International Perspectives in Outdoor Education Research

Abstract

International Perspectives in Outdoor Education Research Patrick T. Maher, Guest Editor To begin, let me introduce the starting point for this issue of Research in Outdoor Education (ROE); the 7th International Outdoor Education Research Conference (IOERC). The 7th IOERC was hosted from July 4–8, 2016 at Cape Breton University (CBU), on Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island) in Nova Scotia, Canada. This IOERC showcased the breadth of international perspectives in outdoor education research, as more than 150 researchers from 17 countries lived and learned together. The IOERC series, with 7 conferences down and the next one being organized for November 2018 in Australia, aims to build on the social, cultural and critical dimensions of research and theorizing in diverse outdoor traditions. This includes the fields of education (both learning and teaching), recreation, place studies, sustainability/environmental studies and therapeutic applications of nature and adventure. Thus, it serves as a natural fit with the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors, the network served by the publication of ROE. The focus of the IOERC series is squarely on outdoor education research with a particular emphasis on sociological and critical perspectives. The IOERC has never had keynote speakers, so as not to prioritize any one person’s research over another, nor has it ever engaged as a tradeshow or fundraising mechanism for an association. It has no constitution, no ongoing constituency, and no financing is provided. It relies on an academic institution to be the host and previous IOERC conferences were hosted by Buckinghamshire-Chilterns University (UK) in 2002, La Trobe University (Australia) in 2004, the University of Central Lancashire (UK) [End Page vii] in 2006, La Trobe University again in 2009, the University of Southern Denmark/University of Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2011, and the University of Otago (New Zealand) in 2013. With a change in hemisphere for each conference the IOERC typically takes place every 2–2.5 years. The 7th IOERC at CBU, was the first time the conference had been hosted outside of Europe or Australasia. The discussion about the need for an IOERC began in 2001 when a group of outdoor education researchers gathered at the Iron Bark Centre in Victoria, Australia. Their original vision “was built on a perceived need to see the outdoors develop as a significant discipline which engage[s] with and is informed by social, educational, cultural and other theoretical frameworks” (Humberstone, 2009, no page numbers). Essentially, the vision was to “foster the development of its critical dimension”, because outdoor education had tended to float about in “splendid isolation, perhaps similar to leisure studies around 20 years ago” (Humberstone, 2009, no page numbers). One might ask why a critical and reflective forum is necessary for outdoor education research. The answer is complex and connected to how scholars and their institutions perceive the “discipline.” Even characterizing outdoor education as a discipline is contested. Some suggest outdoor education is a field of study; others argue it is simply practice and programming. A full discussion of this tension is available in Dyment and Potter (2015) and Potter and Dyment (2016). The theme of the 1st IOERC conference was, “Whose Journeys: Where and Why?: The ‘Outdoors’ and ‘Adventure’ as Social and Cultural Phenomena: Critical Exploration of Relations Between Individuals, ‘Others’ and the Environment.” The introduction to the 1st IOERC conference proceedings states: The outdoor sector provides, makes available or engages with outdoor adventure experiences for a variety of purposes including, education, youth and social work, management development, therapy, leisure and recreation. In most cases, but not all, these experiences occur in ‘natural’ environments. Consequently, diverse outdoor traditions have emerged not only in relation with specific geographical landscapes, but also as a consequence of particular cultural, social and political contexts. Furthermore, ‘old’ romanticised ideals of outdoor leisure are becoming reconstructed though the demands of ‘mass-market’ consumers for ‘authentic’ adventure. Arguably, much outdoor experience, particularly that [End Page viii] concerned with forms of outdoor learning, is rarely subjected to critical analyses where it may be located within broader theoretical frameworks and diverse schools of thought. (Humberstone, Brown, & Richards, 2003, p. 7) With the 1st IOERC providing a forum for critical discussion on adventure and the outdoors, delegates saw a useful...