Traditional adventure activities in outdoor environmental education

Recently, the place of adventure activities in outdoor education has become contentious, particularly in Australia and the United Kingdom. It can be challenging for outdoor leaders to incorporate adventure activities with attempts to foster environmental awareness, understanding and action. Recently, some authors have suggested practitioners eliminate the tension by removing adventure activities from outdoor environmental education programs altogether. This paper presents the findings of an ongoing action research project exploring ways to resolve the tension between using adventure activities and helping participants to learn about particular regions, communities, and their histories. The research described in this paper utilised thematic analysis of data collected through a professional journal, focus groups, and student writing. The emerging themes included: the need to capitalise on teachable moments; the importance of managing the technical nature of adventure activities; the importance of deliberate planning and facilitation; and the need for careful consideration of the impact of program length or duration.