Transferable Benefits of Adventure Based Education

Adventure-based education is an aspect of learning which has gradually been integrated into the school curricula. Not only has it been used as a tool for recreation, but it also serves as a tool for educational and therapeutic purposes (Sibthorp, 2003). Many schools organize the activities for their students a couple of times during a year. However, its benefits have raised a couple of concerns among several scholars as to how useful these outdoor educational programs are to the students. Nonetheless, the adventure based education has a lot of benefits which can be transferred to other situations.

With regards to this, this paper will begin by focusing on the underpinnings of adventure-based education. It will also expound on experimental education as a central aspect of outdoor education to understand why adventure-based education in-depth. Moreover, it will seek to establish what are the benefits associated with this form of learning. In addition to this, it will expound on how the benefits are transferred to the everyday situation of the students.

Scope of the Study 

The study will focus on the benefits associated with adventure-based education. It will highlight various ways in which students benefit from the programs as well as pointing out the benefits of themselves (Berry, 2011). However, this study will not deal with adverse consequences which may arise as a result of the programs. This is because the adventure-based educational programs are in essence more beneficial.

Underpinnings of Adventure based education 

According to Wurdinger, as noted in (Sibthorp, 2003), adventure education involves single experiences acquired in outdoor activities to enhance the education processes as well as developing moral character (Sibthorp, 2003). Moreover, it develops the willingness of the individual to undertake risky situations. Consequently, Miles defined it as the purposeful planning and also the implementation of the process of education which are risky in several ways. Subsequently, Hopkins and Putman described adventure as experiences which involved high levels of uncertainties of the outcomes. Education was described as a process of moral, intellectual and social growth which involved the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and experiences.

From this, the goals of adventure-based education are imminent in that there is an objective to expand and grow the self and progress towards a full realization of one’s potential. As such, personal growth is viewed as a central interest for undertaking adventure education.

Approaches to Learning 

Ideally, one of the approaches is experimental learning which in many ways is central to the outdoor education. It is based on the notion that simple perceptions of experiences are hardly adequate for learning, as such; individuals ought to put into practice. Similarly, transformation, in itself cannot be attained without experiences being incorporated. In developing a greater understanding of experimental education, a great emphasis is placed on knowledge as a separate entity from the person acquiring it. Thus, experimental learning makes an individual to construct and reconstruct information (Sibthorp, 2003). This, therefore, makes learning to be a central focus in education and knowledge is seen as being created. The knowledge created from experiential educator place into context the experiences that the students acquire during outdoor activities so that they can absorb the meaning and be able to transfer them in other situation.

Methodology 

To develop an understanding of how adventure-based education is beneficial to the students, and how these benefits can be transferred to other situation they encounter, I set to interview expertise in this field.

Data Collection 

Data was collected from the participants by using a method of structured interviews. The participants were divided into two broad categories. That is, one group comprised of five individuals who were outdoor educators while the other five individuals comprised those in the position of influence in the field. As such, this ensures that data obtained was comprehensive as it involved the leaders in the field of education and the educator who came into contact with the students. Additionally, obtaining data from ten individuals gave a cross-sectional of responses which were sufficient. On occasional instances, the structure of these questions would be altered; nonetheless, most of the participants were asked similar questions. There were a few problems which arose during the interview, which included misunderstanding of the questions. As such, attempts were made to ensure that the respondents were deviated back to what the question entailed, but in some cases these efforts were in-futile.

The Interview 

Before the interview begun, I ensured that all participants were conversant with the fact that study wanted to establish the benefits of adventure-based education and how they can be transferred. Moreover, they each had to express their willingness to take part in this study with a complete awareness of the fact that there were no direct rewards for participating. I also ascertained the confidentiality of the information I obtained from each of them as they each had a different perspective on the topic. This was attained by offering each of them anonymity thus guaranteeing them of a high level of privacy. During the interview, a list of questions was presented to them, and they were given adequate time to answer each of them.

Data Analysis 

During the interview, a tape recorder was running to ensure that all information obtained from the participant was captured. It was then transcribed and coded using a thematic analysis (Sibthorp, 2003). Thematic analysis entails the system sorting that data unto several emergent patterns and categories which are refuted or substantiated with further analysis. As such, this coding led to the development of several ways of transferring the benefits acquired in adventure education.

Findings 

Benefits of the adventure education 

From the interview, there were several benefits which were associated with adventure education as identified by the educator who came into contact with the students. To begin with, such experiences enabled the students to get acquitted with hard skills which require physical input. For example, this could be skills associated with rock climbing during hikes or diving when they are learning how to swim. In addition to this, when students were presented with some of these experiences they develop some life skills. For example, they could develop skills such as high level of tolerance, leadership skills, and conflict resolution techniques. The skills that the students learn from such adventures are essential and can be applied in several areas which may be unrelated(Cooley, Burns & Cumming, 2016).

Ways in which these Benefits are acquired 

Those in the position of influence also stated that adventurous, educational activities are acquired through several ways (Cooley, Burns & Cumming, 2016). For instance, the students get to acquire the skills by physically taking part in the activities. Moreover, they also learned the skills through social interaction as well as modeling. That is, the educators assign some people to be the leaders in various fields, and through this, other students can get to emulate a couple of skills. Moreover, through interaction, they can identify ways in which they can fully exploit their potential. In outdoor activities organized, the students are mostly programmed to interact with other individuals. With this, students develop an understanding of new people who have different backgrounds. They also get to interact with different people in various schools in different geographical setting. In contrast, as observed by some of the educators, some students are forced to earn due to spatial constraints and also isolation. That is, they have to learn as there is no other alternative which they can explore.

