Chris North

Reporting climbing grades and grouping categories for rock climbing

Rock climbing is an increasingly popular adventure sport with a growing research base. To date the growth of research and reporting styles has been somewhat haphazard and as a consequence comparison between studies can be problematic. The aim of this paper was to make suggestions about a number of changes that could be made to improve the consistency in reporting between studies. Included with this paper are two new tables, one each for male and female climbers. These provide comparative grading scales for use in reporting for future studies. These tables also provide a suggested framework for grouping climbers according to their ability. Using the tables researchers could group the climbers in their study by a category name (lower grade, intermediate, advanced, elite or higher elite climber) or by a number (level 1-5). In addition, the authors make recommendations about climber characteristics that could usefully be reported in future to assist comparison between studies. It would be helpful to readers if the self-reported, highest lead climbs (on-sight and redpoint) could be reported for a climbing group, along with the types of climbing regularly undertaken.

Case-based teaching of fatal incidents in outdoor education teacher preparation courses

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of case-based approaches to fatal incidents in outdoor education (OE) with a view to fatality prevention. Fatalities are rare in OE and therefore it is nearly impossible for teachers to learn how to avoid fatalities from their own past experiences. It is, however, possible to learn from the mistakes of others through studying accounts of fatalities. Andrew Brookes, working with specialist OE undergraduates nearing the end of their course, develops the argument for reframing fatality cases as narratives in order for students to not simply analyse the incident in hindsight, but to view the accounts from the perspectives of the people involved at the time. Chris North discusses how he examined the impact of case-based fatality learning on pre-service teachers with a range of outdoor experience levels. The responses of students to studying fatalities required him to reframe his approach and consider how to better differentiate learning. The article argues that case-based learning can make a unique and important contribution to safety, but requires reflexive consideration of both curricular and pedagogical aspects.

Holding a Sustainability Bearing through Cutty-Grass and Clearings: Implementing Sustainability during Disruptive Organisational Changes

This article explores our experiences as faculty implementing a five year sustainability strategic plan within the Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) curriculum centre during a time of organisational restructuring. This paper builds on the work of Jansen and Boardman (2011) who describe the process of developing the strategic plan and some initiatives arising from it. Now at the end of the five year timeframe and with the benefit of hindsight, we describe some of the problematic aspects of our sustainability initiative. The role of a strategic plan appears crucial in providing a general bearing, however remaining ‘true’ to a small centre and its vision also limited possibilities for interdisciplinary sustainability. We discuss how disruptive organisational changes provided unexpected opportunities for our sustainability initiative. The ongoing journey through ‘cutty-grass thickets’ and ‘clearings’ for sustainability is described with a view to providing inspired self generalisation for others on a similar journey.

Climbing as if you care: rock climbing at Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill as a place-based approach to sustainability

This article explores ways that climbers engage with climbing areas and highlights opportunities that climbing offers to develop, through place-based education approaches, an ethic of care for these places. Challenges include moving people beyond the notion that climbs are resources to be ‘consumed’ by making them aware of the need to engage in culturally and environmentally respectful practices when climbing in natural environments. Opportunities include the revisiting of familiar problems over time to develop ongoing associations, the physicality and sociality of the climbing, and opportunities to experience beauty and spiritual connections. This study focuses on an area in Aotearoa New Zealand called Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill, famous for its world class bouldering. The article ends with the conclusion that even though climbers connect to places in different ways, setting these connections within the context of place-based education still has the potential to foster the ethic and care that underpins practising sustainability.

