Children have much to learn from the natural environment and from working in partnership with each other. This article explores the real-life challenges of encouraging creative adventurous play within the perceived confines of the primary curriculum. The author shares the story of a whole-school learning adventure and aims to remind us of the…

Facilitating the reflection upon outdoor and adventure experiences is a common practice for many leaders and instructors. This article draws upon visual semiotics to provide reflections upon three images from books that originate from within the dominant North American paradigm. These musings are from one Antipodean's perspective, who may see the…

While much attention has been paid to what students learn in outdoor education settings, little has been paid to the process through which that learning occurs. The purpose of this study was to identify the mechanisms through which students report learning one of six targeted objectives on courses offered by the National Outdoor Leadership School.…

Self-awareness, cultural competency, environmental consciousness, and economic empathy are often achieved through study abroad travel experiences. This phenomenological study was intended to shed light on the international backpacking study abroad experiences for college students, describing the phenomenon from the perspective of the participants…

We provide an analysis of refereed papers published in the "Australian Journal of Outdoor Education," the "Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning," and the "Journal of Experiential Education" over the last decade. We developed a framework to classify the papers in terms of the authors' affiliations, the…

A relatively small number of researchers have found it interesting and useful to examine why and how persons choose to be and become adventure educators (AEs) and why they teach as they do. The implications of this knowledge are: (1) gaining insight into novice AEs' perceptions of what is required to provide in-depth and high quality instruction…

The Lyme Bay kayaking incident of 1993, in which four children died, led to an Act of Parliament and the introduction by the British Government of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA), a body established to regulate adventurous recreational and educational outdoor activities. The perception at the time, a view to which some …

Over the summer, ten students participated in a ten day Wilderness Education Association backpacking course set in Wyoming and the Grand Tetons. This field experience course was a supplemental class that would apply all leadership, climbing skills and risk management knowledge that Parks and Recreation Management (PRM) students learn in the…

The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) is increasingly offering more international courses (Williams, 2007). Recent examples of such courses have included courses operating in Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, and East Africa. This article compares the ethnographic data resulting from a recent 14 day Wilderness Stewardship Course in Taiwan…

Adventure-based programs focusing on adolescent girls' development often claim that they cultivate courage in girls; however, very little research has examined whether they accomplish this goal or how they accomplish this goal. An evaluation was conducted on one such program, Passages Northwest, to examine the efficacy of adventure-based…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of an experiential, adventure-based "Anti-Bullying Initiative" on levels of resilience. The goal of this initiative was to create a more positive, caring, and safe learning environment for all students at a local elementary school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Activities were designed to…

During the past 50 years, wilderness and adventure programs have been utilized as a therapeutic intervention for adolescents involved in America's juvenile justice systems. The program that is the focus of this research project is the Wilderness Endeavors Program, a correctional wilderness and adventure program for youthful offenders in the state…

This past Winter, Stout Adventures at the University of Wisconsin-Stout took off for its first International Trip. Nine students, two student trip leaders and the author traveled New Zealand's South Island for twenty-two days. Jumping out of planes, rafting rivers, leaping off bungy platforms, sea-kayaking both Milford Sound and Abel Tasman…

This study attempted to assess the development of environmental virtue in 7th and 8th grade students in an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the researchers were interested in introducing a virtue ethics perspective into their teaching of environmental ethics. Second, the researchers were…

This study investigated 10th-grade students' views concerning the physical effects of an adventure-physical education curriculum and the potential of such a curriculum to enhance components of a multidimensional model of physical self-concept. Semistructured interviews were used to obtain students' views and participant observations were conducted…