A solution-focused therapeutic approach to processing adventure experiences shifts the focus of debriefing sessions from problem to solution, helps clients recognize exceptions to their problem behavior, and sensitizes clients to seeking positive behaviors versus avoiding negative ones. Techniques include clients' rating of their own abilities on…

The emphasis on family-support and school-linked services programs requires that professionals be trained with the new skills that will be required for these interdisciplinary approaches. A network of nonprofit training and leadership-development institutions is growing that emphasizes experiential learning. (SLD)

Interviews with 12 academic and agricultural teachers/administrators and 49 survey responses from agricultural teachers/administrators indicated their understanding of tech prep's purposes as follows: a bridge from school to work or college, increased learning or knowledge, experiential education, and empowerment. Their understanding of the…

Presents student reaction to a Seekonk High School (Massachusetts) internship program designed to allow students one day per week to leave school and participate in community service learning. Selected student responses are provided concerning their inner feelings and experiences with the program. (GR)

Uses statements in adventure education brochures to indicate assumptions in the field of adventure education. Points out discrepancies between these assumptions and actual practice. Examines assumptions that adventure education promotes personal growth, that learning from adventure experiences transfers to other areas, and that adventure education…

Considers whether it is possible to develop work-based learning (WBL) that provides effective higher education and whether WBL is an appropriate way to structure workforce development. Uses the example of social work education to argue that WBL composed of outcomes achieved entirely through practice can be compatible with the aims of higher…

Presents a model for structuring marine eco-tourism programs to capitalize on a range of cognitive states experienced by tourists in a novel marine environment setting. The model is demonstrated in the context of a whalewatch trip in Hawaii. Discusses questions about the suitability and effectiveness of the model. (Author/MDH)

Describes Maria Montessori's early learning "Casa" setting for young children and other models for educational programs for young children. Discusses the importance of setting in facilitating natural learning in young children and the five steps in the natural learning cycle--observation, participation, role-playing practice, eureka…

Processing outdoor adventure activities allows participants to extract meaning from their learning and to generalize new learning to other settings and situations. Thirty program administrators completed a survey identifying essential facilitator processing skills in the following categories: fostering a caring environment, general communication…

Field trips allow students to learn from direct experience. Teachers must make what occurs before and after the trip meaningful in order to maintain what students learned on the trip. The article describes three field trips for Hawaiian students, explaining the necessary preparation and follow through to make them effective. (SM)

The students in a K-1 class at a Washington elementary school built a mock four-seater airplane with some community assistance. They hired a building contractor (promising him red wriggler worms from the class compost bin) to help design the plane, obtained a Boeing certificate for $500 worth of spare parts, and attended an air show as exhibitors.…

Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound helps teachers guide students through learning expeditions, where they explore topics through their own questions and self-designed investigations. Although some programs involve overnight trips, not all expeditions are wilderness adventures. Regardless of setting, children should experience challenge and…

The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico is connecting its 14 high schools to Internet. Three UNAM institutions designed a foreign-languages instruction model based on international cultural and scientific exchanges via computer networks. Mexican students studying English are interacting with English-speaking people, solving real problems, and…

Offers suggestions that use ideas from wellness and health education, both in theory and practice, such as the benefits of simplicity, a holistic perspective, healing through nature, and experiential nature activities to mobilize the healing emotions of counselors and their clients, whether children or adults. (LKS)

Discusses the design and use of simulations and games in education based on personal experiences over a period of 20 years and offers insights relating to design techniques, participant reactions, alternative approaches to learning, the impact of experiential approaches, the importance of debriefing, cross-cultural communication, and therapeutic…