In the United Kingdom, outdoor educators have varied backgrounds in terms of academic versus professional outdoor training, and the profession has not agreed upon required qualifications. Multiple influences in the historical development of outdoor education have contributed to this situation. Since the 1970s, several U.K. colleges and…

The Galileo Outdoor Adventures Program (GOAPe) addresses the needs of high school students with a student-centered experiential program that is project- and community-based. At the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, a public school in inner-city San Francisco, GOAPe is a semester-long program and a student club. From the first day of…

A communication and problem-solving model is presented for individuals who lead extended field-based courses. The model focuses on the positive aspects of a situation and on encouraging individuals to accept responsibility for their behavioral choices. The four steps in the model are establishing rapport, what needs to change, where are we going,…

Describes outdoor leadership training program for disadvantaged children at Holiday Home Camp, Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Describes program objectives, progress levels, training courses, and activities. Describes grade-level training process. Program designed to help inner-city youth find sense of pride and self-esteem while improving life skills.…

Examines need for realignment of outdoor experience into non-competitive mode, suggesting similar changes in outdoor leadership training. Develops training model from experts' ideas of important components of outdoor leadership training. Applies model to four-year North American university program. Recommends program model for scrutiny and…

Outdoor leaders with sound judgment can gather many specific experiences, induce them into a collection of general concepts, store these as memory maps in the mind, later recall the general concepts as needed, and deduce a specific prediction from them. Proposes that evaluative reflection after a judgment is made is the component missing from most…

Nineteen practitioners, academics, and students of outdoor and adventure education explored the role of adventure education in promoting spiritual development at a think tank held in 1999 in Cumbria (England). Discussions on the nature of spirituality, outdoor education elements conducive to spiritual development, and ethical considerations…

This paper traces the history of outdoor programming beginning with the influence of western expansionism and the settling of the American frontier. The late 1800s brought about a change in the national attitude from an adversarial view of wilderness to a beneficial view. This was reflected by writers such as Henry David Thoreau and John Muir.…

Outdoor adventure education is an experiential method of learning which takes place primarily through sensory involvement with the outdoors. Characteristics of adventure education include uncertain outcomes, risk, inescapable consequences, energetic action, and willingness to participate. Adventure education occurs in a diversity of venues,…

Examines traditional outdoor education leadership training, emphasizing value of "soft" or "people" skills. Describes how Experiential Leadership Education, a systematic approach to teaching outdoor leadership, uses three teaching and group dynamics models. Examines Experiential Leadership Education applications. Suggests…

Outdoor leaders need counseling skills to deal with interpersonal conflicts that arise within a group and to facilitate participant growth and change. Person-centered counseling, reality therapy counseling, and behavioral counseling are discussed, as well as how various techniques from each can be used to the benefit of the leader and the group.…

Describes how an outdoor leadership center changed in response to fiscal restraints by expanding its facilities, diversifying programs to reach both youth and adult clients, and becoming financially accountable. Program changes resulted from three studies that gathered input from program stakeholders and government representatives. (LP)

This book is the leader handbook of the American Camping Association's (Indiana) Outdoor Living Skills Program. The purpose of this program is the development of outdoor living skills that emphasize environmental values. The program is divided into five levels and participants can enter at any point depending on their maturity and existing camping…

Presents a model of four levels of experience in training adventure education leaders: direct instruction, student interaction in class, technical skill development, and internships. Internships allow students to think for themselves and solve real-world problems while experiencing teaching on their own. Utilizing all levels increases student…

A false allegation of sexual abuse at a residential outdoor education facility demonstrates why programs should have written policies and procedures directing staff how to respond to infatuations and "come-on" traps of young people; how to avoid bodily contact, being alone with a group, or dealing emotionally and physically with…