Horizons #100

H O RIZ O N S

ONE HUNDRED ISSUES OF HORIZONS

In this celebration issue:

What’s next for the future of Horizons?

Youth voices in outdoor learning and climate

advocacy

Portable comfort zones in outdoor learning

And brand new features

HORIZONS

WRITE AN ARTICLE

Content for publication is always welcome and should be emailed to the Editor. The Editor will attempt to return all unsolicited material but cannot accept responsibility for it. Please read the contributor guidelines before submitting content: click here.

COPYRIGHT of the magazine as a publication is vested in the Editor. Copyright of articles remains with the individual authors who will receive a copy of their article. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the express permission of the Editor, who is normally happy to grant requests for educational purposes. Opinions shared in articles are not necessarily shared by the Editor, Editorial panel or IOL.

ADVERTISE

Contact Fiona Exon at IOL for information: fiona@outdoor-learning.org

For additional details click here

Advertisers retain copyright for their adverts. Adverts shared in this magazine do not represent endorsement by the Editor, Editorial panel or IOL.

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL PANEL

Having a specialist panel means we have a wealth of experience in different types of Outdoor Learning at our finger tips. This helps ensure the stories we publish are up-to-date, well structured and useful to our readers.

If you’re interested in joining our specialist panel, go to: www.outdoor-learning.org/Good-Practice/Research-Resources/ Horizons-Magazine/Horizons-About-The-Panel

ISSUE CREDITS

DESIGN

Catherine Dunn

PANEL

PROOFREADING

Jack Reed

Thank you to the Horizons panel for their continued support and contributions.

Geoff Cooper

Suzie Dick

Di Collins

Sam Moore

Ian Healey

Daniel Towers

IMAGES

Colin Wood

Liam Scott

Jack Reed

Stuart Meese

Morgan Luddington

Front cover: main cover image has been sourced from www.pxhere.com.

Editorial images have been sourced from www.pxhere.com. Photographers retain copyright.

INSTITUTE FOR OUTDOOR LEARNING

The Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) champions safe activities and effective learning in the outdoors. We are a professional membership institute working towards an application for a Royal Charter.

Learn about IOL and how to become a member: www.outdoor-learning.org

HORIZONS OFFICE

IOL, Warwick Mill Business Centre, Warwick Bridge, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA4 8RR. T: 01228 564580 F: 01228 564581 E: fiona@outdoor-learning.org

©2023 Catherine Dunn ISSN 2634-8799

AUTHOR

Mike King

Mike was appointed as a Trustee to IOL in Feb 2010 and is now Chair of the Trustee Board. He has been involved in the outdoors for the past 30 yrs and on this journey has overseen the development of Releasing Potential which is an education charity that comprises of an Independent Special School, Academic Institute and a Sailing Centre amongst its interests. Professionally Mike still enjoys teaching outdoor activities to children and training staff alongside his responsibilities for the charity.

Welcome to the 100th edition of Horizons, within this edition we will be looking at what we know now and what we might expect in the future. I am so grateful to all the editors, contributors and readers of this publication who have made this magazine such a success over the years. The late editorials, the discussions as to what should be included and the mad panic of whether the printer would get it out on time, have all been part of the rich journey that the various editorial teams have been on with producing such a quality magazine.

One Hundred is a significant milestone for several reasons; it underpins our financial system (100 pennies in the pound), it is the basis of our percentage system (100%), and it is the boiling point of the kettle you may have boiled to make the tea you are drinking whilst reading this latest issue of Horizons.

My youngest daughter is part of a generation brought up during the age of digital technology and so has been familiar with computers and the internet from an early age. As digital tools reshape our economy and the communities we live in, we all have to face the challenge of understanding the impact of this technology on our own lives. My eldest daughter pointed out to me ‘the obvious’ way in which I should send her photos through Instagram rather than copy them across to another platform, clearly demonstrating our different levels of engagement with this form of communication. I hope that the article in this issue will enable us to understand how we cross the generations to be able to communicate our purposes and engagement with the outdoors better.

The numerical symbol 100 is also very pleasing to see as it brings together two digits that on their own are of the same worth however in unison they have a higher value. This act of coming together has been very at much the forefront of my mind as IOL has been engaged with other organisations planning how we can serve each other’s interests.

The Institute was formed through people putting down their own ambitions for themselves and recognising the significance of a single point of collective unison for those working in the outdoors. A significant step forward was to produce a publication where sharing of practice, thought and reflections could provide encouragement and challenge to members.

