Sarah Leberman

Personal Learning or Prescribed Educational Outcomes: A Case Study of the Outward Bound Experience

Experiential organizations often adopt quantitative course evaluation, as this provides them with numbers to justify prescribed educational outcomes to funding bodies. However, it has been argued that qualitative methods better suit the personal nature of the experiential learning process, so that epistemological understanding follows pedagogical philosophy (Allison & Pomeroy, 2000). This article highlights the learning of participants at Outward Bound New Zealand. A mixed method approach was chosen including quantitative and qualitative data collection, pre and post course. Participants (157) from four different courses were surveyed by questionnaire, with a response rate of 82% for the first to last day responses, and 30% for the 12-week post-course follow-up. The quantitative findings were consistent with the medium change of previous outdoor program effect size research for 20+ day courses (Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997). However, the qualitative responses encapsulated the value and “real” meaning of these personal experiences.

Leadership Development for Women in New Zealand Universities: Learning From the New Zealand Women in Leadership Program

The Problem. Women continue to be underrepresented in senior academic and general staff positions in universities internationally, and New Zealand universities are no different. In addition, there is limited empirical research on leadership development programs for women. The Solution. This article adds to knowledge in the area by describing and discussing the outcomes of the national New Zealand Women in Leadership (NZWIL) program, which is now in its 5th year of operation. A longitudinal case study approach has been adopted including surveys, phone interviews, and an independent evaluation. The findings suggest that the program has been successful on both an individual and organizational level. Individually, participants have increased their self-confidence and networking skills, enabling them, for example, to apply for promotion and gain it. The Stakeholders. Postsecondary leaders, human resource development (HRD), and leadership development professionals can learn from the findings of this program and adapt them to their context.

The Fine Line: An insight into ‘risky’ practices of male and female competitive bodybuilders

Abstract Phenomenological accounts of competitive bodybuilders have frequently highlighted the pleasures and rewards associated with bodybuilding. This article focuses on the experiences of New Zealand based male and female bodybuilders in relation to risk and health‐compromising practices within the sport. 382 competitive bodybuilders completed a postal questionnaire and interviews were conducted with 30 participants. Findings highlighted that both men and women engaged in sporting risk (Frey, 1991) and that although many of their experiences were similar, there were also distinct differences. Bodybuilding men appeared more competitively aggressive and engaged more readily in steroid‐ use relative to their female counterparts. For women, bodybuilding had the capacity to play into, even amplify, their sensitivities surrounding appearance and body image, their preoccupation with diet and weight control, and a propensity towards eating disorders. Heterogeneity amongst the bodybuilding men and women is also identified and discussed.

Does Pushing Comfort Zones Produce Peak Learning Experiences

This article presents findings from two Outward Bound studies, one for international participants in the Czech Republic and one for female offenders in New Zealand. Open-ended questions asked participants which activities took them out of their comfort zones and from which activities they had learnt the most. The experiential learning literature advocates that by moving people out of their comfort zones learning takes place. However, the findings indicate that the activities, which participants identified pushed them out of their comfort zones, may not necessarily be the activities that result in peak learning experiences. Whilst it was mainly the physical activities that pushed participants out of their comfort zones, a range of social, creative and reflection activities produced the most learning. This finding suggests that facilitators need to recognize that individual participants’ perceptions of risk are different and remain responsive to participant’s needs throughout the program. The findings also indicate that facilitators need to be aware that learning may come from activities that do not necessarily create the most perception of risk for the participants.

Local Planning for Recreation and Tourism: A Case Study of Mountain Biking from New Zealand's Manawatu Region

At the local level, planning for recreation and tourism is not necessarily a straight forward process. Local policy makers may be unable to reflect the complexity of the planning process, particularly when it should consider a variety of views representing different stakeholders. In addition, those involved in planning for recreation and tourism have often treated such activities in isolation from other factors which make up the social, environmental and economic fabric of a region. One of the reasons for this may belack of data, and the research in this article seeksto redress a similarlack in relation to mountain biking in the Manawatu Region of New Zealand. The recent increase in the number of mountain bikers world-wide has prompted studies in the USA and New Zealand, which have indicated a growing concern with environmental impacts, demonstrated attitudes of other recreationalists to mountain bikers and identified a number of management issues. This article presents research conducted in association with the Palmerston North City Council. It suggests that planning for recreation and tourism is often an ad hoc and reactive process and recommends the adoption of a more iterative approach.

