Travelogue 2007

by Mark Dingle

During my travels in North America I found some exciting and important parallels with the work outdoor education professionals are undertaking here in Australia. The following brief reflections provide only a glimpse into my journey. I would encourage you to visit the websites provided in the article to learn more.

My travels to Canada and the US were brought about by an invitation to present at the Canadian Risk Management in Outdoor Education conference. Held annually this conference has a focus on practical risk management approaches for school and college based programs and brings together delegates from across Canada. Despite recovering from 20 hours of flying I enjoyed the chance to hear presentations on approaches to risk management in Canada which seem largely consistent with the way Australian outdoor educators approach this element of our programs.

 

For more on the conference >> www.riskmanagementconference.ca

For more on Preston Cline >> www.outdooreducationaustralia.org.au/conferences/2007/rmc.html

Following the conference I was driven from the conference venue (which was just outside Ottawa) down to Dover, New Hampshire, USA by the inimitable Preston Cline. Many VOEA members know Preston from his Keynote presentation at the 2005 VOEA State Conference. Those that don't will get the chance to hear from Preston at the Inaugural Outdoor Education Risk Management Conference later this year (20 September).

In travelling to North America I had planned to contact key people in the outdoor, adventure and experiential education sectors to hear their perspectives and find common ground that we might collaborate on in the future. Preston made all this easy. Once he heard I would also be at the Canadian conference he offered to contact a range of key people and arrange times for me to meet with them. He then went the extra mile by driving me to each of the half dozen meetings he had arranged.

So with jetlag still shadowing my journey Preston and I set out from his home in Dover to meet first with Mike Gass at the University of New Hampshire. Mike is Chair of the Kinesiology Department at UNH (his biography is worth reading). Many of members will know Mike as an author of titles such as "Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming". In talking with Mike he moved quickly to the issue of evidence-based research. Mike argued strongly that as a field we have to be able to point to evidence that demonstrates positive outcomes for participants of our programs. His work is focusing on publishing the evidence from a range of programs across the US.

For more on UNH >> www.shhs.unh.edu/kin_oe/

Leaving the UNH campus we drove a short distance to visit Pam McPhee at the Browne Center for Innovative Learning. The Browne Center was named after Evelyn Browne a pioneering educator who saw the potential that existed in outdoor and experiential learning. Evelyn donated 6 acres of land for the foundation of what was initially called the University of New Hampshire Center for Excellence in Outdoor Education which evolved to become the Browne Center that exists today.

As we walked around the property looking at ropes courses and discovering small groups of students engaging in initiative activities Pam explained how the centre has focused on the innovative outcomes of experiential learning with an intentional goal of being inclusive for all potential participants. As a result some of the ropes course elements scattered across the property have been built as universally accessible so that one activity can engage a whole group regardless of their physical abilities.

This discussion led us to talk about the outcomes that can be derived from outdoor experiences. It is the unique elements of the outdoor environment combined with the nature of the experiences offered at the Browne Center that Pam felt enabled their participants – whether they are schools students or corporate clients – to engage in innovative learning.

For more on the Browne Center >> www.brownecenter.com

My second day in New Hampshire began with a long drive (thankfully in Preston's wife Amy's hybrid car – thanks Amy) to Proctor Academy – an independent high school which has an innovative outdoor and experiential program. Patti Pond is the Director of what Proctor calls their Mountain Classroom. More than three decades old the Mountain Classroom is an elective offering to senior students which takes them to the western states of the USA on a term-long exploration of people, place and culture. Described as a combination of outdoor education and academic inquiry the Mountain Classroom students "examine the complex and intricate connections between nature and culture".

Proctor Academy does not isolate its outdoor learning to the Mountain Classroom. Introduction to the school begins with a four day orientation hike and in the spring senior students can choose to participate in the Ocean Classroom taking the principles of the Mountain Classroom to sea.

Patti gave us a great insight into the Proctor program and most noticeably for me showed that the principles she was discussing with us about developing healthy, positive relationships were not isolated to the Mountain Classroom. As we spoke students passed through the room to give her exams they were completing next door. Each student was warmly received and engaged briefly and wished well for their summer break. Clearly Patti was a teacher who practiced what she preached.

For more on Proctor >> www.proctoracademy.org

Our day on the road continued and our next stop was the Boston University Sargent Center for Outdoor Education. Walking the grounds we swatted midgies before meeting with the Director, Rob Rubendall. Rob gave us a tour of the property which is reminiscent of many outdoor education centres in Victoria with a range of activities on-site and accommodation options for groups and conferences.

As with many outdoor education programs here in Victoria engaging with VELS Rob and his team are working on ways in which they can engage directly with the curriculum to contribute to the social outcomes of schooling.

Rob is also on the Board of the Association for Experiential Education so I was able to learn more about AEE and the way in which it seeks to serve its diverse membership.

For more on the Sargent Center >> www.bu.edu/outdoor

For more on AEE >> www.aee.org

Project Adventure is an organisation well known for its longstanding contribution to adventure education so it was great to be able to visit the PA headquarters during this trip. The PA offices are set amongst beautiful grounds of Moraine Farm which incorporates gardens and landscaping designed by the architect of New York's Central Park. Of course also included on the site of over 100 acres are several ropes course elements set amongst the properties woodlands. Preston and I were given a tour of the property by Rich Klajnscek, PA's Manager of Engineering and Product Development. Rich is also heavily involved in the Association for Challenge Course Technology which enabled a great discussion about standards and regulations as they relate to challenge courses in the US.

After our wander across the property we returned to the offices and met with Dick Prouty, CEO and President of PA. We began the discussion with reference to the challenge of finding a common language. Dick was able to point to his definition of Adventure Education ("direct, active, and engaging learning experiences that involve the whole person and have direct consequences" from his recently published book of the same name) in order to clarify the territory which PA operates in and which led us to discuss PA's role in this area.

What became clear was that PA commitment to partnerships and dedication to research through conferences and publications enabled them to refine approaches to curriculum based on Adventure Education which in turn found their way into school programs and a range of other educational and therapeutic settings.

For more on PA >> www.pa.org

For our final stop Preston and I navigated our way through the impressive campus of Phillips Academy Andover to seek out Mark Cutler, Director of the intriguingly named, Search and Rescue Program. Over lunch Mark explained that Andover had on its faculty an early pioneer of outdoor and adventure education in the US, Joshua Miner, founder of Outward Bound in the USA. Miner instituted what became the Search and Rescue Program after working with OB's founder, Kurth Hahn. These days students can choose to participate in the
S & R Program at different stages in the year and participate in a variety of outdoor and adventure activities with a range of
personal development and environmental outcomes.

For more on Andover >> www.andover.edu

Clearly this is only a very brief glimpse into conversations I was able to experience on my travels. What I look forward to is extending these conversations in the future and finding the common ground between the practice of outdoor education here in Australia with our colleagues in North America.

Many thanks again to Preston and Amy for generously hosting me during my time in New Hampshire, and to all those who made me welcome during my visit.

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