The importance of belonging to a community is clear when we consider the mental health and wellbeing of our society at the moment. We can all feel lonely at some point in our life journey however the last few years have been extremely challenging for the outdoor community as we have had to consider how we might navigate our way through business, professional and personal situations in light of the restrictions.

This week my school, Releasing Potential Special School has been through the process of an Ofsted visit. These Inspections are intense as they examine ones practice, ethos and methodology. As the founder of the charity I have always felt that most of the time I understand what is happening where and when however during this intense examination of our practices there were times when I felt quite isolated from the outside world as the process questioned my identity. It was the relationships that I have with a brilliant staff team, and the support offered by friends that gave me strength during the process.

100 is the first number to have three digits which signifies an onward journey, more to come and pointing towards something greater. It is also a point at which to stop and reflect before we set our eyes on the future. As we approach the end of another calendar year it is often a time when boats are derigged, the winter maintenance list is drawn up and staff eye up the additional time off in lieu for all those extra weekends that they have worked through the summer. In the poem by the Welsh Poet W. H. Davies ‘Leisure’ he asks us the question; ‘what is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’. A challenge I would set before all of us, as we travel from the summer, through autumn, into winter and onto spring is to take moments of time to reflect on where our journey has been and where we would like it to go next.

Please drink you tea responsibly as you read yet another fabulous edition of Horizons p

EDITOR

Catherine Dunn

I’d love to hear from you with ideas for articles or stories that you would like us to explore in the world of outdoor learning horizonseditor@outdoor-learning.org

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the 100th issue of Horizons! Reaching 100 issues is a huge achievement for any publication, so we’ve made sure that this issue celebrates where we’ve come from and where we’re going. You may notice a few changes in this issue; in issue #99 we put out a survey which asked you what you wanted from Horizons moving forward. And we’ve responded! We’d love your feedback on the new format of articles - Tweet us @IOLOutdoorProfs.

In this issue we’ve got some exciting young voices giving their perspectives on different aspects of the sector, including outdoor leadership (p.23), starting out in the industry (p.31) and climate activism (p.19). We’ve also got the second part of the very popular Technology in the Outdoors series (p.15), which takes a closer look at outdoor instructor perceptions of mobile technologies as they see young people engaging with them.

We’re also featuring some new recurring features to give some exciting snippets into the sector. So keep your eyes peeled for our In Profile piece (p.43) which spotlights an individual from the world of outdoor learning. Also, take a look at From the Vaults (p.44) and our new opinion piece (p.14) for a glance back in time and a look into the fututre respectively.

Finally, for our Member Spotlight, we spoke to Kate O’Brien, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Lead for The Outward Bound Trust, about her role in the recent release of the Right to Explore film (p.12) - this project is a wonderful example of the success that collaboration can bring in the outdoor sector.

I hope you enjoy the 100th issue of Horizons!

Horizons looks to share different perspectives, ideas and good practice from across the Outdoor Learning sector.

We’re always interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas for features.

Get in touch if you’re interested in writing an article at horizonseditor@ outdoor-learning.org

The New Forest National Park

CONTENTS

SCANNING THE HORIZON

Find out what’s new across the Institute for Outdoor Learning. (PAGE 7-11)

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT RIGHT TO EXPLORE

Take a closer look at the Right to Explore programme and the recent premiere of the project film. Featuring Kate O’Brien (PAGE 12-13)

OPINION PROGRESS THROUGH THE REVOLUTIONS

A look into the future of outdoor learning.

By Stuart Meese

(PAGE 14)

FEATURE PORTABLE COMFORT ZONES

Part 2 of our technology in the outdoors series, read how mobile phones are becoming portable comfort zones for young people.

By Jack Reed (PAGE

15-18)

Q&A

NOT A HERO’S JOURNEY

An award winning film with an important message - read about Jessie’s journey. Featuring Jessie Stevens (PAGE 19)

FEATURE

MY IMPLICIT BIAS JOURNEY

Applying a reflexive lens to Canadian expedition culture and indigenous relations.

By Max Vendrig

(PAGE 20-22)

EVERYONE’S WELCOME

Read all about the Everyone’s Welcome project, which champions pathways in the outdoor sector for young people of colour.

By Ella and Rob (PAGE

23-24)

SERIES CONT.

NATURE FIX LEARNING TRANSFER

Part 2 of this series explores the longterm effects of wilderness therapy and how they can be enhanced.

By Jenni Myers

(PAGE 25-26)

WHAT, WHO AND HOW?

Find out all about the Venture Trust Outdoor Therapy Service.

