Formats of Outdoor Education Programs

James Neill
Last updated:
24 Aug 2003

Possible formats of outdoor education programs

Structure of Outdoor Education Programs

Common forms of outdoor and adventure education have been school camps, wilderness-based expeditions, and longer-term programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Prototypical outdoor education programs take:

small groups of people (approximately 6 to 25 in a group) into
outdoor environments
under the guidance of an instructor trained in outdoor and educational skills. The group engages in
a series of organised, adventure-based activities.

In the early format of outdoor education programs (1940's-1970's), such as Outward Bound, were conducted as expeditions consisting of sequenced adventurous challenges lasting up to several weeks (for more detailed descriptions see Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997; Marsh, Richards, & Barnes, 1986a, b; Richards, 1977). There has been considerable adaptation of styles of outdoor education programming since the 1970's.

Nowadays, an outdoor education program could be:

very short (e.g., 2 hours),
use a single adventure activity (e.g., a ropes challenge course),
be conducted in non-outdoor settings (e.g., indoor rock climbing or city-based adventure programs), and/or
be integrated with the delivery of other services, such as within school classrooms or social work programs.

More recent innovations include employing specialist adventure education teachers in schools, placing more emphasis on personal development through dramatic and creative challenges, and utilizing adventure learning principles in the structuring of school and training curricula.

Formats of Outdoor Education Programs

Model	Example Program or Organization	Advantages	Disadvantages
Residential Camp	Sport & Recreation Camps (Australia) Summer Camps (USA)	Cost-efficient; residential; involves teachers	Recreational focus; Isolated experience; Not integrated with curriculum; Requires capital and established facilities; Limited research evidence
Adventure Expedition-Based	Outward Bound	Personal development focus; residential; involves teachers; research outcomes	Isolated experience sometimes integrated with curriculum; moderate expense; Dwindling access to wilderness areas
Science Expedition-Based	ANZSES (Australia and New Zealand Scientific Exploring Society)	Integrates with curriculum; includes intellectual challenge	Limited availability; limited research evidence
Environmental Expedition-Based	Green Corps	Can integrate with curriculum; challenges values; cost-efficient; community service	Limited availability; limited research evidence
Overseas Expedition-Based	Antipodeans (Australia)	Cultural challenge; involves teachers	Costly; Limited research evidence
Service-based	Student visits to retirement villages	Integrates with community; challenges values and social skills; cost-efficient; school-based, many opportunities; involves teachers	Limited research evidence; extra demands on teachers
Specialist Teacher(s)	Outdoor Education Group (Australia)	Integrates program with school curriculum; involves school commitment/vision; trained teachers available	Limited research evidence
Specialist Resources(s)	Ropes Challenge Course; Yacht	Onsite access; integration with curriculum; involves school commitment/vision	Limited research evidence
Extended Stay Outdoor Education Programs	Timbertop; Glengarry	Integration with curriculum; lengthy experience; intact student cohort	Limited research evidence; Moderate-high expense; Major capital investment
Ongoing, extra-curricular	Duke of Edinburgh Award; Scouts/Guides	Ongoing, personal development focus, cost-efficient, targets multiple domains, adaptable to different students� needs; involves teachers	Extra demands on students and teachers; Limited research evidence
Urban-based Adventure Education	New York Outward Bound Centre (USA)	Easy access to urban environment; integrates with community; cost-efficient	Limited research evidence
Indoor & Mobile Experiential Challenge	Project Adventure	Flexibility; on-site; access to different types of experiences; aseasonal; no capital investment	Limited availability; limited research evidence; not well known
Drama-based Experiential Challenge	Intertouch (Outward Bound Czech Republic)	Flexibility; adaptable to different learning styles; on- or off-school site; creativity-based challenge	Limited availability; limited research evidence; not well known
Spiritual/Religious	Retreats; Church camps	Focus on personal/spiritual development; involves teachers and possibly family; relatively low cost	Not all adolescents are receptive; limited research evidence
Expeditionary Learning	Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (USA)	Full integration of curriculum with adventure-based learning principles; involves teachers	Limited availability; limited research evidence; not well known; major commitment

Possible Formats of Outdoor Education Programs

Model	Examples	Description
Marathon/Endurance Experiences	Adventure racing	Endurance-based adventure challenges could offer adolescents the chance to explore and extent their personal limits, to develop new maturity and confidence, to be a rite of passage
Extreme environment living	Antarctic; Sailing; Desert; Underwater	Through living in a completely foreign environment, students can come to know themselves better and learn new personal skills
Ceremonies	Corroboree; Sweat Lodges	Through participating in indigenous, national (e.g., Coming of Age Day in Japan), or seasonal ceremonies (such as Spring Festivals), students can undergo shared rites of passage
Farm-based & Self-sufficiency experiences	Farm visits; Permaculture;	By living and working on a self-sufficient farm or expedition, students can acquire traditional practical skills, a different perspective on urban-based lifestyles, and undergo a rite of passage
Health-farm	Health food; relaxation	Personal development can be achieved via relaxing, healthy lifestyle living in an �ideal� setting
Rite of Passage Expeditions	Vision Quest; Rites of Passage; Threshold	Adventure education expeditions can incorporate traditional rite of passage activities, such as finding one�s totem animal, doing a medicine wheel, sitting in a circle of stones, firewatching from dusk to dawn, etc.
Personal Coaching	Qualified psychologists with coaching training	Personal coaching by qualified psychologists could help guide a student through difficult stages of adolescence so as to maximise his/her potential
Alternative Challenges	Firewalking; Fasting; Sacred Run	Through taking on challenges from other cultures or belief systems, adolescents can develop new personal insight and confidence
Drug-facilitated Experiences	Peyote in Mexican Ceremonies	Adaptive uses of drugs to facilitate awareness and insight. A utopian, futuristic perspective is provided by Aldous Huxley in �Island� (1970)
Virtual Personal Development	Project NatureConnect	The internet and WWW could be used to facilitate adventurous experiences amongst adolescents from around the world, to provide a novel, dynamic post-modern from of rite of passage (e.g. see http://www.pacificrim.net/~nature/.www.html)
Business Development Project	Fundraising; Business Planning and Operation	Students can be challenged to developed business ideas, raise capital and manage their own company. In so doing, they can be supported in the development of new personal skills
Creative Expression	Creative writing; Singing; dancing	Through being challenged to explore creative expressions, adolescents can develop new understandings of themselves and become more confident in personal expression of ideas and feelings
Alternative Therapies	Meditation; Bodywork	Through experiencing alternative personal development techniques adolescents can become more aware of themselves and their possibilities
Construction Challenges	Building projects	By designing and building their own dwelling, transport, etc., students can be challenged to acquire new skills and get feedback about their thoughts, behaviour and capabilities
Animal Encounters	Horses; Husky-dogs; Chimpanzees	Through encounter with non-human animals, such as expeditioning with horses or protecting of rare species, etc. adolescents can develop new skills and self-learning in a novel way