Adventure education, such as rock climbing, provides benefits to children's development in multiple areas. It involves learning in an environment with potential risks that allows children to develop skills to overcome challenges. Risk assessments are used to manage hazards and limit risks while still providing effective challenges. Within rock climbing, risks are very well managed and low, but some risk is important to provide challenges that build self-esteem, resilience, and skills. Benefits include improvements in physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development.

1. Adventure Education - Rock Climbing
Aim: To highlight the benefits of adventure education and the importance of risk in
learning for practitioners in line with Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and National
Curriculum
Adventure education involves a learning environment with the potential for risk and
uncertainty. These adventure educational sites allow for children and young people
to learn holistically developing many personal, social, emotional, physical and
intellectual areas. Adventure education must involve direct and active learning that
has risk and consequences (Ewert and Sibthorp, 2014) as it allows for the participants
to adapt and use the necessary skills to overcome the challenge.
In order to efficiently manage hazards to limit risk but to still effectively
challenge the child, risk assessments are used. The purpose of risk assessments
is to take full responsibility for the health and safety of all participants. It
involves examining activities and situations from all angles in order to promote
the highest level of safety and management (Fairclough, 2016).
Within rock climbing, most especially for children, the hazards are very well
managed and therefore the risk is very low. Safety measures are put in place to
make all risks as low as possible and this would be known as risk management. It
is important to manage risk and not to eradicate risk. Within outdoor and
adventure education, challenge comes from risk, or the perception of risk. If risk
or perception of risk is entirely eliminated, the children do not benefit from the
challenge, self-esteem advantages or the interpersonal and intrapersonal
relationships.
Physical Development/Physical Education – children learn about their bodies, strength,
muscle and pushing themselves, agility, coordination, ability to understand the effect of
activity on their bodies, balance, protecting self from risk, fresh air (outdoor climbing walls)
and promotion of healthy and active lifestyle.
Communication and Language/Literacy – team communication instructing others from a
better view, listening to one another, explaining and conveying information, negotiating,
evaluating and building on ideas of others,
Personal, Social and Emotional Development – social skills working in a team, sharing views,
recognising, naming and dealing with emotions (such as resilience, anxiety and achievement),
keeping themselves and others safe, building confidence to reach or set goals, building trust,
developing skills to problems, learn about risk and protection from risk, overcoming
challenges by adapting and building on experience.
Mathematics – use of direction (left, right, up, down), use of shape, space and measure
language, counting, motion and forces.
(Department for Education, 2017) (Department for Education, 2013)
“When children are faced with risk, they rise to
meet and overcome it”
(Almon, 2014:9)
Hazard: an object or situation that may cause harm or damage
Risk: the likelihood of the hazard causing harm or damage (Knight, 2011)
Interpersonal relationship: external relationships with others, such as peers and leaders
Intrapersonal relationship: internal relationship with oneself
What is Adventure Education?
Challenges, Risks and Risk Management
Benefits of Adventure Education and Risk
Benefits of Rock Climbing connected to EYFS and
National Curriculum
Figure 1
Figure 2
Without opportunities to challenge themselves and to assess
risk, children’s understanding of safety does not progress. Risk
and challenge are ongoing processes – as a child becomes
experienced in a challenge, it will need to be developed in
order to push them further such as the flow models (Figure 1
and Figure 2) represent (Knight, 2011). These models
demonstrate the need for appropriate challenge in relation to
skill and competence in order to reach a state of congruence
of skill and challenge (or ‘flow’) to reap the benefits of the
risk. These benefits include: sense of achievement, resilience,
growth in self-esteem and confidence and understanding of
self-awareness and competence.
Student number: 1702745

2. Bibliography
Almon, J. (2014) The Value of Risk in Children’s Play. Research Bulletin. 19 (2), pp 7-16.
Department for Education (2013) The national curriculum in England. London: Crown Copyright. [online]
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/425601/PRIMARY_national_curriculum.pdf. (Accessed: November 2019).
Department for Education (2017) Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. London: Crown Copyright. [online]
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596629/EYFS_STATUTORY_FRAMEWORK_2017.pdf. (Accessed: November 2019).
Ewert, A. W. (1989) ‘Models and theories in outdoor adventure pursuits’ in Ewert, A. W. (Ed) Outdoor Adventure pursuits: foundations, models and theories. Ohio: Publishing Horizons, pp 83-102.
Ewert, A. W. and Sibthorp, J. (2014) Outdoor Adventure Education : Foundations, Theory and Research. Leeds: Human Kinetics.
Fairclough, M. (2016) Playing with Fire: embracing risk and danger in schools. Woodbridge: John Catt Educational Ltd.
Galloway, S. and Attarian, A. (2009) ‘Rock Climbing’ in Wagstaff, M. and Attarian, A. (Eds) Technical Skills for Adventure Programming: A Curriculum Guide. Leeds: Human Kinetics, pp 153-228.
Knight, S. (2011) Risk and Adventure in Early Years Outdoor Play. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Ministry of Education (1944) Education Act 1944. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office [online] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/7-8/31/enacted. (Accessed: November 2019).
Nakamura, J. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009) ‘The Concept of Flow’ in Snyder, C. R. and Lopez, S. J. (Eds) Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 89-105.
Wagstaff, M. and Attarian, A. (2009) Technical Skills for Adventure Programming: A Curriculum Guide. Leeds: Human Kinetics.
Images
Ymca-fg.org, Members Event – Climbing & Abseiling, YMCA4559-200x300 [online image] https://ymca-fg.org/ymca-fg-event/members-event-climbing-abseiling/ (Accessed: November 2019).
Ymca-fg.org, Fairthorne Manor, Climbing-2016-1024x683 [online image] https://ymca-fg.org/fairthorne-manor/ (Accessed: November 2019).
Ymca-fg.org, YMCA4565, YMCA4565-2 [online image] https://ymca-fg.org/?attachment_id=10703 (Accessed: November 2019).
Figure 1: Researchgate.net, Engaging the Learner: How Can the Flow Experience Support E-learning?, Csikszentmihalyis-3-channel-flow-model [online image]
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Csikszentmihalyis-3-channel-flow-model_fig1_251772214. Accessed: November 2019).
Figure 2: Researchgate.net, A conceptual affective design framework for the use of emotions in computer game design, Csikszentmihalyi ‘s Flow Model (Beatson, 2015) [online image]
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Csikszentmihalyi-s-Flow-Model-Beatson-2015_fig2_283621804 (Accessed: November 2019).