By Katarina Horrox

(PAGE 27-29)

MY JOURNEY

Jake, apprentice with SKERN, tells us about his journey into the industry.

By Jake Harmer

(PAGE 31)

ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOURS

How ready are we to change our environmental behaviours?

By

Ella

Sutton

(PAGE 35)

A DAY IN THE WOODS

Connecting people to nature through green prescribing.

By

Paul

Ritchie

(PAGE 40-42)

CONTENTS

NEW SERIES

Remember to check out the latest Outdoor Learning research at the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (JAEOL).

LOVE HER WILD OUTDOOR ACADEMY

Encouraging women to be outdoor beginners and leaders.

By Siân Brewer

(PAGE 30)

OUTDOOR LEARNING PARTICIPATION

Final part in our three part series.

By Dave

Harvey

(PAGE 32-34)

LAST IN SERIES

LAST IN SERIES

THE BIG 5

Developing professional judgement and decision making.

HUMAN BEINGS OR HUMAN DOINGS

Transforming team communications.

By

By

Loel Collins (PAGE 36-38)

Steve Foster (PAGE 39)

IN PROFILE MARTIN SMITH

A closer look at the people who make up the outdoor sector.

(PAGE 43)

FROM THE VAULTS CHRIS LOYNES

Chris picks out some of his favourite pieces from Horizons through the years.

(PAGE 44)

SCANNING THE HORIZON

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECTOR

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

In Horizons #99 we put out a survey asking for your feedback on Horizons: where it’s going; what you want from it; and how it can best serve the sector. And the results are in! We had nearly 100 respondants (78% of whom were individual IOL members and 16% part of organisational membership) and a whole lot of information for us to get our teeth into. Here’s some of the key findings...

WHY DO YOU READ HORIZONS?

Most respondants read Horizons to keep up to date with news and information from the sector and for their own professional development.

WHAT IMPACT DOES HORIZONS HAVE ON YOUR WORK?

75% of respondants considered Horizons to impact their professional development, with 77% also feeling that the magazine offers them good practice guidance that impacts their work.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN HORIZONS?

Respondants wished to see a variety of content in Horizons moving forward, including:

• More on people - profiles of individuals from around the sector

• Research, written in non-academic terms

• Topical issues, such as the climate and biodiversity crisis

• Practical tips

• Shorter articles

• Acknowledgement/comment on relevant policitcal topics

DO YOU WANT HORIZONS TO BE PRINTED OR ONLINE (OR BOTH?)

11% of respondants wanted Horizons to be exclusively online, 31% wanted Horizons to be exclusively in print and 58% wanted Horizons to be both printed and available online.

Thanks to everyone who took time to respond to our survey, we will be using these results to inform Horizons as we move into 2023 (you may even notice some changes already...).

A WORD FROM JO

JO BARNETT (IOL CEO) GIVES US AN UPDATE FROM AROUND THE IOL

Collaboration is so important to Outdoor Learning, both in our delivery and our practice, and shown so clearly in the pages of this 100th edition of Horizons.

The IOL, the Outdoor Council, the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres and the British Activity Providers Association are continuing to explore creating one single association and/or ways of working closer together. A group of volunteers have been busy identifying

common overarching themes that we all wish to celebrate and further develop. They have also thought about those thorny issues that have consumed energy, time and resources and yet remain unresolved. This has provided a basis for creating the OLA Community, check out the Outdoor Learning Association Project.

The Outdoor Council is already in the process of joining the IOL and I had a fascinating conversation with its Chair, Martin Smith as he shared his Outdoor Learning career with me (p.43). In November, we had our inaugural Round Table meeting. Representatives of IOL groups were invited to attend an online call and I am delighted to say that 60 members attended. There was a tangible enthusiasm get active and engaged following the challenges of the pandemic. The aims of the IOL Round Table are to improve communication between members, staff and trustees, to inform and share, and to set priorities for the IOL. We also welcome Nature Premium and the Independent Outdoors specialist sector groups. As a member you can now join groups for no extra cost. I do hope you get involved and we all share our skills and expertise with each other increasing the impact of outdoor learning.

And finally I must just say how much I have enjoyed our webinar series. We’ve still plenty lined up, including: positive approaches to challenging behaviour; the National Outdoor Learning Award; maintenance of outdoor equipment to prolong the life of kit; and embracing change and adaptability in business. Check out our newsletter for updates or the IOL website All Events & Courses. We are planning the biggest webinar of all – an all-day IOL conference on Saturday 14th October 2023 on World National Standards Day - look out for details in the next Horizons.

