For many of us who are involved in the program, Scouting provides a unique educational
program and experience for our youth (and adults), but it’s actually part of
larger educational “world”. Some of us
may have heard the terms “outdoor education”, “adventure education”,
“experiential education” and variants of these.
Scouting is part of this.
Let’s look at Outdoor education first. It usually applies to education done in the
out of doors. Nature hikes, field trips
to museums and nature centers, outdoor activities and the like are part of
this. Adventure education is a subset
of this, focusing on more strenuous activities such as high adventure camping
and activities such as white water rafting, rock climbing and the like, which
can challenge the participants physically, mentally, and spiritually. Experiential learning/education is all
about learning by doing, which encompasses all of these. Instead of talking about baking a cake, let’s
actually bake that cake. Or build that
bridge or the like. But it’s meant to be
more than just doing science experiments in class, but a larger view of
learning that gets away from memorization and rote learning. Experience is the best teacher, hence the
importance of experiential learning.
As noted, this is what Scouting is all about. It's always been about experiential
learning over "book learning" or the like (or you may hear of some scouters who
decry "parlor scouting" and turning scouting into school). And Scouting has always been about outing,
and becoming better individuals thru the adventures we find in Scouting and the
outdoors. But I have found that in
researching this area, that Scouting is usually regulated to footnote status in
the larger world of outdoor/adventure/experiential education. The BSA (Boy Scouts of America) doesn’t even involve itself with the
various organizations in this field, such as the Association of Experiential Education. I think part of this is because scouting is
made up of volunteers, or amateurs, and not professional educators/instructors. And I think those of us in scouting miss out because of that.
In looking at the history of adventure education, the two
notable figures put forth are Kurt Hahn and Paul Petzoldt. Kurt Hahn (1886-1974) is the founder of the
Outward Bound program, which started in England before spreading to other
countries like the US. OB from the
beginning was a program for older youth, providing them challenging programs in the
outdoors that include activities like orienteering, search-and-rescue,
athletics, sailing, mountain climbing, and similar activities, all wrapped up
in an expedition in the wilds. From OB,
many of the leading programs and groups in the field have come about.
Paul Petzoldt (1908-1999), a former instructor at the
Colorado Outward Bound School, saw the need to prepare instructors who would
work at OB (and similar programs) thru leadership courses. This happened in 1965 with the establishment
of the National Outdoor Leadership School. NOLS would later provide the basis for the
establishment of the Leave No Trace program and organization, and would also
establish the Wilderness Medicine Institute, providing outdoor medical
training.
Petzoldt would later leave NOLS and seeing the trend of
colleges, especially out west, providing courses in outdoor education,
established in 1977 the Wilderness Education Association. Unlike NOLS, WEA is a membership consortium
of college outdoor education programs with a standard curriculum based on an
academic model. The basis for their
curriculum was originally an 18 point program, but has been recently revised to
6 core competencies. (see their website
for full info). They provide
accreditation for these programs and also host an annual International
Conference on Outdoor Leadership.
With our focus on leadership, we will review some of the
leadership resources available from these and similar groups. But I would encourage people to take a look
at all the various resources available from these groups. There are a lot of great material out there
that I think too many are unaware of.
Outdoor Leadership: Technique, Common Sense &
Self-Confidence by John Graham is considered a masterpiece in the area of
outdoor leadership. This small book
focuses more on leadership then on outdoor skills, and its short chapters cover
the expected topics of leadership, team work, conflict resolution, stress, and
the like. But also touches on topics
such as courage, organization leadership and even women in the outdoors. Each chapter ends with an outline of the
major points covered. For good or bad,
there are no footnotes or recommended reading.
But this is a good, almost essential, handbook for outdoor leaders.
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership, now in its second edition, is almost an expanded edition of Graham’s work. It covers much the same ground as Graham, but has further chapters on safety, risk management, leading youth, and more. Each chapter ends in a summation, and there is an appendix of recommended reading at the end. If you can get but one work, I would recommend this one, with Outdoor Leadership a strong second.
Leadership the Outward Bound Way, put together by Outward Bound USA, illustrates the leadership skills taught in OB. As expected, it covers leadership, but here it’s presented a little differently. At the end of each of the four parts of the book is a case study illustrating the lessons learned about leadership, with questions for the reader. Also, the focus of the overall book is a little different, not just giving information for those wanting to be an outdoor leader, but in how the leadership learned may then be applied in ones professional life and community.
The Wilderness Education Associations’ Backcountry Classroom, now in its second edition, is their entry in the outdoor leadership guide world. This book is a bit different from the others. Its focus is on training instructors in the basics of outdoor leadership, using the WEA 18-point curriculum. (as the WEA has revamped this to 6 core competencies, will we see a new edition of this work? Time will tell.) More so then the other works, more than half of this work is devoted to outdoor skill training such as packing, campsite selection, food, and navigation, among others. Also, the entire work is presented in outline format, which may be off-putting to some.
The National Outdoor Leadership School has been producing a range of books for sale on outdoor topics, including works on cooking, first aid, and the like. These can be found in most bookstores. In addition to this works are several instructor notebooks which are intended for outdoor educators. These are available only from their website, and are more costly. But several may be of interest to leaders. NOLS: Leadership Education Notebook, (2009 is the current edition) is a collection of short articles on leadership for instructors to use. Due to the cost, I would only recommend this to the hard core enthusiast. Other instructor notebooks that may be of interest are the ones on risk management and wilderness and environment education.
In addition to the above works, if one goes on places like
Amazon, you may see other works in this area.
A group of about 5 or so works pop up, and I give a brief
overview of them. All 5 are published by
Human Kinetics. All are really intended as
college textbooks, but could be of use to leaders as well. Due to the cost of these works, and as they
are really more intended as textbooks, I would recommend that those interested
first take a look at them via their libraries (or use interlibrary loan if your
local library doesn’t have them).
Personally, I think the first 3 works would be of the most interest, but
others may not find it so.
Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, 2nd
edition by Priest and Gass is an important work on outdoor leadership. The author’s concept of COLT, which applies
situational leadership concepts to outdoor leadership (see prior Leaders Notes)
is important, and I have found that many of the other works on outdoor
leadership citing this one. It covers
several other important topics, like a whole section devoted to facilitation,
an important concept in outdoor/adventure programs, and various practical
skills need for outdoor leaders. So if leadership is an interest, check out
this work.
Outdoor Leadership: Theory & Practice comes in second, as again, its focus is on leadership. It builds on the work of Priest and Gass and others, and covers much of the same ground as Priest & Gass’ work. The authors here where trying to create a less theory-based work for undergraduate students. This approach may be better for some.
Teaching Adventure Education Theory: Best Practices, is, as the title suggests, a textbook for courses teaching those who will present outdoor adventure training. It’s a much broader work, and also comes with a CD-ROM of additional materials to use. Some of the topics covered as expected, but also include info on the underlying concepts behind outdoor education, along with group development, facilitation and more. So for some, this may serve as a great resource for program or training materials.
Adventure Education: Theory & Applications was put together by Project Adventure, and covers a wide range of activities in the area of adventure education. The focus of this book is to expose students who are looking to entire the field of adventure education, and expose them to what it’s all about.
Outdoor Education: Methods & Strategies is similar to the previous work, but involves the more broad area of ‘outdoor education’. I think of all of these works, this one would have the least interest to scouters.
I hope with this Leaders Notes that I’ve opened some eyes to a wider world of resources, materials, and possibilities that may increase the quality of programs in our organizations.
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