Transferable Benefits of Adventure based education 

By large, life skills were cited as the benefits of adventure-based education which can be easily transferable. This is because there is a direct connection between some of the life skills acquired during the outdoor learning experiences with other situation in life. For instance, leadership skills would enable an individual to take charge of facing a challenge and working to find a solution rather than waiting for another person to assist them (Cooley, Burns & Cumming, 2016).

Discussion and Summary 

While designing adventure-based educational programs, social environment is a considered a key factor to consider. Diverse exposure of students to an environment has shown to aid in the development of life skills. Essentially, exposing students to various social environments enables them to interact with people from different background. As a result, this cultivates high tolerance levels to people and situations which they may face in the future. As pointed out by Cooley, Burns & Cumming, (2016), a physical environment provides an authentic platform that contains necessary tasks which require skills development. For example, if you take students sailing, they need to cooperate to learn how to sail a boat. As such, the skill of cooperation is automatically developed since they have no other option.

However, the experimental and outdoor education is not necessarily concentrated on the ability of the student to acquire hard skills such as tying a knot quickly. The major interest therein is the transferable knowledge which is associated with the activity (Berry, 2011). Thus, this makes the learning to concentrate on acquiring skulls which can apply to other situations which are not related to the experiment the students are undertaking. From the interview, it was evident that the skills which are acquired by the students can be applied to school, home as well as working environment. Consequently, this is the main reason why the adventures programs concentrate on skills such as leadership, anger management, tolerance, patience, just to mention but a few.

How Benefits of Adventure-Based Education are transferred 

1. Through Personal development 

To begin with, the skills attained in such adventures activities mainly help in personal development. For instance, some activities are aimed at developing high levels of confidence in the student. The challenges are always aimed at fostering high levels of moral character among the students. Undoubtedly, as noted by Berry, (2011), moral character is primal in developing personal growth among the youth.

Self concept 

Self-concept increases rapidly due to outdoor educational experiences which are considered to be an essential aspect of personal development (Berry, 2011). According to studies, outward bound largely contributes to increases levels of self-concept. Nonetheless, for students who are considered to be at risk, improvement of the self-concept may be limited are the adventurous activities are similar to the one the one they had taken part in the previous session. Thus, this makes self-concept to be considered as a vital concept to the students. Hence, more of the adventures studies take into account activities which can enable the students to develop self-concept which in turn leads to personal development.

Self-awareness 

Similarly, adventurous activities are created to raise one’s level of self-awareness (Berry, 2011). In essence, the developing self-awareness acts as a foundation upon which the process if self-development can be affected. This comes through activities which are performed in the outdoor educational programs which propagate self-discipline, responsibility as well as leadership.

2. Social Development 

Consequently, adventurous educational programs also help in social development which is vital while undertaking various challenges in various spheres of life (Cooley, Burns & Cumming, 2016). In social development, there are two factors which are considered to be critical. That is, there should be external activities, and the activities should be transformed into learning experiences which carry fundamental values. In order for social development to thrive, individuals are required to stay together as a group. Secondly, they are required to solve the challenges they face with little or no adult interference. As such, they can develop skills such as problem-solving, and tolerance.

Thus by large, adventure-based educational program are beneficial in that they inculcate life skills to the participants (Cooley, Burns & Cumming, 2016). Subsequently, the life skills enable personal and social developments among the youth. As such, these development programs are transferred to their everyday life with ease. That is, the students get to apply the skills they learn in the educational programs to other situations which are not related. For example, in school work, a student can think critically to solve the problems that they might face. At home, the student can cultivate self-discipline, and thus they do not get in trouble with their parents and siblings. At a place of work the student will be able to tolerate their colleagues and can be useful leaders. In regards to this, therefore, these outdoor educational programs become critical to the life of the student in coping with real-life challenges and hence the skills applied are transferred.

Conclusion

In conclusion, adventure-based education programs are aimed at expanding and growing the self and making progress towards a full realization of one’s potential. For a significant period, they have been used for their recreational, therapeutic and educational purposes. From research, it has been evident that these programs are beneficial as they enable participants to acquire relevant hard skills and life skills. The hard skills are acquired when the students take part in physical activities such as hiking, swimming, and sailing. Consequently, the life skills are acquired through the lessons which the students get in the activities. For example, they learn how to be responsible, develop problem-solving skills and tolerance among others. These skills are then applied to real life situation such as homes, schools, and work. This fact comes out clearly in the structured interview in this study. The studies comprised of participants who were either educator or were in a position of influence with respect to the field of outdoor education. This ensured that different points of view were captured which helped to get relevant information.

References

Berry, M. (2011). Adventure education Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Cooley, S., Burns, V., & Cumming, J. (2016). Using Outdoor Adventure Education to Develop Students’ Group work Skills: Journal Of Experiential Education , 39 (4), 329-354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1053825916668899

Sibthorp, J. (2003). Learning transferable skills through adventure education: The role of an authentic process: Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning , 3 (2), 145-157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14729670385200331