Outdoor Education Research Research Articles

Advances, Hotspots, and Trends in Outdoor Education Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Utilizing the Web of Science database as a retrieval source, this study employs CiteSpace software to conduct a visualization analysis of 8380 documents related to outdoor education published from 1994 to 2023. The findings reveal a phased increase in the volume of outdoor education research, with a shift in research themes from environmental governance to environmental education, ultimately concentrating on education for sustainable development that is characterized by significant temporal features. Initially dominated by publications from Europe and North America, the geographical distribution of research has gradually expanded globally. The core research theme centres around environmental education, with experiential education, outdoor learning, and education for sustainable development evolving concurrently. The network structure of research collaboration predominantly involves higher education institutions, with a noticeable shift from limited disciplinary research to interdisciplinary integration across multiple fields.

Where’s the E in OE? The McDonaldization of Irish outdoor education

ABSTRACT This paper presents key findings from a study that aimed to critically examine the practice of outdoor education in the Republic of Ireland. It consisted of 10 months of fieldwork across four public Outdoor Education and Training Centres (OETCs). Data were generated through participant observation, informal conversation, as well as centre websites. Findings from the thematic analysis are presented in the form of a creative non-fiction story—principally to protect the identities and centres involved. The findings were then interpreted through the theoretical lens of McDonaldization. Considering the dearth of outdoor education research in Ireland, McDonaldization provided a lens through which it was possible to more deeply understand how rationalisation has affected Irish public outdoor education practices. The discussion explores practices inconsistent with the stated Irish definitions of public outdoor education and the paper concludes with suggestions as to how the McDonaldization of outdoor education may be countered.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Outdoor Education

The aim of this study is to map the thematic landscape of studies on outdoor education. Our process focuses on the following research question: What are the emerging topics in studies on outdoor education? Bibliometric data retrieved from the WOS database, which consists of 555 scientific publications with the keyword "outdoor education” and indexed in SCI-Expended, SSCI, A&HCI, CPCI-S, CPCISSH, BKCI-S, BKCI-SSH or ESCI, was analysed using the descriptive analysis technique. Analysis of the results revealed that there are 10 different types of publications on outdoor education and the most frequently used type is scientific articles, with 365 examples. Keyword network mapping showed that “outdoor education, environmental education and outdoor learning” were terminologies that stood out the most. The analysis of the data was visualized by VOSviewer (Version 1.6.9) visual mapping program and presented with tables and density maps in the findings section. As a conclusion, the study puts forward the main concepts that require particular attention from the outdoor educators. In addition, we hope and expect that the thematic concepts, country distribution of articles and outlining the highly cited studies of this field will contribute to paving the way for future research and identifying the gaps in the literature. This study aims to pinpoint the leading and emerging topics within the outdoor education research field, which has great importance both for the theory and practice of outdoor education.

Engaging Youth as Community Leaders in Outdoor Education Research, Program Design, and Evaluation

When considering community impacts of outdoor education (OE), youth are community members, leaders, and experts who can and should be meaningfully involved in the design and evaluation of OE programs and research that impact them. Ensuring youth have agency in these processes can create opportunities for building community (Brennan, 2008), making connections with diverse audiences (Arunkumar et al., 2019), cultivating youth leadership development (Brennan, 2008), and connecting multiple generations with each other and with the outdoors (D’Amore, 2016; Mannion et al., 2010; Peterson et al., 2019). Additionally, youth are leading movements toward the future they want for themselves and those who will come after them. Adults are critical allies in the success of these movements. Researchers and practitioners of OE have a responsibility to facilitate young people’s meaningful participation in the programs and related research that impact them in order to more fully realize the previously noted community impacts. This paper summarizes select models for youth participation which can be applied specifically in OE contexts and provides suggestions for practice and future research to spark conversations around how OE practitioners and researchers as adult allies can engage youth as community leaders in every phase of program and research design and implementation.