Dramaturgy as a Method for Experiential Program Design

This paper analyzes a holistic method of experiential program design, “dramaturgy.” Dramaturgy, a theatre term, involves the development of themes and is characterized by the dramaturgy wave, which intertwines a wide variety of social, physical, creative, and reflective “games.” The dramaturgy aims to enhance the challenge to participants in ways other than physical and is adapted during the program for the specific needs of the individuals and group. The findings are based on the content analysis of 70 participant responses to open-ended questions up until two years after a two-week course for international participants. The course was held in the Czech Republic in 1997 and 1998, and then Mailed at Outward Bound Australia in 1999. The results identified that the development of the course dramaturgy is an effective method of program design that has implications for the next generation of experiential program development.

New Zealand bodybuilder identities: beyond homogeneity.

Existing research implies bodybuilders are a homogenous group with gender, power, control and empowerment, as well as afflictions such as personal inadequacies, dominating scholarly thinking concerning their identity. External critiques have frequently portrayed bodybuilders in a negative light, whilst phenomenological accounts have emphasized participants positive experiences. This research has focused on bodybuilder identity in New Zealand. Some 382 competitive bodybuilders completed a questionnaire as part of a three-year project. Factor analysis generated the following themes: Self-Life Enhancement; Bodybuilder Lifestyle; Body Manipulation; Physical Attractiveness Tool; Healthy-Balanced Self-Image; The Price of Bodybuilding and An Extreme Competitive Aesthetic Pursuit. The findings suggest that there is heterogeneity in bodybuilder identities and whilst bodybuilding may positively reinforce identity construction, it may also lead to identity conflicts, negative experiences and self-risk.

Applying Dramaturgy to Management Course Design

This article discusses the holistic method of experiential course design called dramaturgy as applied to an undergraduate 3rd-year management course—the Action Learning Management Practicum (ALMP). Dramaturgy, a theater term, involves the student-centered design of the course. The development of themes is characterized by the intertwining of a range of activities designed to enhance the social, physical, creative, and reflective challenge to participants. Choreographed to expand student experiences, increase challenge, and optimize learning through the flow of “dramaturgy waves,” the activities are constantly adapted to respond to specific needs of individual students and the class as a whole. Student comments, 2 weeks and 6 months postcourse, highlight key learning and suggest that there is merit in using dramaturgy as a method of design for management courses. Its emphasis on a holistic approach provides a means for developing the whole person in management education as advocated in the literature.

Risking a Debate - Redefining Risk and Risk Management: A New Zealand Case Study

This paper examines the gulf between the perceptions of risk and risk management of twelve New Zealand outdoor instructors and the definitions and managerial practices surrounding risk and risk management. This gulf is supported by the discursive practices of risk and risk management which privileges objective and rational models of thinking, denying the subjective experience of both the instructor and the student. Broadening the definitions of risk to recognize the opportunities as well as the loss inherent within risk, better reflects the complexity of this phenomenon. This may open the way for discussion about risk as a social process, rather than just a process of rational decision-making. Refocusing the risk debate on the opportunities it provides may allow the discussion to move away from risk being dominated by its management, to focusing on the learning goals and objectives of adventure education.

Planning for recreation and tourism at the local level: Applied research in the Manawatu region of New Zealand

Without planning, human activities would be at best haphazard and formless. However, like many other forms of planning, recreation and tourism planning is not a straightforward process and it is at the local level that problems can become evident. Due to a number of pressures, not the least being time, local level policy-makers may be unable to reflect the complexity of the planning process. Local planners are required to react to the directives of national government, but at the same time consider and respond to a variety of views representing different local stakeholders. In addition, those involved in planning for recreation and tourism have often treated such activities in isolation from other factors which make up the social, environmental and economic fabric of a region. In some instances this can lead to poor policy decisions. One of the reasons for this may be the paucity of data collected. The rationale for undertaking the research discussed in this article was the lack of data on outdoor recreation and tourism in the Manawatu region of New Zealand. This article presents the results of two research projects conducted in association with the Palmerston North City Council, as well as a critique of the local planning process. It also suggests an applied recreation and tourism planning model.