Have a great Spring!

 Outdoor learning access and ecosystems

 Theory of change development

 Curriculum development

 Impact and evaluation

 Staff training

 Organisation support

C L O T C N A T I O N A L

C O N F E R E N C E

A c h i e v i n g q u a l i t y l e a r n i n g

b e y o n d t h e c l a s s r o o m

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P a u l R o s e

T V p r e s e n t e r , e x p l o r e r , a n d l e a r n i n g o u t s i d e t h e c l a s s r o o m a m b a s s a d o r

F E A T U R I N G

I n f o r m a t i v e w o r k s h o p s , e n g a g i n g d i s c u s s i o n a n d n e t w o r k i n g , e x h i b i t i o n z o n e , a n d s a f a r i t o u r s !

R E G I S T E R N O W

Advanced tickets close 31 January

@ C L O t C # C L O t C c o n f e r e n c e

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A n e v e n t d e d i c a t e d t o l e a r n i n g b e y o n d t h e c l a s s r o o m t h a t b r i n g s t o g e t h e r u p t o 3 0 0 t e a c h e r s , h e a d t e a c h e r s , s e c t o r l e a d e r s a n d p r o v i d e r s f r o m a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y

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M a n o r c r o f t P r i m a r y S c h o o l

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P r o f e s s o r M i c k W a t e r s

A u t h o r a n d F o r m e r

H e a d t e a c h e r

SCANNING

THE HORIZON COUNCIL FOR LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023

Join us on 2nd March 2023 at the amazing West Midland Safari Park for a day of engaging workshops, inspiring speakers, and informative discussions. The CLOtC Conference is the only event dedicated to learning outside the classroom (LOtC) that brings together teachers, headteachers, sector-leaders and providers from across the country.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to discover how you can successfully develop your LOtC provision and attract a bigger, broader audience to your venue or organisation. There will be plenty of networking opportunities where you’ll be able to speak to like-minded individuals, share best practice and gain advice on topics such as how to communicate to potential customers (schools) and how to deliver good-quality LOtC experiences amid the current wider challenges. This year we are pleased to announce that we will be running separate workshops for schools/settings and providers, tailored to the needs of each. The workshops will be led by experts and cover the breadth of learning outside the classroom, giving practical advice for attendees to take back to their teams.

For more information about the event, please view our Conference Guide – What to Expect and book your tickets here today. We hope to see you in March!

FUTURE FOOTPRINTS

It is now accepted that we are living at a time where we must act urgently to change our existing systems and ways of relating to the planet. This change must be at every level; personal, community, national and global. We are in the privileged position of being able to introduce children and adults to the beauty and benefits of the outdoors and can reconnect them and instil in them the concept of stewardship of the environment.

There is a lot of fear, despondency, avoidance and ignorance. We know that children and young people are increasingly anxious about the climate and the environment. Studies show distress, anger and other negative mental health problems are increasing in 16-to-25 year olds due to “eco anxiety”. We know that the UK is the world’s second worst producer of plastic waste per person, behind only the US. Sadly, despite our best efforts at home and at work, less than 10% of our plastic is actually recycled. Most of it is shipped and dumped. We also know the importance of biodiversity and the poor state of the UK’s biodiversity relative to other countries. Biodiversity loss risks ‘ecological meltdown’.

The Future Footprints initiative is a means of ensuring we get our own house in order and have a positive impact through the lives of all those we have contact with. Starting with our actions at home and at work in our immediate environment, we can begin to make changes for the better.

For more on the new Future Footprints initiative, click here.

BTEC Sport and Institute of Outdoor Learning

BTEC Nationals Sport and Outdoor Activities –LEVEL 3

A great route if you’re looking to work outdoors.

Is 100% coursework assessed and focuses on practical learning

Mandatory 20 hours of work experience

Carries UCAS points, enabling progression to Higher Education

Supporting progression on to the Outdoor Learning Specialist Apprenticeship Standard

Find out more

This qualification is mapped to the below standards:

• The Outdoor Activity Instructor (OAI) Occupational Standard 720/1080 Each qualification size in this pathway also covers the coaching ‘Safeguarding and Protecting Children’ standard.

Outdoor

Learning Specialist Apprenticeship

Standard – Level 5

Designed as a 24-month programme

For apprentices interested in the outdoor, sport, leisure, tourism, public health, youth work and education sectors

Successful apprentices will have the opportunity to register as a Professional Member of the Insitute of Outdoor Learning (IOL)

Find out more Available careers

Assistant Outdoor Activities Instructor

An Assistant outdoor activities instructor will be working under the supervision of an outdoor activities instructor, to supervise and lead individuals and groups in outdoor activities.