On the move: the theory and practice of the walking interview method in outdoor education research

ABSTRACT This paper documents and discusses the walking interview method as it was used to explore how outdoor educators' sense of place informed their professional practice in the Port Hills of Christchurch, New Zealand. Eight participants who were working as outdoor educators in the primary, secondary or tertiary education sector in Christchurch, and who spent time in the Port Hills both as part of their teaching practice, as well as in their personal lives, were interviewed. We found walking interviews provided a richer perspective on place and practice than would have been possible using only indoor and stationary interviews. This suggests there is merit in utilizing mobile methods across a range of fields examining the interactions of people and place. In the outdoors, where people and place are often on the move, the walking interview has potential to capture this mobility and better understand its significance in outdoor education practice.

Restoring Culture and History in Outdoor Education Research: Dewey’s Theory of Experience as a Methodology

Dewey’s (1938) theory of experience involved the use of history as “a potent agent in appreciation of the living present” (p. 23). Dewey meant his statement as an educational prescription, but it also has significant research implications. These implications can be understood in terms of studying the history of a topic versus using history in research on outdoor education (Weatherbee, 2012). The article first uses the example of experiential learning to illustrate the importance of using history in research for understanding core concepts. The article then discusses Dewey’s principles of continuity and interaction to show how time functions in a more expansive way in experience than commonly recognized and how it might guide research design. Experience therefore provides a set of historically reflexive guidelines for researchers concerned with the relationships between cultural and psychological processes in outdoor education. Subscribe to JOREL

Experiencing the outdoors: Embodied encounters in the Outward Bound Trust

This paper explores young people's experiences of outdoor education through bodily encounters with nature and place, and interactions with material objects. Much academic engagement with outdoor education has taken the form of outcome orientated studies, and geographers have yet to truly explore the social and physical spaces of outdoor education. I draw on literature from recent outdoor education research which questions: first, the apparent lack of attention to place‐based and embodied ways of knowing in outdoor education; and second an uncritical adoption of technology and materiality in outdoor education practices. The article then engages with geographical work on the body and space, and, using original research conducted with the Outward Bound Trust, considers how embodied experiences in place are foregrounded in young people's accounts of outdoor education. I show how, through their corporeal interactions with place and technology, they enact individual agency through their bodies. Finally the discussion draws attention to some of the structural constraints and power relations that restrict young peoples’ bodies in outdoor educational spaces.

International Perspectives in Outdoor Education Research

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...

Defining Moments: An Examination of the Gender Divide in Women’s Contribution to Outdoor Education

Throughout our collective experiences in the outdoors, defining moments have helped ignite innovation and provided inspiration for women and men in the outdoor profession. Women’s representation among the ranks of the senior leaders and researchers in the outdoor field is disproportionately low. As such, women in outdoor education today still face challenges being recognized and accessing the upper echelons of the profession and academy. An incident at the 6th International Outdoor Education Research Conference in 2013, where women donned an invisibility cloak provided the impetus for our paper. Significant progress has been made in the past three decades; however an imbalance and gender asymmetry still exists today. At the core of our profession is the development of leadership and individual potential; it is therefore imperative that we examine our indiscernible footprint within the profession. The paper aims to generate practical solutions and strategies for those grappling with ways to improve their leadership impact and attain gender equity in their career goals.

