Our elementary secondary schools have hidden curricula which teach passivity, resistance to change, inflexibility, and submissive behavior in a world which is moving toward faster changes and heightened personal individuality. Class control with the teacher feeding information to the students like data to a computer can no longer be accepted as the governing principle of education. The child learns through interacting with the world; the teacher must see to it that the child has access to the experiences the child needs. Currently, nature is seen as something to improve upon and be separate from. Although this world has held a variety of values toward nature, we are now at a point where most of the experiences of children come from a manmade source. Outdoor education can be used to teach art, mathematics, physics, sociology, etc., with just a slight change of perspective. There are many settings in which the teacher can use direct experience as the child's source of learning. Adventure education, summer camp, and environmental education can provide learning as well as heightened self-image/respect and responsibility. Within the main body of the discussion are examples and activities associated with successful outdoor programs. Following the main discussion is a journal of the author's experience directing an outdoor education program. (PM)