Outdoor Activities Instructor

As an outdoor Activities Instructor, you will be responsible for independently leading, supervising and teaching individuals and groups in outdoor activities such as hill walking, climbing, canoeing and sailing. Your day-to-day duties might involve planning and preparing activities, explaining and demonstrating activities and making sure all equipment and facilities are safe.*

We are delighted that Pearson will be providing End Point Assessment for this standard.

Mark Lavington -Trailblazer Employer Group Chair

THE RIGHT TO EXPLORE

In 2019/20, the Right to Explore project began with the ambition of providing “outdoor leadership opportunities for young people from a range of diverse ethnic backgrounds, in order to support development of role models in outdoor leadership” (1). Right to Explore is a collaborative partnership between Lindley Educational Trust, Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre, Coventry City Council/Plas dol y Moch and The Outward Bound Trust, funded by The North Face and DEFRA’s Green Challenge Recovery fund, Generation Green. Programme success is evident in a survey conducted by The Outward Bound Trust with the 2019/20 cohort of young leaders, with: “82% of the group introducing one or more family members to the outdoors through informal leadership”; “60% having completed outdoor leadership training/qualifications”; and “75% having gained paid employment leading groups in the outdoors” (1).

In 2021, the initiative grew, with 24 young leaders undertaking the programme with support from four mentors across the UK. Right to Explore, the short film which documents the experiences of these young leaders, premiered in December 2022. Horizons caught up with Kate O’Brien (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Lead for The Outward Bound Trust) to hear more.

Kate, you recently spoke at Kendal Mountain Festival 2022 with some of the young people who took part in the programme to promote the project and the upcoming film release. How was the experience and what was the response?

Kate O’Brien: It was great to be able to offer a few of the young leaders a platform to talk about their experiences, as well as hear from the mentors on the programme. They shared the impact it had within their lives and what further opportunities had been opened up as a result. Naimah is now in a full-time position working as an outdoor youth worker at Lindley Educational Trust, enabling others from her community to get out and enjoy nature. Yahya spoke about how doing the course opened his eyes to what was on the doorstep and how valuable it has been getting out in the Peak District on bikes with his friends at the weekends, as well as connections with his football coaching and working with younger children. We weren’t sure how many people to expect at the talk and were really pleased that the seats were full, with many people joining in around the edges. There was the kind of applause where you can really feel the audience’s appreciation and resonance at the words spoken, as well as some fantastic questions about what people can do to ensure the outdoors really is for everyone.

Right to Explore is a powerful film which gives a valuable platform to the voices of young leaders. “Everybody needs someone they can look up to” says Yahya, a young leader from the 2021 cohort who passionately and confidently discusses the importance of role models for young people in the outdoors. Mitchelle, another participant, emphasises the personal development that these young leaders require in order to broadly affect

their own communities, “once you start to feel comfortable with yourself and confident, then you’re able to pass it on to other people as well”.

Kate, the Right to Explore film gives wonderful insight into the impact of the project on participants and the broader narrative which it’s trying to address. How important is it that you’re able to share the project through film?

Kate O’Brien: Film is the perfect medium to capture both the environments explored through the course and the individuality of the young people and their stories. Sharing via film is important to communicate the message that opportunity can spark positive impacts for people which can then have a ripple effect within families and communities, and lead on to further opportunities. It also allows the young people’s voices to reach a wider audience within the outdoor sector, and attract potential interest and funding for the programme to continue into the future.

The film explores some important topics, including the use of the term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) in conversations around diversity and inclusion in the outdoors. Sahra Ahmed, from the Lindley Educational Trust, raises the discussion in the film and argues that “[BAME] is a very lazy way of saying ‘here’s your label’...you’ve given me a title I didn’t ask for, you’ve given me a title that doesn’t say who I am. Everyone’s got their own identity, every community has got their own identity. I feel like it creates a ‘them and us’ kind of environment”. Right to Explore also picks up on other important topics with regard to inclusion, one of which being the growing body of research which identifies the connection between time spent in nature/green spaces and wellbeing.

Kate, with increasing levels of depression and anxiety amongst young people in the UK, how important is it that the outdoors is an accessible space for everyone?

