Might Outdoor Education Help Develop Intelligence?

Abstract

Have you ever thought that participants in outdoor education programs might develop greater intelligence through their experience? While once intelligence was thought of as a single entity (remember, we measured it with an IQ test), in 1985 Howard Gardner, psychologist and Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education presented a theory of multiple intelligences in his book Frames of Mind. He put forward a list of seven intelligences - linguistic, logicalmathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. For Gardner, intelligence refers to a defined ability to solve problems or produce something valued by a culture. His criteria for accepting an ability as an intelligence is based on a combination of evolutionary history and what he calls 'brain evidence for its existence in the nervous system'. His thesis is that all human beings have these multiple intelligences but we don't have the same strength in each area, nor the ability to draw on the same amalgam of them when undertaking a particular task. To apply this thesis to an outdoor activity example, if we look at two people sailing a small boat, we might surmise that performance of each person collectively is based on an amalgam of spatial, bodily kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence. They need to be aware of where they are and where they are going and possess the skills to work the sails and the helm. Also, each needs to know the limits of their personal skill and have the ability to communicate with the .other and work together. At the time he proposed his theory of multiple intelligences Gardner said that there may be more than the original seven. In 1996 he added an eighth. This he labeled the Naturalist Intelligence and said it: designates the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist and chef. If we go back to my sailing example, we can probably add naturalist intelligence to the amalgam. The performance of the sailors might be dependent on discerning where the wind is blowing at the most advantageous angle and strength, what currents and tides might affect their progress, and interpreting how quickly clouds on the horizon will bring in a storm. High level performance in any outdoor recreation skill might indicate a high level of naturalist intelligence as much as it might a high level of bodily kinesthetic intelligence. The existence of naturalist intelligence would seem to be a very good reason for providing more opportunities for experience of natural settings. Tom Hoerr, writes that: today's youth spend their summers in airconditioned malls or playing sports on urban fields or black-topped courts. As a result, kids have few opportunities to acquaint themselves with nature, to develop their naturalist intelligence and make sense of the world of plants and animals. Sound familiar? Such a statement could come straight out of books of philosophies for outdoor or environmental education. But Hoerr is not just lamenting the loss of contact with nature, that loss of opportunity for outdoor experience leads to a reduction in intelligence. Gardner's work and what I read of its application by others had immediate appeal to me as I read on, and I could relate to it through some of my own experiences in teaching outdoor education at University level. I aimed to provide a range of experiences that stimulated students to connect with the natural environment. One activity for a bush camp was to research a native bird and then report sightings of that bird and its behaviour to other class members, I assigned one of six birds to each student based on the birds I knew would be common in the area. …