Foreword

vii Foreword Research in Outdoor Education (ROE), the official journal of the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors, is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal seeking to support and further outdoor education and its goals, including personal growth and moral development, team building and cooperation, outdoor knowledge and skill development, environmental awareness, education and enrichment, and research that directly supports systematic assessment and/ or evidence-based advances in outdoor education. The journal is intended to appeal to researchers, practitioners, teachers, and post-secondary students through the exploration and discussion of diverse perspectives on the theoretical , empirical, and practical aspects of outdoor education in its broadest sense. Research in Outdoor Education aims to: 1. Improve the understanding of outdoor education through the critical examination of issues, trends, practices and conceptualizations of outdoor education in contemporary society. 2. Disseminate and unite current outdoor education research and theories and their implications and applications for practice in a wide range of contexts . 3. Offer a medium through which practitioners, researchers, and students can exchange and debate ideas and research. 4. Complement the existing body of knowledge related to outdoor education. The Coalition for Education in the Outdoors is a nonprofit network of outdoor and environmental education centers, nature centers, conservation and recreation organizations, outdoor education and experiential education associations , institutions of higher learning, public and private schools, fish and wildlife agencies, and businesses that share a mission: the support and furtherance of outdoor education and its goals. Founders believed the Coalition would fill a need in the outdoor education community for an organization that “would unite outdoor associations, institutions, businesses, and agencies to better serve both professionals and consumers in the outdoors.” Beginning with this 2015 issue (volume 13), Dr. Tim O’Connell and Dr. Garrett Hutson from Brock University have assumed the role of co-editors of ROE. We, and the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors Research Committee , wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to past editor, Alan Ewert, and assistant editor, Yun Chang for their leadership and strengthening of the journal. Due to their efforts and vision, ROE continues to publish high-quality research viii studies related to education in the out-of-doors. We also wish to extend a thank you to Sagamore Publishing for its continued support, development, and refinement of ROE. Volume 13 contains four articles for your reading and thinking enjoyment. The issue starts with a paper from past ROE editor, Alan Ewert, titled “The Use of Biomarkers in Outdoor Education Research: Promises, Challenges, and the Development of Evidence.” This paper argues that biomarkers such as cortisol may be another important type of data that can broaden outdoor education research. The second paper by Jeremy Jostad, Jim Sibthorp, Mandy Pohja, and John Gookin is titled “The Adolescent Social Group in Outdoor Adventure Education: Social Connections That Matter.” This paper investigates how students from 22 different National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses connected socially with their groups as well as what factors influence those connections. The third paper, by Tracy Mainieri and Denise Anderson, is titled “‘There Was More Out There than Our Street’: Exploring Summer Camp Programming as a Context to Foster Social Capital and Civic Engagement after Camp.” This paper explores the connections between camp programming and its potential to foster social capital and civic engagement in campers’ home communities. The final paper in this issue by Barry Garst, Sarah Baughman, Anja Whittington, and Ryan Gagnon is titled “Influences of Resident Camp Experiences on Career Choice: A Case Study of Female Alumnae.” This paper explores the long-term impacts of camp experiences on the future career paths of women. The quality of the aforementioned papers is directly due to the commitment and rigor of both the authors and the anonymous reviewers of the papers featured within this issue. We are actively exploring ways to increase the exposure of ROE. We ask that all of those associated with the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors continue to get the word out about ROE to potential authors and reviewers, especially to those who have not submitted a paper or served as reviewers in the past. In closing, we are grateful for the opportunity to sustain and hopefully expand...

The Use of Biomarkers in Outdoor Education Research: Promises, Challenges, and the Development of Evidence

While widely used in research connected with outdoor education, self-report data can be subject to a number of issues related to validity and generalizability. This paper argues that biomarkers present another type of evidence that is equally or even more rigorous than self-report data. The paper describes several types of biomarkers that are commonly measured in other disciplines along with how data from those biomarkers are collected. Data from a recent study using two biomarkers commonly used for measuring stress is presented as an example of how the use of biomarkers can broaden the body of evidence being developed in outdoor education.

Engaging adolescent participants in academic research: the use of photo-elicitation interviews to evaluate school-based outdoor education programmes

This article examines the use of photo-elicitation interviews as a qualitative research method when studying aspects of adolescent behaviour. In particular, it describes and evaluates the use of photo-elicitation interviews to investigate the outdoor education experiences of a group of 34 (12 male, 22 female) New Zealand secondary school students (aged 14–15 years old) who attended a school-based outdoor education programme, referred to throughout as ‘school camp’. Results indicate that the use of cameras, and hence photographs, are attractive features of the technique that render it suitable for engaging young people in academic research and exploring social experiences. While the inclusion of cameras also presents some methodological limitations and ethical considerations, photo-elicitation interviewing is a useful addition to the suite of qualitative research methods employed in outdoor education research.

