Outdoor Education

By Amber Fagan

Outdoor education is a form of organized learning that takes place outside in a natural setting. The philosophy behind outdoor education claims that experiential and environmental education is best learned up close and personal with nature. It is often based on journey-type experiences in which students participate in hiking, canoeing, climbing, and other outdoor activities. Group games are a common staple of this teaching method.

The aims of outdoor education are to:

• Learn how to overcome adversity
• Enhance personal and social development
• Develop a deeper relationship with nature.

Outdoor education utilizes these three aims to teach outdoor survival skills, improve problem solving skills, reduce recidivism, enhance teamwork, develop leadership skills, understand the natural environment, and may promote spirituality.

Outdoor education can be said to have its beginning in early forms of organized camping trips that were popular across the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Programs like the nonprofit organization Outward Bound spread to the United States from Europe in the 1960’s. Outward Bound’s (Link: http://www.outwardbound.org/) mission “is to inspire character development and self-discovery in people of all ages and walks of life through challenge and adventure, and to impel them to achieve more than they ever thought possible, to show compassion for others and to actively engage in creating a better world.”

Antioch University in Ohio has a Naturalist Internship Program at the Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center. (Link: http://www.antioch.edu/glenhelen/OEC/NaturalistInternshipProgram.html) that strives to encourage children to cultivate a deeper relationship and appreciation of nature. The National Outdoor Leadership and Education School (Link: http://www.nols.edu/) in Wyoming wants to “take people into the wilderness for an extended period of time, teach them the right things, feed them well and when they walk out of the mountains, they will be skilled leaders.” Cornell University’s Phillips Outdoor Program Center (Link: http://www.coe.cornell.edu/goto.jsp?page=home) offers adventures in backpacking, biking, caving, climbing, emergency care, hiking, paddling, skiing, and teambuilding. The program also offers adult programs and multi-element adventures.

Outdoor education has been around for some time now, but it is becoming increasingly popular due to increased awareness of our environment and green initiatives. It also offers interesting career opportunities for those who want to work outdoors and educate others about the environment.

For more information see: The Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education (Link: http://aeoe.org/) and Outdoor Ed (Link: http://www.outdoored.com/)