Describes a group activity that uses a tree as a metaphor to reflect both group and personal growth during adventure activities. The tree's roots represent the group's formation, the branches and leaves represent the group's diversity and capabilities, and the seeds represent the personal learning and growth that took place within the group.…

Reviews Freud, Foucault, Eco, and critical theorists to examine features of postmodern society: a culture of violence, pervasive hidden forms of social control, voyeurism toward life, the sovereignty of instrumental rationality, and threats of fascism. Suggests the need for critical practice in education that values rational self-clarity,…

Describes the work of Help for Abused Women and Children (HAWC) in Massachusetts. Programs and activities for abused adults and teens include a crisis hotline, shelter, advocacy, support groups, legal advocacy, community trainings, workshops, counseling, and a prevention curriculum. An adventure workshop is used to address self-esteem, trust, risk…

Characteristics of professions are identified, and based on those, adventure education is judged to be in its childhood. Development of standard curricular components of an adventure education degree would be a major step toward professionalization. Research would be stimulated, prospective students could use curricular standards for choosing…

A case study of an adventure-based counseling program for at-risk youth illustrates research problems in experiential education. Research and programmatic evaluation of adventure-based programs may fail to produce results because of a breakdown or changing delivery methods in the program itself or through inappropriateness of research methodology…

An experience with a client with cerebral palsy at an adventure education challenge course generated a review among program leaders of communication, consent, and choice issues concerning children with special needs. Lessons learned include: learn the participant's communication cues, explain the activity with the participant, and have the…

Outward Bound Czech Republic offers a personal development program for international participants that goes beyond the physical outdoor activities traditionally associated with adventure education. Dramaturgy uses "scenarios" in course design, allowing instructors to integrate a range of social, physical, creative, and reflection…

Nearly a half-century ago. Aldo Leopold acknowledged the threat of "landlessness" in our society as measured by the loss of our collective awareness of, and admiration for, the land (Leopold. 1966). At present, this disconnect has evolved to the point where participants in adventure-based programs may find themselves traveling through "Any Woods,…

In this paper I locate portaging as a site of contradiction where convoluted meanings about the self, ability, gender, and class surface. Disability theory and feminist theory of the body elicit various readings about what sort of identities are being produced in the pedagogical space of adventure learning and the canoe expedition. (Contains 4…

The Academy For Learning (AFL) serves urban students with emotional and behavioral problems. Through a Personal and Social Responsibility program, students develop skills for personal growth and service learning. Many alternative programs for troubled students offer little more than a curriculum for containment and control. In contrast, students…

This anthology of over 160 group activities is intended to help teachers, counselors, therapists, camp directors, and other group leaders to encourage group participation and learning in a way that is immediate, involving, and enjoyable. It also provides a resource for curriculum planners in adventure-based counseling programs. At the heart of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of adventure program participation upon adolescents in psychiatric treatment. All adventure programs included goal setting, awareness, cooperative and trust activities, and group and individual problem-solving. Participants' total hours of program participation ranged from 8-22 hours. A random…

A college honors course called "A Field Study in American Literature and Philosophy" helps students develop foundations for an environmental philosophy, by introducing them to the literature of natural history and exploration, and more importantly, through actual participation in outdoor activities. The class spends at least four days…

The family adventure program merges traditional family therapy and adventure therapy to provide a more effective therapeutic process for the troubled adolescent. Family adventure programming is based on the assumption that the family has the skills and resources for positive change and growth. The stressful nature of adventure activities removes…

This paper describes a developing outdoor adventure program for at-risk adolescents in Cheltenham and Gloucester City (England). The program builds on a partnership between Youth Service, the schools, and other agencies, and aims to make contact with young people aged 13-17 at risk of drifting into crime; to provide appropriate experiences,…