In recent years, a British government initiative has been pursuing the aim of National/Scottish Vocational Qualifications in all industries, trades, and professions. However, exemptions have been permitted for National Governing Body awards, such as exist for various sports and recreational areas. Efforts to reconcile these two parallel…

Summarizes the activities of the Young Explorers Trust (Great Britain) over the past 25 years including funding, expedition sites, purposes of expeditions, and origins of expeditions. Comments on the origin, growth, and trends in expedition adventure programming. (SAS)

The first (1997) international conference on adventure therapy (Perth, Australia) was attended by over 270 participants from 21 countries. Major themes included defining adventure therapy, therapeutic behavior change versus changing attitudes and values, the ethics of therapy, whether adventure therapy must link to a recognized school of…

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award adopted flexible and creative strategies for delivering the expeditions section since the UK countryside was severely restricted during the foot-and-mouth crisis. This includes the option of undertaking ventures during winter. Because of greater risks during winter, advice and requirements are given concerning…

The forming stage is when group members get acquainted. During the storming stage, conflict and competition arise. Good things are beginning to happen during the norming stage. The performing stage is highly productive, featuring unity and group identity. The transforming stage allows members to regroup, thank each other, and disengage. Adventure…

The diverse practitioners in adventure therapy need to be mindful of the assumptions they bring to the genre from their own fields, the interface between the different therapeutic schools and outdoor adventure, the extent to which "deep" psychotherapy will be practiced, how outdoor adventure changes the client-therapist relationship, and…

Three British outdoor educators point out that the push to license the outdoor industry now means that paper qualifications are favored over experience, thus increasing risk; argue that riskless adventure is impossible and pointless; and suggest returning to the real outdoors, rather than attempting to develop watered-down, imitation adventure…

The director of an outdoor education center for children with disabilities (Bendrigg Trust, England) discusses the center's work, effects of the Cairngorm tragedy and recent licensing requirements as lessening the adventure aspect of outdoor education, qualities of good outdoor educators, freelance instructors versus full-time staff, the use of…

The foot and mouth crisis forced many British outdoor education providers to develop new options. The construction of an abseiling tree is described, which requires a living, healthy, straight tree with a trunk thick enough to remain stable under load and with few branches in the lower 15-20 meters. An abseil tree code of practice is presented.…

Briefly outlines the historical backgrounds of Confucianism, the Chinese educational system, and adventure education. Points out a common ideal of Confucianism and adventure education: "jen," or humanity and benevolence leading to teamwork. Summarizes contributions that adventure education can make to Chinese education, as well as…

Twelve exercises are presented that use ropes as aids for reviewing and debriefing. By positioning themselves along a rope continuum, people make self-assessments visible to others. Ropes can be shaped into graphs to depict reactions to experiences. The facilitator can ask questions to help people reflect on their positions. A Web site provides…

Two case studies illustrate the differences between two perspectives on adventure activities and therapy: in "adventure therapy," adventure activities were a tool within a psychotherapeutic intervention with a disturbed delinquent, while in "therapeutic adventure," adventure activities offered opportunities for a group of…

Outward Bound Czech Republic developed a course for international participants in which everybody is simultaneously an actor and viewer in a 2-week theater play. A five-stage process of developing "dramaturgy" allows instructors to adapt the scenario to participant needs and thus enhance the likelihood of challenge and transfer of…

Brian Davies, chairman of the British Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres, discusses the effects of licensing on outdoor education, the decline of spontaneity and adventure in outdoor education, private versus public outdoor education centers, what makes a good outdoor education teacher, diversity represented by different outdoor…

This pyramid model of team development has four sides--awareness, behavior, communication, and direction--on a foundation of evaluation. The four equal sides of a pyramid represent the equal importance of the different roles, including leader, within a team. All team members are involved in evaluation and deciding what is important, which empowers…