Kate O’Brien: So important! Getting into the outdoors can be a daily wellbeing strategy if you know it’s an option and have the physical and mental means to access green spaces nearby where you live. This could be knowledge about where to go, confidence to go there, skills to find your way or plan a route, people to go with, the kit to stay warm and protected from the elements or the feeling of psychological safety that comes from feeling like you belong in that space. Accessibility is about so much more than physically being able to get somewhere. Many of the young leaders talked about living in urban environments in the UK and coming from family backgrounds where it is not the norm to grow up being taken into the countryside. Knowing that local outdoor spaces exist and having the skills and confidence to go there, whether for exercise, adventure, socialising or quiet contemplation, can offer an option to de-stress and reconnect with nature in a way that is within people’s control and daily freedoms. Everyone should have access to such possibilities for looking after their own wellbeing.

In the film, participants discuss the transferable skills they developed from the programme. How effective do you feel outdoor and adventurous activities are for developing widely applicable and long-lasting skills for participants?

Kate O’Brien: With this programme, the combination of the outdoors and adventurous activities close to home as well as trips into the National Parks staying at residential centers was a really effective way of building a wide ranging and transferable skillset. This included activity focused skills, such as navigating, paddling a canoe or pitching a tent, which were transferred to different locations and contexts, including teaching others back in participants’ communities. The social side also stood out as being really important to the group. Meeting new people from different parts of the UK, working together and overcoming challenges in a group was commented on as something essential at that transitioning stage of life where many were going on to college, apprenticeships, university or employment. The nature of doing all these things in new, exciting and memorable environments means they stick. There is also something

about coming away from your everyday life and peer group that offers an opportunity to see aspects of yourself previously unseen, and to get feedback on strengths and opportunities for growth that can allow new choices and future pathways to open up.

Right to Explore is available to watch on The Outward Bound Trust YouTube channel. For more information on the Right to Explore programme, head to The Outward Bound blog and for more on the impact of Outward Bound courses, check out their Social Impact Reports p

KATE O’BRIEN Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Lead for The Outward Bound Trust

Kate has worked in outdoor personal development for over 20 years. Formerly as a youth worker, instructor, field guide and more recently evolving into project management and strategic leadership, enabling The Outward Bound Trust to become a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organisation. This has involved organisational development, as well as the design and delivery of the Women’s Outdoor Leadership Course and The Right to Explore programme for young people from a range of diverse ethnic backgrounds. When not at work Kate can be found up a mountain on skis, riding her bike or by the fire with her cats and a good book.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.outwardbound.org.uk/blog/the-right-to-explore

IMAGES

All images have been supplied by the author. Author retains copyright.

WANT TO FEATURE

If you’re a member of IOL and are keen to share what your organisation is up to, then we want to hear from you!

Contact horizonseditor@outdoor-learning.org

PROGRESS THROUGH REVOLUTIONS

AUTHOR

Stu Meese (PGDip FRGS LPIOL)

Stu is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Worcester and an Assistant Educational Visits Advisor for Entrust. He has 30 years of experience in the sector and freelances across the south. He chairs the IOL’s Freelance Cooperative and runs a micro–Community Interest Company closer to home. He has been an AHOEC member for over a decade and is the former chair of its Central Region.

As a member of The Association of Heads of Outdoor Centres, The Outdoor Education Advisory Panel and the Institute for Outdoor Learning (and a few others), I go to quite a few meetings. I see the same people, and we often talk about the same issues facing the sector. The opportunity has now been building for a few years to bring all those voices together to make a difference, to unite and work collaboratively. Yes, there are some differences in approaches, but at the heart of it is the same drive and desire to get people outdoors. Here are my thoughts on the proposed merger and formation of the Outdoor Learning Assocation.

Sixty years ago, Thomas Kuhn put forward a Philosophy of science that transformed how we look at scientific development. He claimed science didn’t just move gradually, inexorably towards the truth and instead gave us an episodic account of how science works. We hold onto a set of core beliefs – a framework, a paradigm - that moves us further towards the truth if explored and data collected well. A paradigm is our shared beliefs, assumptions and knowledge. As we go along, we find anomalies and problems with that core belief, but it provides the day-to-day structures and a way of thinking that allows progress. It throws up questions, but provides ways of finding the answers. But problems accumulate, and anomalies appear that have no answer in our current scientific framework. Our paradigm gets stretched to its limit and becomes problematic. Yet we cling to it; it provides the basis of our learning and discovery, and without it, what do we have to explain the truth? We hear claims of flawed experiments and incoherent data long before we take away the foundations on which they are based. To lose faith in the central paradigm is to stop being a scientist.

