This research emerged from a partnership developed between one pre-school setting and myself as a university tutor, and from my commitment to participatory ways of working. Within the pre-school, Early Years practitioners were eager to develop their offsite ‘Forest School’provision further, and to engage in research, so participatory action research (PAR), which inclusively encourages participants to contribute to all aspects of the research process (Kemmis et al., 2014), was adopted. A Research Circle (Persson, 2009) was formed to create an arena for planning, development of the research questions, reflection and later analysis.

The main aim of the research project was identified and developed within the Research Circle where it was agreed that we would investigate the inclusion of older adults in the lives of young children within the urban Forest School environment. This mutual decision was inspired by recent practice within pre-school, by literature and current research. It also resonated with my prior experiences when working with young children. Six Early Years practitioners became my co-researchers and engaged in each stage of the research, to varying degrees. We worked in partnership to recruit, interview and welcome the older adults while the practitioners managed the Forest School activity as part of their usual practice. They also took responsibility for preparing the twelve children for research and supported them to participate and to make sense of their experiences. This thesis, submitted for examination for Doctor of Education (EdD), therefore examines the experiences of a newly formed company of participants, of varied ages from three to seventy-four, having a shared interest in working together and setting out on a journey to create new knowledge.