Evidence-based practice is an approach that narrowly classifies research results by utilising a hierarchy of evidence. This process renders much available knowledge and experience redundant within its value structure. Currently a dominating ideology across medical and health fields, evidence-based practice is now being promoted in adventure…

Throughout time and across cultures, the relationship between Homosapiens and the natural environment has played a central role in identifying and defining aspects of the realm of spirituality, wherein humans seek to make sense of the universe and find meaning in their own existence. Within outdoor recreation and experiential education (OREE)…

This study examined the effects of an adventure orientation program on the student development behaviors of incoming first-year students at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Student development was measured by a condensed version of the Student Development Task Inventory-2 (CSDTI-2; Gass, 1986; Winston, Miller, & Prince, 1979). Data…

Supervision of therapeutic practice is one of the central professional elements of mental health practitioners. Supervision provides growth for therapists in their respective professional fields, more effective therapy for clients, and some measure of ethical protection for the welfare of clients and the public at large. However, therapists who…

Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern (2002) describe the Circle of Courage model for creating environments in which all children can thrive. This approach blends youth developmental research, the wisdom of pioneer workers, and Native American philosophies of child care. This model for reclaiming youth at risk posits four elements as essential for…

The purpose of this article is to review current models for curriculum and pedagogy used in elementary school physical education programs. Historically, physical educators have developed and used a multiactivity curriculum in order to educate students through physical movement. More recently, a variety of alternative curricular models have been…

The comfort zone model is widespread within adventure education literature. It is based on the belief that when placed in a stressful situation people will respond by overcoming their fear and therefore grow as individuals. This model is often presented to participants prior to activities with a highly perceived sense of risk and challenge which…

Presents models through which educators can examine rationale for putting lives of others at risk. Reviews "Adventure Experience Paradigm" for facilitating changes. Considers components of exploration, experimentation, adventure, peak adventure, misadventure, devastation, and disaster. Suggests "Normal Life Risk" model as common means to justify…

An increasing number of adventure facilitators are being trained in school settings. The common form of training consists of modeling the appropriate behavior to new facilitators followed by an apprenticeship period. An attempt was made to determine if adventure facilitators were making ethically correct decisions based upon their knowledge and…

Many forms of adventure therapy, in particular wilderness therapy, rely on challenges in the outdoors to achieve objectives of client change. While nature is drawn on as a medium for therapy and healing, some adventure therapists give nature little if any mention when it comes to explaining therapeutic success. The dominant paradigm in psychology…

The learning sequence (TLS) is an adaptable, dynamic framework for designing any learning experience. TLS consists of seven steps (sense of each other, sense of place, group norms, relevance, the experience itself, reflection, transfer) that provide a foundation, a reference point to return to when an unexpected situation arises, and a common…

The paper explores basic concepts of mental retardation and proposes wilderness adventure programing as an approach that offers mentally retarded persons the dignity of taking a reasonable risk. Benefits of such programing are cited for affective, cognitive, and psychomotor domains. Processes involved in the therapeutic bases for program…

Presents a new definition of outdoor education. Describes the different approaches to outdoor education advocated in adventure education and environmental education. Proposes that an integration of approaches can result in a functional outdoor education experience. (ML)

First developed and tested in 1989, the Adventure Model suggests that as adventure participants become more skilled and specialized, they experience predictable changes in several participation behaviors. While previous studies supported the model, they were carried out with college students having similar skill and motivational characteristics.…

Five stages of development in the facilitation of adventure experiences in order of sophistication are letting the experience speak for itself; speaking for the experience by the instructor; debriefing the experience through reflection; frontloading the experience with prebriefing; and framing the experience isomorphically. (KS)