential learning and game-based learning during activities [Teacher E]’). Some teachers also praised courses that included professional facilitators and supplementary materials, such as videos or images. These characteristics align with previous studies that promoted student-centred learning approaches, integrating scenario-based learning, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary learning into course design and implementation to emphasise student participation and holistic connections (Wang 2022), as well as the integration of indoor and outdoor education (i.e., combining indoor curricula with outdoor environmental education; Xu 1999). Teachers further mentioned that they favoured courses with a public welfare focus, which did not require school payment, and courses that ‘link knowledge to everyday actions, such as encouraging students to apply what they've learnt to protect mangrove wetlands and their species in daily life [Teacher H]’.

Four out of the five teachers who had participated in the project reported that it featured good course design and/or professional facilitators and that both students and teachers had positive experiences. Through participation, teachers gained real outdoor experience, improved their outdoor teaching techniques, and overcame their fears and self-doubt about outdoor teaching (Zhai et al. 2021).

Based on the feedback from the interviewed teachers and previous studies, we have outlined challenges and potential solutions in Table 3.

4 Conclusion

This study focused on frontline teachers in primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen's Futian District, identifying current challenges and highlighting the need for well-structured, engaging courses in on-campus and off-campus collaborative environmental education. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of schools that could be interviewed, resulting in a relatively small final sample. Although a stratified sampling method was used initially, some schools were unable to participate, which caused a limited representation of middle schools and smaller schools, as well as their respective teachers. Despite this, the study identifies key factors influencing on-campus and off-campus collaborative environmental education and offers suggestions that could be valuable for related practitioners. Given the increasing focus on nature education in China and its resulting development, as well as its overlap with environmental education (Sha and Liu 2024), the shared trend of on-campus and off-campus collaboration further underscores the relevance of these recommendations.

While this study primarily focused on the perspectives of frontline teachers, future research should broaden the scope to include other stakeholders, such as school administration, students, parents, and non-profit organisations. Furthermore, incorporating methods from other disciplines, such as the theory of change, could help develop interconnected solutions to the challenges in on-campus and off-campus collaborative environmental education.

Author Contributions

Hui Ding: methodology, formal analysis, writing – review and editing, conceptualization, investigation, visualization. Wenhui Qiu: formal analysis, writing – original draft, conceptualization, investigation, writing – review and editing, visualization. Dandan Deng: formal analysis, conceptualization, investigation, project administration. Moshu Yan: formal analysis, conceptualization, investigation.

Ethics Statement

The authors confirm that the ethical policies of the journal, as noted on the journal's author guidelines page, have been adhered to.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.