A personal journey through ‘moments’: doctoral research into parents who rock climb

This paper is a confessional tale, which summarizes the author's doctoral research journey into parents who rock climb. The historical moments in qualitative research are used to frame an evolving interpretive approach, showing the relationship between theoretical and philosophical thought, and the empirical process. The paper uses personal reflections to relive the author's journey, from choosing a topic through to the representation of data. In doing this the author shows how she came across the use of ethnographic fiction, which she found to be a useful and creative approach to writing up data. The author concludes that using postmodern forms of representation in outdoor education research would provide engaging and emotive recollections of both personal and collective narratives.

Reflections on beliefs and practices from New Zealand outdoor educators: Consistencies and conflicts

********** I have found my pedagogical practice to be influenced by shifts in my beliefs and values during my fourteen years working as an educator, eleven of which have been in secondary schools. Consequently, I have become more interested in the relationship between teachers' beliefs, values and pedagogical practices, especially in relation to outdoor education. This area has received little attention in outdoor education research and literature, and according to Fang (1996), has only emerged in general education literature in the last two decades This article, therefore, examines the complex relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices through reflecting on the thoughts and experiences of a small group of New Zealand outdoor educators. It is based on the findings of a research project carried out in 2007 with four secondary school teachers. These teachers taught in a variety of school contexts, over a range of subjects which all situated learning experiences in a variety of different outdoor environments. The purpose of the project was to examine teacher beliefs about outdoor education and explore the complex relationships between beliefs, values, and self-perceptions of pedagogical practice. Of particular interest was perceived consistency between beliefs and practices and conflicts and tensions which arose when inconsistency was present (see Robertson & Krugley-Smolska, 1997; Taylor & Caldarelli, 2004). The design and analysis of this project was informed by a critical socio-ecological perspective which sought to identify and interrogate teacher beliefs and practices in regard to their relationship with environmental and social or community issues. Drawing from the traditions of critical theory, this perspective engaged with literature from critical pedagogy theorists such as Kellner (2003), Kincheloe (2007), Giroux (2003), and Freire (1972), critical ecological and place-based theorists such as Bowers (2001a) and Gruenewald (2003), and outdoor and environmental education theorists such as Martin (1999) and Payne (2002). Critical pedagogy advocates strongly for addressing issues of social injustice and inequality through education, but according to the critiques of Bowers (2001a) and Gruenewald (2003), this focus had failed to take into account human relationships with the natural world in a broader ecological manner. In a converse way, Martin's (1999) concept of critical outdoor education sought to examine dominant and exploitive human-nature relationships, but as suggested in the critique of Payne (2002), critical outdoor education distanced itself from the traditional critical theory concerns of social justice and equity. Consequently, a holistic perspective was taken in this research, informed by the projects of both social and ecological justice, which was concerned with the development of appropriate relationships with human and non-human nature. This position sought to gain understanding of the complex relationships between teacher beliefs and practices with specific regard to the environment and community. It consequently influenced the choice of questions put to participants as outlined in the method of inquiry section of this paper. At this point it is important to clarify constructs of the term outdoor education, as used in this paper. It has been suggested by New Zealand outdoor education academics such as Boyes (2000) and Brown (2006) that there remains semantic confusion over the terms associated with outdoor or adventure education in the New Zealand context. This paper recognises outdoor education as an interdisciplinary field in which meaning is socially constructed. It therefore adopts a broad view of outdoor education, similar to that of Smith, Carlson, Donaldson and Masters (1972) who suggest, "outdoor education means learning in and for the outdoors. It is a means of curriculum extension and enrichment through outdoor experiences" (p. 9). This includes traditional notions of pursuit-based outdoor adventure education but does not exclude outdoor learning experiences such as those undertaken in geography field trips. …