Then comes along a new paradigm. A new set of learning and theories that bears no relation to the ones we now hold. Incommensurate with the existing paradigm, it offers more - certainly more questions, more answers, and more science. A crisis ensues with competing players for each paradigm, old and new until the new paradigm is either debunked as inadequate or the scientific community holds it aloft as the proud successor. In the debate, scientists will talk past each other as terms of references and languages of the competing paradigms don’t mesh or allow translation. Those wedded to the old system remain that way, still trying to explain the world in existing terms, and those willing to jump experience a profound shift and must start their science again.

It is at this very ragged frontier that great revolutionary science is done – the significant changes, ground-breaking ideas and movements that define the age and set new precedents for science, moving forward in the

quest to explain the world better. We can still examine the old data, but we do so now with not so much a different lens, but with a whole new eye. The new paradigm provides compelling exemplars, and science moves forward, chipping away at the truth with a new set of very different tools.

Kuhn gives examples from Physics, and he shows the journey from Ptolemy as his theory of the motion of the heavenly bodies. As his calculations became more complex and eventually broke down, Copernicus was forced to rework them, placing the sun at the centre but keeping the core principles. These still were too problematic, and eventually, the revolution was precipitated by Galileo and finally enacted by Kepler, who jettisoned them for a system still in use today, with Newton later tidying them up to a single principle. Kuhn’s revolutions rely on one thing – not the pursuit of truth, as the new paradigm itself defines what it seeks to solve, but the way a community pursues its passion, the way a community must coalesce and evolve around a definition of the way forward. Kuhn’s theory has impacted not just science, but economics, political science, social science even the understanding of organised crime.

My world doesn’t deal with the massive ideas that physics does, but has its own revolutions. The Outdoor Learning Association (OLA) emerges as the new paradigm to move the sector forward. I have seen where the original paradigm has started to break down. AHOECs (Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres) and the other sector organisation’s original purpose have been reworked many times, as was Ptolemy’s. They are now straining at the seams to respond to issues of a world that has moved on with a landscape of members who may no longer fit the original mould. AHOEC can be reworked and tinkered with to make it work for a wee bit longer, but ultimately it is constrained by its long history and purpose.

The call was to ensure that the new paradigm had all the answers, but we missed the point. The new paradigm doesn’t have the answers, but redefines the questions we have in a sector that is now very different from the one we left three years ago, let alone thirty. OLA is the mechanism to ask them, perhaps in a different way than we have now. AHOEC may be recreated within its purpose, but the result will be to allow it to expand and become more than what it can be under its current guise. It should, however, have the weight to draw the community and provide an exemplar that we can gather around. This process is the catalyst for the frontier for amazing work to be done as the questions are worked out, with unique voices as a new community mingles, moves, shifts, and finds its new voice.

I am not looking for all the answers before I vote; that will never come. What I am looking for is a better way to frame the questions I have about the outdoor sectors’ future and the support for investigating them. When we vote to dissolve AHOEC, the IOL and the many other groups and become OLA, I will do it with a heavy heart for the history and weight of those that came before me, but with an open mind for the learning, community and frontier that awaits p

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Agree? Disagree? Let us know on Twitter @IOLOutdoorProfs.

PORTABLE COMFORT ZONES

AUTHOR Jack Reed

Jack Reed is a Ph. D. candidate at The University of Edinburgh. His research explores mobile technologies and social media in residential outdoor education as well as contemporary formulations of society and culture as they are developed and sustained in postdigital space.

OUTDOOR INSTRUCTOR PERCEPTIONS ON MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND PORTABLE

COMFORT ZONES

In the first part of this four-part series (see Horizons issue 99), I outlined why technology in the outdoors should not be the elephant in the room. Centering on the acknowledgement that young people are more connected than ever, how might the field of outdoor education critically engage and reflect on the place and use of mobile technologies and social media in practice? Part two of this series presents data which seeks to lay an empirical foundation to this question and draws on the first part of my PhD research where I interviewed twenty members of instructional staff from three Outward Bound Trust (here on referred to as “Outward Bound”) centres in the UK.

The research context

Beginning in October 2020, this PhD has been a collaborative project between The University of Edinburgh and Outward Bound. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council with in-kind funding from Outward Bound, the explicit purpose of the research from the outset has been to explore the relationships between young people’s uses of mobile technologies and social media and how these influence experiences of residential outdoor education in the UK. Following orientation visits to Outward Bound centres in 2021, and my engagement with the present literature and senior members of staff at Outward Bound, three research questions were constructed.

