What does it mean to grow up? Why is it important? How does one measure it, and what factors make it so difficult to realize? This paper explores how one's experience in an outdoor adventure education program may be observed, understood, and potentially maximized through the lens of Robert Kegan's constructive-developmental theory. This paper…

Group processing is arguably the pivotal element when implementing cooperative learning (CL). It is the primary vehicle to help group members reflect on behaviors that impede or enable group work. Participating in group processing facilitates students' understanding of their own personal and social development as they recognize how they have…

Background: This paper is part two of a discussion about a new pedagogical model for adventure in the curriculum. It builds upon part one, the advocacy paper, which considered important theoretical foundations, historical influences and research outcomes of outdoor adventure education (OAE) in the UK. Purpose: This paper outlines how a model for…

Outdoor and adventure education has been shown to result in positive psychological outcomes. This paper connects positive psychology--specifically, strengths-based education--to important outcomes in outdoor and adventure education. Strengths-based education encourages participants to intentionally use their talents to achieve success in the…

While speaking to Gold Award Achievers in Toronto in 2002, Tony Comper, past President and Chief Executive Officer of the BMO Financial Group, referred to the Duke of Edinburgh's (DofE) Award as a program "so brilliantly simple, it's simply brilliant." This ironic statement has echoed in the Ontario division of the DofE Award ever since.…

Traces types of expeditions in the history of civilization. Describes the following phases in the current expedition experience: (1) conceptualization/dream phase; (2) the preparation phase; (3) the action/reality phase; and (4) the reporting/reflective/processing phase. An expedition should be self-contained, have an element of challenge, and…

Integrates several techniques of psychodynamic therapy with the conceptual and metaphorical world of adventure therapy. Discusses a model of the metaphorical connection between self and experience, in which the client creates a self-metaphor to illuminate his or her experience during an adventure activity and thereby unlocks the unconscious and…

This paper defines the field of adventure therapy and relates it to other types of adventure activities. Outdoor adventure may have recreational, educational, or enrichment goals that focus on having fun, increasing participant knowledge, or building skills such as communication in a target group. Adventure therapy, on the other hand, has the…

Addresses Outward Bound's redirection and rededication of service by taking a closer look at Hahn's philosophy of service and the models provided by various service-learning programs outside of Outward Bound. Examples which highlight major issues involved are Outward Bound Living/Learning Term and Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College. (ERB)

Describes an outdoor adventure program that uses high-risk activities to promote personal potential among well-adjusted participants. (Author)

Five stages of development in the facilitation of adventure experiences in order of sophistication are letting the experience speak for itself; speaking for the experience by the instructor; debriefing the experience through reflection; frontloading the experience with prebriefing; and framing the experience isomorphically. (KS)

Experiential learning can be understood as a process in which learners recognize and develop their "action-theory." The aim of outdoor development programs--whether mainstream education, corporate training, or therapy--is to facilitate this process. A "reflection-in-action" approach to facilitation is presented and situated in…

Reviewing is an important component of adventure education that involves reflecting, describing, analyzing, and communicating what has been experienced. Reviewing adds value to the adventure experience for participants and provides information the leader can use to evaluate and revise the program. (KS)

The stages of a model for reviewing or "debriefing" an adventure experience are: experience, or relive what happened; express feelings about the experience; examine, or analyze the experience for learning; and explore something brought out in the previous stages. Describes suggested activities for each stage of the sequence. (KS)

Discusses Tikkun Olam--the Jewish tenet of healing the world through individual good deeds--and its applicability to the practice of adventure therapy. Focuses on the therapeutic relationship, as it develops in group settings, and the role of adventure leaders and therapists in nourishing such relationships to provide a vehicle for healing or…