Advice for Intending Graduate Students in Outdoor
Education
In my experience, there are 7 main types of interests that characterize
intending graduate students in outdoor education:
1. Career Changer / Transformer - People who fit into this
category are often professionals in another or related field who decide
that they want to switch career directions into group leadership and
administrative / managerial type work in programs which utilize the
outdoors as a medium. Unfortunately, the Masters degree programs
available do not tend to cater particularly well to this kind of person,
though some are clearly better than others (e.g., don't even think of
getting into the University of New Hampshire program without a minimum of
two years full-time work in outdoor education type positions). If
you can't find a good outdoor education Masters program, consider doing a
Masters in a related field in which you already have expertise, e.g.,
education, and using opportunities such as theses work and class
assignments to focus your study on outdoor education. Note that
often people in this category need to acquire some basic outdoor
leadership skills. Since these aren't often taught at Masters level
(which are more academic), it may be necessary to spend a year or so
getting some outdoor skill and leadership courses under your belt, working
a summer or two for outdoor education organizations, then applying to an
outdoor education graduate program.
2. Experienced (or burnt out) outdoor educators who want a future in
outdoor education, but want to be better equipped to advance
professionally - These are the most common candidates. If you've
done at least a couple of years in the field and have a bachelor's degree
in almost anything, you should be well-equipped to gain from a Masters
degree program in outdoor education.
3. Recent graduates in outdoor education & related degree
programs - If you're just finishing an undergraduate degree and
looking to go straight into a Masters program in outdoor, I'd say
why? Unless you're a unusual case, most would reccommend that you
get at least a few seasons, if not many more, under your belt in a variety
of roles with outdoor education programs.
4. People who have a strong affinity for nature and working/being in
natural environments - This group of potential applicants are often
also considering and looking at Masters programs in Environmental
Education, but these are even harder to find than outdoor education
Masters programs. When you contact the various universities, ask
about the amount of content in the program on your areas of interest,
e.g., environment. It varies widely - e.g., its a big focus at La
Trobe University in Australia, but is only small focus at University of
New Hampshire.
5. People who are interested in becoming adventure therapists -
This group of potential applicants are often also considering and looking
at Masters programs in Clinical Psychology or Social Work. Ideally,
these people would like to do a Masters program in which they got trained
and registered as psychologist, but be able to study and focus on the use
of the adventure medium and wilderness settings as a therapeutic
modality. Since few, if any such programs, exist (Naropa University
is the only possibility I know of), this group of people finds themselves
tossing up between the value of doing a mainstream clinical course and
getting registration or following their passion and interest which is the
adventure aspect. My advice, if it is a line ball decision, is to go
conservative and get the registration. This provides you with a
strong professional pathway and you will have greater capacity to
strengthen the field of adventure therapy. However, be realistic and
honest - and go for an outdoor education program is that is truly in your
heart.
6. Teachers interested in specializing in outdoor education - As
long as you have some reasonable background in running outdoor education
programs with students and some classroom teaching experience, teachers
are generally well placed to enter and succeed in graduate outdoor
education programs. You may benefit from outdoor education programs
(such as at UNH) which have strong ties with, or sit within, faculties of
education).
7. International applicants - People in this group are often
experienced outdoor educators in their own country, if not leaders in
outdoor education in their country, who are looking to further their
professional development by getting an overseas post-graduate degree, a
cross-cultural experience, and the stimulation of perspectives on outdoor
education from another country. Be clear about what kind of program
you want and who you want to study with - and take your pick.
International applicants should spend extra time researching the program
due to the cross-cultural issues. Feel free to contact the
university and ask questions. If you don't get good answers, then
this is not a good sign about the level of support you can support from
the institution and the teachers there. |