Swinging between infatuation and disillusionment: learning about teaching teachers through self-study

ABSTRACT Background: School teachers who become teacher educators (TEs) are rarely prepared for the different pedagogies that teacher education requires. One pedagogical difference is the need for TEs to make their thinking and decisions explicit to pre-service teachers (PSTs) so PSTs can see teaching as an adaptive process rather than a set of routines to be memorised. Purpose: This research set out to analyse my learning about teaching teachers through making my decisions and thinking explicit to my PSTs. Participants and data collection: Using a self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP) methodology, I collected data during an outdoor education course in a physical education (PE) degree. Participants included a convenience sample of six participating PSTs (of a cohort of 24) who participated in four interviews and two group interviews. Three critical friends observed five lessons and participated in interviews. In addition, self-generated data consisted of 104 written reflective journal entries (both private and open). Lessons were video-recorded to assist with reflection. Data analysis: Utilizing Schön’s concepts of reflection for, in and on action, I sought out contrary perspectives in order to frame and reframe my understanding of TE practice. I then presented these new understandings to other participants for further development. Findings: My learning about teaching teachers can be represented as swinging between opposite extremes of infatuation and disillusionment. After observing my teaching, a critical friend identified that my physical position (or how I placed myself in the group) affected PST engagement in discussions. As I explored this aspect of my teaching further, I became very focused on the influence of my physical position to the point of infatuation. My infatuation stage culminated in a reflection-in-action moment when I changed my position in the act of teaching, which appeared to significantly increase PST engagement. But the PSTs challenged my interpretation and stated that inequalities of power cannot be resolved by rearranging where a teacher stands. In this second stage, I experienced a strong sense of disillusionment, even cynicism. As a TE, I felt any actions I took were pointless against the power structures of society. Later, with insights from participants, I developed a more nuanced understanding of power and position; while not a panacea, how I arranged myself and the class physically did have some influence on the flow of discussions. Conclusions: S-STEP requires that researching practitioners challenge their assumptions. In making my own learning about my teaching explicit to my PSTs and critical friends, I was able to frame and reframe my understandings about teaching teachers. Through this research, I discovered that I learnt about my teaching by swinging between extremes. I argue that thinking about teaching informed by extreme positions, provides a fuller purview of the complexity of teaching teachers. S-STEP in conjunction with explicit teaching practices offers TEs a tangible means to understand our practices more deeply and furthermore, to advance our understanding of teacher education more broadly.

Rain and Romanticism: the environment in outdoor education

Outdoor education provides an opportunity to engage with natural environments in ways that are distinct from other physical education teacher education (PETE) courses. This research examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) within a PETE degree experienced ‘environment’ on an outdoor education camp. Using self-study methodology and drawing on responses of students and my reflections, I sought to interrogate my Romantic assumptions. A particularly rainy camp provided rich opportunities and PST responses to the weather were diverse, because the rain prompted environmental responsiveness in ways that would not have occurred in fine weather. PSTs generally valued the affordances of the outdoor setting which they saw as distinct from daily schooling. However, contrary experiences also emerged, problematising my Romantic framing of the environment and indicating that my approach was marginalising some students. Implications for teachers and teacher educators are discussed.

Phases in Collaboration: Using Schwab’s Deliberation to Respond to Change in Teacher Education

Abstract The literature suggests that radical changes to teacher education are common but rarely well-planned or resourced. Such changes can be detrimental to the quality of learning and it is challenging for educators to know how to respond. Joseph Schwab argued that for balanced curriculum development to occur, deliberation must take place with the four commonplaces (teachers, learners, subject matter and milieu). In this study, three teacher educators in a research intensive university in New Zealand were forced to combine three distinct courses (Health, Outdoor and Physical Education) into one course. Concerned that student learning would be compromised, we embarked on a series of deliberations informed by Schwab’s ideas. The deliberations involved meeting regularly over six months, inviting representatives from the commonplaces (program leaders, pedagogical specialists, pre-service teachers and teachers) into our deliberations and reflecting on the process. Analysis revealed that our deliberations could be characterized by phases: (1) creating the necessary conditions, (2) the problem emerges, (3) the solution emerges, (4) evaluation and (5) beyond deliberation. These phases of deliberation were distinguished by different concerns and timeframes and roughly reflected the stages of deliberation identified by Schwab. Convergence and divergence from Schwab’s stages are discussed. While much of Schwab’s work on deliberation remains relevant today, we recommend the addition of an initial phase focused on establishing a collaborative basis at the beginning of the process. We found this phase not only generated respect and care amongst the collaborators, but also helped frame the problem and enabled new solutions to emerge.