Tom G. Potter

A call for sustainability education in post‐secondary outdoor recreation programs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between sustainability education and outdoor education and to encourage outdoor recreation educators to evaluate their programs with regard to sustainability and sustainable living.Design/methodology/approach – This paper starts by presenting several factors that currently hinder the delivery of sustainability education in outdoor recreation training programs. It then turns to a presentation of Lefebvres sustainability education framework, which offers a helpful structure for integrating sustainability education into outdoor recreation academic curricula.Findings – Although there are programs that have successfully implemented sustainability training into their curricula, there are many factors that serve to hinder the education of outdoor recreation students in the philosophy and techniques of sustainability and sustainable living. No doubt these impediments pose critical challenges to those offering academic training programs. These challenges ...

A tale of three journals: A study of papers published in AJOE, JAEOL and JEE between 1998 and 2007.

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 type of papers published, the context they address, and the foci of the papers. Authors from the US published most extensively across all three journals followed by authors from Australia, UK, Canada, and New Zealand; the JAEOL had the most balanced mix of author nationalities. All three journals demonstrated a trend towards a higher proportion of research-based papers. Suggestions for the continued development of the emerging research culture are provided. We conclude by offering a table identifying potential areas for future research.

The Development and Implementation of Outdoor-Based Secondary School Integrated Programs.

Four teachers share the challenges they faced when creating and running outdoor-focused secondary school integrated programs in British Columbia, Canada. The five most common challenges were funding constraints, insufficient support from administrators and colleagues, time constraints, liability and risk management, and inadequate skills and qualifications. The teachers also share their strategies for meeting these challenges. It is hoped that this article will help teachers who are interested in starting their own outdoor-related integrated program be better prepared and thus able to make their own professional dreams a reality.

Is Outdoor Education a Discipline? Provocations and Possibilities.

Outdoor education is often undervalued. As such, we believe there is merit in critiquing the field and focusing more attention on its value and importance. This paper seeks to offer a critical exploration of ‘if’ and ‘how’ outdoor education is a discipline. The paper begins with a brief overview of the literature that seeks to define a ‘discipline’. We then present a six-component discipline model and examine whether and how outdoor education aligns with its first three components: a focus of study; a worldview or paradigm; and an active research or theory development agenda. In our analysis of these components we seek to not be definitive; rather, we invite readers to ponder our evidence in light of their lived experience. The ultimate hope is that this paper will encourage readers to deliberate the arguments that arise as a consequence of assessing outdoor education as a discipline. In doing so we hope to challenge readers to conceptualise outdoor education in innovative ways and to stimulate critical discourse to strengthen the field so that it may realise its potential and best serve society.

Is outdoor education a discipline? Insights, gaps and future directions

ABSTRACT This article critically explores ‘if’ and ‘how’ outdoor education (OE) is a discipline. This exploration stems from our experiences that OE is often undervalued, and from the belief that if OE is considered a discipline, then it would have greater acceptance, enhanced academic standing, importance, resourcing and prestige. Our analysis is rooted in a six-component discipline model which provides a framework for examining OE in relation to commonly understood attributes of stand-alone disciplines. In this article, we examine the final three components of the model. First, we explore the reference disciplines, such as education, psychology and sociology, which inform the OE field. Second, we examine the principles and practices of risk and reflection to chart how OE’s principles and practices have evolved over time. Finally, we report on the structures that support the OE field, such as academic programmes, journals, textbooks and curriculum. We draw on a range of historical and contemporary evidence to provocate on if and how OE is a discipline. We conclude the article with a discussion of the implications of these analyses juxtaposed alongside a discipline model and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for OE in the context of being a discipline.

Fifteen-Passenger Vans and Other Transportation Options: A Comparison of Driver, Vehicle, and Crash Characteristics

Objective: Fifteen-passenger vans (15-PVs) are a convenient and economical way to transport small groups of people and many educational, community, and health organizations utilize them. Given recent tragic crashes involving 15-PVs, many organizations are reconsidering their use. The goal of this study was to examine driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics of fatal 15-PV collisions over the past 2 decades in comparison to 3 other common vehicle classes. Methods: We used data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (years 1991–2008). Driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics were compared by vehicle classes (15-PV, cars, minivans, and intercity buses) using proportions along with odds ratios (using cars as the reference category) for dichotomous variables and means and mean differences for continuous variables. Logistic regression and analysis of variance were used to statistically compare odds and means, respectively. The odds and absolute risk of a first, subsequent, and either rollover by vehicle type and occupancy rate were also examined. Odds and absolute risk of a rollover event by occupancy rate were calculated. Results: Compared to car drivers, van drivers typically had a better past 3-year driving record. Van drivers performed significantly fewer actions suggesting aggressive driving (e.g., speeding). However, the proportion of van drivers who were deemed to have followed improperly or to have overcorrected was greater. A vehicle rollover was cited almost twice as frequently in van crashes compared to other passenger vehicles. Of the 4 vehicle types studied, all were more likely to rollover as their occupancy rates increased. Fully loaded 15-PVs had almost 13 times the odds of rollover compared to fully loaded cars. Minivans when full (7 occupants), often seen as the replacement for 15-PVs, were found to have over 3.5 times the odds of rollover of fully loaded cars. Conclusions: Drivers need to be aware that as occupancy rates of the vehicles they drive rise so does the risk of rollover and fatalities, especially among minivans and 15-PVs. Organizations transporting groups need to balance cost and safety management by selecting vehicle types and drivers with acute awareness of the risks involved. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publishers online edition of Traffic Injury Prevention to view the supplemental file.

Reflections on Using Pinhole Photography as a Pedagogical and Methodological Tool with Adolescents in Wild Nature

This paper shares our experiences using pinhole photography with adolescents as both a pedagogical tool to support and deepen adolescent experiences in wild nature, and as a visual methodological tool to elucidate their experiences. Reflecting on a journey that explored the nature-based experiences of two adolescents on a family canoe trip in Northern Canada, examples of findings are presented that contextualize study participants within the literature to illustrate pinhole photography’s viability for the study of adolescent experiences in wild nature. Pinhole photography proved to be a medium to intensify the adolescents’ embodied presence and sense of place, and helped them to anchor their experiences in wild nature for ensuing reflection and focused discussion. Pinhole photography’s inherent strengths and challenges are discussed and recommendations presented for its future use as a methodological and “slow” pedagogical tool in the study of outdoor education and/or environmental education.

The Application of Recognition-Primed Decision Theory to Decisions Made in an Outdoor Education Context

This research examined the decisions that highly experienced outdoor leaders made on backpacking expeditions conducted by a tertiary institution in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The purpose of the research was to document decision problems and explore them as Recognition-Primed Decisions (RPD) within naturalistic decision making (NDM) contexts. Data were obtained through critical decision method interviews to generate retrospective verbal protocols. The data generated decision situations that were categorised into taxonomies consisting of five themes: logistical, safety, pedagogical, environmental and group dynamics. Across the themes, the denning features of outdoor education situations were teaching and learning processes where decisions were made, modelled and practised. The decisions were analysed with the RPD model. Some were straightforward and relied on the experience based intuitive recognition of the leader for fast resolution. Others required more analysis to better understand the situation or deeper consideration of the options available, and in some cases both. Many field-based decisions were underpinned by prior departmental planning processes. Experience and planning supported recognition of the teachable moment particularly in pedagogical and environmental decisions. Consistent with the RPD model, intuitive judgements arose from experience and intuition was based on recognition. The research applies RPD into outdoor pedagogical situations and identifies the unique decision features of the outdoor education context.