The enhancement of positive self-concept has been identified as a key benefit of participation in team-building programs. This paper reviews research on the impact of team-building activities that include demanding physical challenges on the self-concept of physical education students. Team Building through Physical Challenges (TBPC) is a program…

Outlines a cornerstone in the development of adventure programming--the establishment of program accreditation standards (developed by the Association for Experimental Education and the Council for Outdoor Education). Describes the accreditation process and the design of an accreditation manual, and program accreditation services and accreditation…

A growing number of schools and institutions in North America have begun offering training in high risk activities such as high element rope courses, rock climbing, white water kayaking and canoeing, and scuba diving in conjunction with their regular physical education activity programs. High risk activities are those activities which occur in or…

A survey of outdoor and adventure activities (OAA) in 33 United Kingdom schools found the following: 1) successful programs resulted from individual teachers' commitment, 2) primary and secondary pupils gained enormous benefits from OAA, 3) OAA's benefits were often lost because of inadequate reporting, and 4) OAA's contributions to personal…

The Youth Sport Trust developed a package of activities to support the teaching of outdoor and adventurous activities, integrated into the British national curriculum through physical education programs for preschool through secondary school age. Activity categories are physical challenges, trails, and orienteering. Teaching resources and their…

The School of Physical Education at Chichester Institute (England) has developed an outdoor and adventurous activities (OAA) program that trains teachers to optimize the full potential of the outdoors as classroom. The philosophy underpinning the OAA program challenges the traditional view that exposure to adventure necessarily results in…

This book provides teachers and recreation professionals with a guide to Project Adventure activities and curriculum. Project Adventure learning goals are: (1) increasing the participant's personal confidence; (2) increasing mutual support within a group; (3) improving agility and physical coordination; (4) increasing joy in one's physical self…

A teacher who blended adventure education strategies into a standard physical education course during the 1980s describes similar programs at 12 schools that were inspired by Project Adventure workshops. The emphasis on cooperative teamwork and trust-building engages students and teachers alike. Advice is given on how to start an adventure-based…

This paper reports on research conducted as part of a project, the aim of which was to utilise outdoor and adventurous experiences to help schools address their "if only" factor--that aspect of learning perceived to be key to raising standards, whether it be the acquisition of knowledge, skills or a change in attitudes to learning. The…

For 30 years, Project Adventure (PA) has created adventure education programs that help participants face their fears, understand how others feel, and build creative group process. School-based PA programs help students take responsibility for their own behavior, while PA techniques are widely used in adventure programs for at-risk and adjudicated…

This article discusses the project developed by the Southeast Island School District (SISD) to improve their physical education curriculum. The challenge faced by SISD was to determine a way to provide training that had immediate impact. An important aspect of the project was the incorporation of adventure activities--such as using kayaks,…

Addresses effects of the (UK) Education Reform Act of 1988 on three linked components of outdoor education: outdoor pursuits, outdoor studies, and residential experience. Argues that curriculum changes completely fragment the cross-curricular value of outdoor education and fundamentally undermine the role of perhaps the most significant process of…

A survey of all secondary schools in a southern English county found that 4.6% offered outdoor education courses, 15% had discontinued such courses in the last 5 years, 46% included outdoor/adventure activities in physical-education curricula, and 88% ran short residential trips temporarily replacing the school curriculum. Discusses obstacles and…

This book contains 13 papers that describe a spectrum of experiential and outdoor education opportunities in the United Kingdom. The first section focuses on provision of outdoor education in schools, colleges, and outdoor education centers, drawing on formal curricula, including the British national curriculum. The second section examines outdoor…

Compiled to provide information on the outdoor education programs offered by 44 Canadian universities, this directory highlights the special characteristics of each program. The directory also provides the following information for each university: (1) contact person; (2) personnel involved in outdoor education and their degree qualifications and…