Tonia Gray

Extreme Sports as a Precursor to Environmental Sustainability

Extreme sports have unfortunately gained a reputation for being risk focused and adrenaline fuelled. This perspective has obscured the place of the natural world, making extreme athletes appear to seek to conquer, compete against or defeat natural forces. In contrast, this paper explores findings from a larger hermeneutic phenomenological study that suggests extreme sports can initiate a positive change in participants’ relationships with the natural world. Data sources include first-hand accounts of extreme sports participants such as biographies, videos, papers and journals as well as interviews with ten male and five female extreme sports participants. Reports indicate that extreme sport participants develop feelings of connection to the natural world and describe themselves as being at one with the natural world or connected through a life enhancing energy. The paper draws on theoretical perspectives in ecopsychology which suggest that feeling connected to nature leads to a desire to care for the natural world and contributes to more environmentally sustainable practices.

Nature and its Influence on Children’s Outdoor Play

A growing body of literature indicates that humans need contact with nature for their wellbeing, however at the same time young children are becoming increasingly separated from the natural world as their access to the outdoors diminishes. The importance of school and prior-to-school settings in Connecting children with nature has been acknowledged. This study sought to find out how opportunities to engage with nature would influence children’s play and social behaviours. Two early childhood centres with contrasting outdoor environments were selected for the study, and twelve focus participants were observed over a twelve-week period in concert with interviews and field notes. The findings suggest that natural environments support children’s imaginative play, the development of positive relationships and allows for the environment to become a place of learning. The authors conclude that in order to make effective use of the outdoors, early childhood centres need to provide children with access to the natural environment and teachers who support children in developing a relationship with nature.

Effective leadership: Transformational or transactional?

Theory and research in outdoor leadership is often based on studies undertaken in the 1980s, however, whilst such findings are valuable, it is interesting that leadership theory in other fields such as sport, education, leisure, health, management studies and the military have taken on a different perspective. One of the most often studied models is the transactional-transformational model (Bass, 1985). This paper reviews the transactional-transformational leadership model in terms of its appropriateness for understanding and exploring outdoor leadership. Insights drawn from the discussion point to the transformational leadership model as appropriate for theorizing outdoor leadership. This conclusion was drawn as a direct response to the focus of certain key elements within outdoor leadership as a whole.

Developing an intimate “relationship” with nature through extreme sports participation

This article explores the interplay between extreme sports and the natural world in which they take place. Prior theoretical work on extreme sports has often made anthropocentric assumptions about this relationship, taking for granted that extreme participants treat nature only as a resource for athletic consumption, valuable only for its human uses. From this perspective, the natural world is regarded as a playground or battlefield, as a means to test physical prowess and human capacity. In contrast, extreme sports participants involved in this study report developing an intimate and reciprocal relationship with the natural world. A phenomenological analysis of participant accounts reveals, among veteran extreme athletes, the development of a heightened respect for something greater than themselves and a realization that humanity is simply a part of the natural environment.

The Hidden Turmoil: Females Achieving Longevity in the Outdoor Learning Profession.

Being a woman in the outdoor learning profession can bring distinctive challenges and roadblocks. Even more difficult is sustaining a life-long career, flourishing into a woman’s 50s or 60s. Based on this premise, career longevity seems elusive for some women who aspire to work in the outdoors. This paper analyses the autobiographies of three experienced Australian female outdoor educators who have successfully navigated careers in the outdoor profession. Four key emergent themes were identified in the women’s life histories that included: orientation towards the outdoors; decisions and motivations for entering the field; career opportunities; and challenges. Their narratives exemplify the accomplishments of women with distinguished careers in the outdoor profession and highlight various manifestations of burnout. Finally, the findings shed light upon factors that allow women to achieve career longevity.

