A brief look at how Outdoor Environmental Education can be used to assist with personal development.

1. OEEDU5001 Concepts in
Outdoor Education
Week eight
Personal Development in Outdoor
Education

2. The traditional and enduring reason
for outdoor education’s inclusion in
curriculum worldwide.
Challenge to content knowledge?

3. Personal development or therapy?

4. • Therapy is concerned primarily with
treating an affliction/illness/malady of
some sort = therapist
• Development is an educative process
seeking to aid maturation and fostering of
ability = educator/teacher.
• Recreation is about having fun, learning
new skills, being reenergised =
instructor /outdoor leader.

5. Therapy, development and
outdoor leadership demand
differing professional skills and
knowledge – don’t trick yourself
into thinking they are the same!
(Although many recreation leaders may well be outdoor
educators and the other way around?!!)
BUT we are not therapists!

6. Human futures?
Imagine you are a parent (!)
In two words of less - what would you want
most for your children?

7. Human futures?
Imagine you are a parent (!)
In two words of less - what would you want
most for your children?
In two words or less – what do schools teach?

8. What’s happening here?

9. Many people do not
access
assistance/treatment
via conventional
services.
Mental illness is under
diagnosed.
Personal development
is not necessarily
therapeutic, but
acknowledge wider
context.

10. Why?
The increasing rates of mental illness and static
rates of happiness are occurring in an era of
massive increased personal wealth, increased
materialism and increased access to health and
longevity.
(Happy planet index)

11. How do you know if someone
has positive self image on an
OE trip?

12. • Posture shows
• Positive self talk
• Contributes to the group
• Able to take responsibility
• Takes leadership
• Improves
performance/achievement
• Can speak their ideas or disagree
with the group

13. Myths in personal development

14. There is no such thing as
character development, so OE is
flawed?
Situationists argue that the context is the total determinant of
behaviour. If this were true you would have not consistent
behaviour traits (Virtues would not exist.)
However, it is true that transfer is problematic unless context
is considered and transfer fostered.

15. There is no empirical evidence to
support OE as developing the
person.
It is true that measuring is complex. But complexity
does not mean it doesn’t occur. Causality is
problematic.
Need to identify a construct. Eg resilience.

16. OE personal development will
take time away from academic
achievement.
Yes it takes time.
Can enhance academic performance through
improved relationships and engagement in learning.

17. Positive psychology explores
happiness and has implications
for OE practices.

18. Happiness = 3 components.
• Positive emotion (joy, love, contentment,
pleasure)
• Flow (action and awareness merge, loss
of self, time stopping etc. Match of skills
and task difficulty)
• Meaning (thru connections to others,
future generations or ‘causes that
transcend the self’)

19. Research?
Empirical research mainly uses scales of self
reported data.
eg, character strengths
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcente

20. Building resilience/happiness
Identify character strengths and then use those
Examine fears
Identify bodily responses to fear – deal with it!
Focus on positive skills you have to cope with
fears. Feedback, learning, coping
Power of positive thinking on performance
Posture and self image and performance

21. Influencing resilience –
7 abilities
Emotion regulation
Impulse control
Empathy
Optimism
Causal analysis
Self efficacy
Reaching Out
Revich, K & Shatte, A (2003). The resilience Factor. NY, Broadway Books

22. OE, developing resilience
Emotions and behaviours are triggered not by
events themselves but by how we interpret them.
We can then work with students to help more
resilient interpretations - i.e. develop resilience skills

23. Know yourself - ABC
What makes you mad? = Adversities A
What thoughts or beliefs does this raise? B
What are the consequences?, reactions? C

24. Fill this in?
Belief How I feel - consequences
Someone took my pillow after the last
trip
I accidentally spilt water on your dry
clothes
If I fall here not sure the belayer will
hold me!
Your assignment was much better
than mine
Things are looking up for OE in the
national curriculum debate

25. Belief/thought to
consequences
BELIEFS CONSEQUENCES
Violation of your rights Anger/aggression
Loss of something real/self worth Sadness, depression
Harm to others Guilt/apology
Future threat/ Danger/bad stuff! Anxiety, fear
Negative comparison to others Embarrassment
Positive contribution Pride
Appreciation of what you have Thanks, gratitude
Positive future Hope, energy

26. ‘Iceberg beliefs’
Underlying beliefs that trigger reactions out of
proportion to the adversity/activating event

27. Help identify by checking beliefs
and consequences link.
Ask: what is most upsetting?
What does this mean for me?
What is the worst part of this for me?
What does this say about me and what’s so
bad about this?

28. Avoid thinking stuff ups
Recall attribution theory biases

29. Jumping to conclusions = salience bias
Fundamental error of internality = seek
external sources as well. (It’s about them)
False consensus = over generalise
Actor observer bias = how did others and
context contribute? (It’s about me)

30. Biases in attributions
• Fundamental attribution bias =
overestimate internal causes for other’s
behaviour
• Actor observer bias = consider context
for our own actions but not for others.
• False consensus bias = isn’t everyone
like me?

31. Biases in attributions
• Salience bias = we like to pick out a
dominant cause.
• Self serving bias = positive outcomes are
our own doing, negative outcomes the
result of external factors (more for men
than women)
– become self full filling = SELF EFFICACY
improves.

32. Avoid thinking stuff ups
Recall attribution theory biases

33. Stability vs instability = what is changeable
and controllable?
Distinctiveness = what is the critical
behaviour factor here?
Communication skills = give and receive in
each domain.
(receive = paraphrase, impression check,
describe behaviour/ send = clear statements,
describe feelings, show behaviour)

34. Active responding
CONSTRUCTIVE DESTRUCTIVE
ACTIVE Authentic interest and
enthusiasm for the
experience
Squash or put down
PASSIVE Quiet , understated
response. Not fully
engaged.
Ignoring, no response,
defer topic.

35. Personal development and
OE final things to consider
• All education is personal development
education.
• But the context of OE create spaces for
extraordinary personal development
opportunity.
• Know your limits as an educator
• Honour confidentiality
• Provide tools for sharing, thinking and
developing ideas on the self.