Wellness and outdoor education

Wellness & Outdoor Education: Essential Learning for Student Well Being

Outdoor Education & The New World (Montage) Some Images & Possibilities for Outdoor Education – 4 min. video

Some Ideas for Outdoor Education Responses to VELS

A grand experiment is underway…

Never have all of the world's "growth technologies" been fully available to a single culture

“ What I find so encouraging…is that all of us—all of us teachers and students of enlightenment—are at this time in history involved in a truly grand experiment. Never have all of the world's "growth technologies" been fully available to a single culture: we have access not only to all of the forms of Western psychotherapy and human potential techniques, we have access to virtually all of the world's great wisdom traditions as well. And we are all now engaged in this "simple yet complex" experiment in how best to balance all of these approaches”

A Paradoxical Age
Life expectancy continues to rise but so do rates of psychological disturbance, esp. depression and anxiety (due the volume of antidepressants being taken, traces have can be found in our public water supply).
Some countries face increasing malnutrition , other countries face increasing obesity , whilst other countries face both trends.
Social roles have become more fluid, yet work has become more specialized.
We have more technological efficiency and know-how than ever, yet we find ourselves working harder than ever.
We have access to more information than ever , but are bewildered by the spiraling array of unsolved problems ( Since 1970, humans have created more stored information than in the previous 5000 years.)

Obesity Trends in Australia
Since 1980, there has been 2.5 fold increase in the rates of obesity in Australia. (Cameron et al, 2003)
A quarter of Australian children are overweight or obese. This has doubled in the last 10 years.
Almost 70% of Americans of overweight, with Australians close behind
We are eating fewer calories than we were 20-30 years ago, but we are doing even less exercise

Consumption of Natural Resources Our consumption is outstripping the planet’s creation of natural resources by 20%. (Ref: WWF, 2004)

Consumption per Person in USA “ Americans waste or cause to be wasted nearly 1 million pounds of materials per person per year.” (Ref: Hawken et al, 1999)

Population Growth & Energy Usage

Ecological Footprint If we are not leaving a positive ecological footprint through outdoor education, where do we hope a reverse in human ecological impact is going to come from?

Levels of Change/Growth
Self
Social
Ecological Impact

Wei-Jan Chinese for Opportunity Through Danger

Victorian Essential Learning Standards A Whole School Planning Framework
3 interwoven purposes: Equip students with capacities to:
Manage them selves & relationships
Understand the world
Act effectively in that world

Effective Program Characteristics
1. Physically oriented
2. Use school context, but outside school location
3. Residential settings for long duration
4. Conducted by therapists or trained leaders
5. Incorporate aims of adolescents, parents & teachers and include them as targets in the program

Retrofitting the Suburbs for Sustainability Food security based on gardening Better health through a culture of home food consumption Economy through home food production and food preservation Firewood for sustainable and ethical energy Passive solar design combined with thermally efficient natural materials

Retrofitting the Suburbs for Sustainability
Greenhouses
Water harvesting
Wastewater treatment
Animals in productive garden ecosystems
Reclaiming the streets
Creative recycling
City farms and community gardens
New ways of trading
New ways of sharing land

Questions for Outdoor Education
Where does OE fit in relation to the standards?
How does OE respond to the challenge to integrate learning across discipline areas?
Where are there opportunities for teachers to work more collaboratively?

Questions for Outdoor Education
Will your OE program have an emphasis on one particular strand?
How can discipline-based learning engage with OE?
How will your school or cluster address the transition between the stages of learning

Unlearning “ The process that allows evolution to occur naturally by removing mental constructions that no longer serve human nature” - Patrick Mooney www.unlearning.org

Adaptation of Outdoor Education to the New World
“ Traditional” OE
“ Non-traditional” OE

e.g., Much delinquency can be seen as a healthy, innate need to take risks, experiment, and find out about one’s abilities and capabilities.
Example: Parkour Video
Efficient, Creative Human-Environment Exploration

Activities, Research, Theory & Models of Outdoor Education

Example Interdisciplinary / Non-Traditional Outdoor Education
Physical Education
Permaculture
Farm Study
Environmental Restoration
Multimedia
Risk Education
International
Urban Adventure
Extreme Sport

Example Psychological Theory/Models
Attempts at Life Change
Community Building / Social Capital
Coping Skills
Ecopsychology
Resilience
Readiness for Change / Stages of Change
Peak Experience

Example Psychological Tools & Instruments
Personal & Community Sustainability Audit
40 Developmental Assets
Life Effectiveness Questionnaire
Psychological Resilience
Psychological Well-Being
Locus of Control
Depression & Anxiety
Ecological Engagement
Indigenous Rediscovery

Challenge + Support = Growth

Outdoor Education Research

Outdoor Education Research Summary
Research on 10,000 outdoor education students has found 3 to 4 out of 5 improve in personal & social skills.

Future Evolution of Outdoor Education? A paradigm shift can stimulate new growth The point is to react creatively before its too late

Adventure Education Theory Hattie, et al, 1997
Immediacy of experience
Difficult goals
Supportive environment
Feedback

Quality Adventure Education?
Staff trained in Education and Psychology
Longer Programs
Unlock Readiness to Change
Immediacy of Experience (action-consequence)
Difficult, specific goals
Supportive group environment
‘ Dollops of Feedback’
Reevaluation of Coping Processes

Use the Spectrum of Choice Compulsory Tough Love (Impelling) Challenge by Choice Voluntary e.g., incarcerated youth e.g., Outward Bound e.g., Project Adventure e.g., Scouts, D of E

Simple Outdoor Education
A backpack, a bit of food, and a plan
Students can conduct their own expeditions
Simple gear
Solo

Holistic Range of Challenges Time Emotional Social Physical Environmental

Qualitative vs Quantitative vs Mixed Method

Copyright vs Public Domain vs Open Source

Off-the-Shelf Tools vs Home Grown Tools

Researching PD Effects
Many instruments were inadequate because:
Too narrow (e.g. Locus of Control)
Too broad (e.g. 16PF)
Too long
Clinical or Assessment focus
Lack of relevance to aims & effects

Criteria for a New Tool
Scope vs. Depth
Length vs. Complexity
Relevance to Intervention Aims
Assessment of Competence
Sensitivity to Change
Educational Value

Off-the-Shelf Theory/Models vs Home Grown Theory/Models

Research vs Assessment vs Feedback Tools

Wellness and outdoor education

by James Neill

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