The Fifth International Outdoor Education Research Conference

The Fifth International Outdoor Education Research Conference

The Role of Expectancies in Outdoor Education Research

The Role of Expectancies in Outdoor Education Research

Whose place, whose history? Outdoor environmental education pedagogy as ‘reading’ the landscape

Outdoor education practice around the world occurs in diverse circumstances, environments and cultures. The application of outdoor education to specific cultural and environmental issues in particular places and communities has received little attention in research. While research in fields such as cultural geography has addressed the relationships between cultures, communities and geographical places, this is largely overlooked in outdoor education research. In this paper I draw on literature from cultural history and environmental history to explore how these disciplines might inform outdoor education research and pedagogy that addresses current cultural and environmental issues of specific communities and geographical places. With the aid of the rhizome metaphor for (re)structuring knowledge, I use examples from my practice in Australia to demonstrate how reading the landscape and the use of stories, or historical accounts, can assist outdoor educators and participants to probe and reflect on the relationships between personal experience and the complex cultural-ecological processes that have shaped the places in which we live and work.

Japanese Students Down-Under: Is Australian outdoor education relevant to other cultures?

Abstract There is very little evidence about the effects of Western outdoor education programs on non-Western participants. This study involved an experimental group of low-achieving Japanese students who participated in an Australian outdoor education program (N=32) and a control group of similar students who remained at school in Japan (N=40), The 22-day outdoor education program consisted of two week-long wilderness-based expeditions, two English language instruction sessions, and a culturaT and tourism experience. Students completed a multi-dimensional self-concept instrument before and after the program, and about half the students also completed a follow-up. Students also rated the quality of their outdoor education experience. Surprisingly, there were no positive self-concept changes, but there were significant reductions for the Peer and Confidence selfconcept subscales, and lower than expected ratings of course value and group relations. Various programmatic and cultural explanations for the findings are presented. Introduction There is considerable evidence to suggest the potential of outdoor education to provide effective personal growth experiences for school students (see Neili & Richards, 1998 for an overview). One of the emergent themes from meta-analytic studies (Cason & Gillis, 1994; Hans, 1997; Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997) and large empirical studies (e.g. Neili, 1999) is that outdoor education program outcomes are surprisingly diverse - between organisations, between groups, and particularly between individuals (Neili, 1998). Despite this, little empirical outdoor education research has explored "self" outcomes in relation to individual difference variables such as gender, academic ability and physical competence. Another potentially important but relatively unexplored area, is the impact of cultural differences. This is of particular concern given the increasingly multicultural nature of Australian society and the growing use of outdoor education in our schooling system. Further, in an age of globalisation and Australia's pursuit of close ties with Asia, an increasingly wide range of Australian outdoor-type experiences are being made available to overseas groups of tourists, students and business personnel. Given these trends, there is a need for further investigation of the responses of non-Western people to Western-type outdoor education experiences. Cross-cultural psychological research has indicated differences between Western and Asian students on such attributes as locus of control (e.g., Weisz, Rothbaum, & Blackburn, 1984), self-perception (e.g., Cousins, 1989), cooperative behaviour (e.g., Cook & Chi, 1984), personal relationships (Crystal, Kato, Olson, & Watanabe, 1995), and individualism /collectivism (e.g., Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 1988). Such findings would suggest that outdoor education programs designed to influence similar self attributes of Australian students may not work in the same way for students from Asian cultures. For instance, the most commonly measured outcome in Australian and American outdoor education research has been self-concept, yet this research has shown little regard to the underlying cultural basis for our conceptions of "self". There is considerable theoretical and empirical literature about the societal differences in notions of self. In particular, this literature focuses on two divergent constructs of the self: independent and interdependent (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). An independent view is characterised by individualism, autonomy and a faith in the inherent separateness of distinct persons. This view of self is commonly associated with people from individualistic societies. An independent view sees the self as interrelated with the surrounding context which exerts a strong influence on an individual's behaviour (emotional, cognitive, and motivational). The self is seen only in relation to the "other"; there is a fundamental connectedness of human beings to each other. …