The role and place of outdoor education in the Australian National Curriculum

As Australia heads into a new era of implementing a National Curriculum, the place of Outdoor Education in Australian schools is under question. In the initial drafts of the National Curriculum, Outdoor Education has been marginalised. The authors propose that Outdoor Education should maintain a strong role, especially as processes of experiential learning are applied across the curriculum. Moreover, Outdoor Education offers distinctive content and learning experiences that would be lost in the current draft framework. This paper considers the role and place of Outdoor Education in the National Curriculum and frames possible considerations, challenges and risks.

The "F" Word: Feminism in Outdoor Education

Women have embarked on outdoor careers believing the profession to be a level playing field and one that offers occupational alternatives to traditional sporting activities and educational opportunities. This paper seeks to provide a critical analysis of the pockets of bias associated with the status of women in outdoor education (OE), particularly in Australia. In spite of being an integral part of the OE profession for many decades, women remain dramatically underrepresented in terms of career prestige, academic footprint, leadership roles, and appreciation of their distinctive contributions to the discipline. Because of barriers to achievement, many talented women prematurely exit the field or wind up in positions for which they are overqualified or lack influence proportional to their capacity. Although many practitioners suffer from feminist fatigue -3 the reluctance to, yet again, bring up entrenched problems -3 there is a need for a position statement about how women are being erased, perhaps unintentionally, by gender laundering associated with cultural and social inequalities in OE. These obstacles include structural problems and blind spots that prevent women from being noticed, acknowledged, and celebrated. The paper concludes by showcasing nine key reasons for gender asymmetries and suggests ways that women, men, and the profession as a collective, can become more open, democratiC., and equitable -3 so that we can all enjoy the same opportunities and recognition.

‘Touched by the Earth’: a place-based outdoor learning programme incorporating the Arts

With growing disconnection from the natural world, educators who work in the outdoors need to philosophically rethink their modus operandi. Past efforts by adventure and outdoor educators to promote connection with nature have often centred upon risk-centric approaches incorporating adventure-fuelled and high-adrenalin activities. This paper explores how the Arts may be incorporated into ecopedagogies, and what creative work can reveal about the nature of communication with the environment. ‘Touched by the Earth’ is a year-long place-based enrichment programme using multi-modal creative methods with young adolescent participants. Our research addressed the following questions: what does it mean to be ‘Touched by the Earth’; and how can the Arts amplify a personal relationship with the environment? Data were collected through interviews as well as student-generated material such as artefacts, video and photographs and field observation. Our findings indicate the crucial role the Arts can play in embodied and multi-sensory learning for participants, which in turn nurtures greater nature awareness and attachment. This transformation may, in fact, be termed ‘love’. We conclude that place-based, interdisciplinary and immersive modalities galvanise a deeper appreciation of the natural environment.

‘Burnout’ — What Is It To You?

This paper explores some of the issues of ‘burnout’ as it pertains to the field of outdoor education. We utilise the outdoors to assist our students/clients to make functional change and restore the balance in their lives. Paradoxically however, the same cannot always be said about the facilitators who lead these programs. For some confounding reason, we look after our clients/students better than we look after ourselves. As a result, our field is plagued by high rates of attrition and instructor turnover. Much of this paper is informed by poststructuralist Narrative philosophy and investigates aspects which makes people vulnerable to ‘burnout’. It concludes with a few ideas which may foster resiliency against this condition.

Are Biophilic-Designed Site Office Buildings Linked to Health Benefits and High Performing Occupants?

This paper discusses the first phase of a longitudinal study underway in Australia to ascertain the broad health benefits of specific types of biophilic design for workers in a building site office. A bespoke site design was formulated to include open plan workspace, natural lighting, ventilation, significant plants, prospect and views, recycled materials and use of non-synthetic materials. Initial data in the first three months was gathered from a series of demographic questions and from interviews and observations of site workers. Preliminary data indicates a strong positive effect from incorporating aspects of biophilic design to boost productivity, ameliorate stress, enhance well-being, foster a collaborative work environment and promote workplace satisfaction, thus contributing towards a high performance workspace. The longitudinal study spanning over two years will track human-plant interactions in a biophilic influenced space, whilst also assessing the concomitant cognitive, social, psychological and physical health benefits for workers.