This paper explores on-snow supervision in school-based snowsport excursions by investigating snowsport participation and safety data and relevant legislation and policies that form the framework for practice. Snowsports may present a more complex environment for managing of participants than many other outdoor environments and provide a valuable…

This paper explores "relationships with others" in outdoor environmental education through a search for a pedagogy of attunement, which we propose is a relational-responsive pedagogy. We have primarily drawn from Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its pedagogical significance. Buber offers insights into articulating the…

We have used the experiences of teachers and their pupils to explore the impact of participation in a shared outdoor learning experience upon specific aspects of both the teacher/pupil and pupil/pupil relationship. Prior to their taking part in an out of classroom lesson the teachers involved in our project were relatively inexperienced in…

Understanding of the active beneficial processes of adventure learning remains elusive. Resilience may provide one foundation for understanding the positive adaptation derived from Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) and Adventure Therapy (AT) programming. From a neurological perspective, resilience may be explained by the brain's innate capability…

Social, economic, and environmental issues facing 21st century societies compel a transformative shift towards sustainability in all spheres of life, including education. The challenges this holds for outdoor education programs and practices is significant. If outdoor education theory and practice is to make a greater contribution to…

In this article, I draw on a qualitative longitudinal study to explore the influence of a tertiary Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) course on the formation of environmental ethics among students. In this task, I bring together Lave & Wenger (1991) and Wenger's (1998) concept of "communities of practice" and Michel Foucault's later work on…

As Australia heads into a new era of implementing a National Curriculum, the place of Outdoor Education in Australian schools is under question. In the initial drafts of the National Curriculum, Outdoor Education has been marginalised. The authors propose that Outdoor Education should maintain a strong role, especially as processes of experiential…

My research, exploring the theories and practices of facilitator educators, led me to ask questions about some potential gaps in outdoor leadership texts published in the last six years. Do the authors and editors of these texts focus on the things that are really important to the effective practice of outdoor leadership? My research with…

This paper investigates the repertoires teachers employ when talking about taking children outside of the classroom and keeping them safe. Research data were a series of individual and focus group interviews with primary school teachers. Three repertoires were identified: "safe practitioner," "adventurous risk-taker" and "fun, pleasure and…

This paper examines the viability of using a communitarian framework within outdoor education practice, specifically in order to address the tension between individual rights and social responsibility that is frequently found on overnight (or multi-day) educational expeditions. The setting of educational expeditions offers rich potential for…

This paper recommends a reconceptualisation of "experience learning". It is premised on a belief that the simplistic learning cycle is problematic and moreover is an oversimplified interpretation of Kolb's original model of experiential learning. We argue that to understand experiential learning fully a return to the original theoretical…