Outdoor education in Scotland

Abstract

Although Scotland is part of the United Kingdom it has a distinct cultural identity and a separate education and legal system. These factors, which have influenced the development of outdoor education, are likely to have an even greater impact in the future following the re-establishment (after a break of almost 300 years since 1707) of a Scottish Parliament in 1999. Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to formalise outdoor education. This was the result of a combination of factors: • Geophysical and climatic factors together with landholding and land-use practices established in the 18th Century have ensured that much of Highland Scotland is depopulated and devoid of forests; leading to the perception that the area is a “wilderness” and therefore attractive for outdoor recreation. • Exploration for political, economic and scientific reasons in the second half of the millennium, which both led to and developed from Britain's empire, stimulated a national taste for adventure as expressed in seafaring, mountaineering and polar exploration. • Growth in wealth, mobility and leisure-time in the late 19th and 20th Centuries provided the means by which many more people could engage in their own, more modest adventures, leading to the development of stylised forms of outdoor activities in the UK. Consequently the landscape and surrounding seas of Scotland have long presented challenges for outdoor recreation, and post-war development of outdoor education fitted quite naturally into this physical and social landscape. In the 1960s and 1970s outdoor education (often formalised as physical outdoor activities and based on a residential experience) was extensively developed in Scotland and was of international significance. In recent years, primarily as a result of political effects, provision has been in some decline; a trend markedly at odds with the concurrent rapid growth in outdoor recreation. A shift away from public provision through the education service seems to be countered by growth in “charitable” and “private sector” provision, especially in the case of residential outdoor education centres. Some concerns are raised about possible future trends, and the argument made that educational theory should be taken into account in the design of programmes which focus on personal and social education; or which capitalise on the learning potential of the landscape to encourage cultural awareness and principles of sustainability, which are seen as having both local and global significance.