Research questions

• How do instructional staff perceive mobile technologies and social media use by young people during residential experiences at Outward Bound?

• In what ways do the presence or non-presence of mobile technologies at Outward Bound affect how young people experience their residential outdoor education trip?

• What impact might online media and gaming have in shaping how young people engage with outdoor spaces and places when at Outward Bound?

Between January and May 2022, I interviewed 20 members of instructional staff at three Outward Bound centres in the UK. Seeking to answer research question one, I spent approximately one hour interviewing each member of staff to understand how mobile technologies are perceived in their practice. All instructors have been assigned pseudonyms and places of work are defined as “case one, case two, case three” to preserve participant anonymity.

Two key themes are described in this article from the instructor data and are presented as statements:

1. “Phone-free outdoor experiences are more impactful for young people in contemporary society”.

2. “Phones extend narratives of comfort and provide young people with a portable comfort zone”.

Theme one: Phone-free preferences in practice

Most instructors preferred their practice to be phone-free, often encouraged young people to leave their phones at the centre, and frequently hoped young people would not bring their phones to Outward Bound at all. For instance, Liam (case two) described how his practice is situated within “a little bit of a culture at Outward Bound of ‘no, it’s the good old outdoors, you go out with nothing’”. This speaks to the work of Strong (1) and their characterisation of the outdoors being a space to return to the “good life” and to escape from the fast-paced, fluid, nature of our technological societies.

Meanwhile, for Anne (case three) phone-free practice means “you’re showing them [young people] that they can exist without their phones”.

This was expanded upon by Helen (case one) who described phone-free time at Outward Bound as “that detox, and I think it’s really good for them (to not have their phones)” and continued to say that “for me, I just think, it’s [an Outward Bound programme] just a detox, get rid of it [phones]”. Staying in case one, Lauren extended on this, suggesting that social media use must be challenged in outdoor education as online interaction and engagement is not “real”. Through saying that social media “is not true, and it is not real, it is digital” and that phones provide “the distraction from connecting to the real world” (Lauren, case one) it became clear that these instructors viewed Outward Bound courses as spaces which challenge the dominance of technology in the lives of young people.

Alongside narratives of phone-free practice facilitating a detox for young people, and social media interaction being considered “fake”, Max (case two) argued that phone-free space in practice “can really help facilitate other powerful experiences that they [young people] might be missing, so things like solitude, time for self-reflection, moments of mindfulness”. With the absence of phones identified as an important factor which helps young people fully experience the power of outdoor education, Naomi (case three) described how the presence of a phone “distracts from being there, doesn’t it? … Just being there in the moment and appreciating rain and wind and weather”. Phones are therefore positioned as a primary distraction to the purposes of participating in residential outdoor education.

Elements of distraction came through as a significant reason as to why phones should be left behind when at Outward Bound which was reinforced by Charles (case three) when suggesting that “for us [Outward Bound] to truly deliver on our mission, then the phone does become a genuine disconnect to our outcomes”. This aligns with research findings from Outward Bound Canada (2) where awareness of and presence in nature were considered achievable so long as learners were taken “away

from the normal distractions of everyday living” (p. 86). The data has demonstrated that the presence of mobile technologies on programme are perceived to distract from the fundamental purposes of residential outdoor education and that this provides a rationale for leaving phones behind.

Theme two: Contemporary constructions of a portable comfort zone

During my interview with Euan (case two), he alerted me to an extension to the well-versed concept of the comfort zone, a model which encourages learners to step beyond their comfort zone into their stretch zone to achieve maximum benefit in outdoor education (3). For Euan, “(Outward Bound) want them [young people] to do something different that gets them out of their comfort zone. And a phone is a portable comfort zone in a lot of ways”. However, for Ian (case two), the portable comfort zone (e.g., having access to a phone) meant young people can “just take two minutes just to check whatever the social media platform it is that they want to be on. They might feel like they’re a little bit home, a little bit with some friends, and have that company again that they’ve been missing, and that might help just give them that relief for a couple of minutes”. Phones were therefore considered important in offering young people a comfortable place to pause during challenging moments.

Charles (case three) agreed with the presence of a phone possibly helping young people to engage in activities when suggesting that “some people are so full up on their comfort cup just by being here, that just putting on a new pair of boots might be enough to tip them over the edge. So, when you say ‘you can’t have your phone anymore’, that might just be the bit that goes ‘well, I’m out of here’”. This acknowledgement is important for outdoor education researchers and practitioners who evaluate and employ the comfort zone model as it is now necessary to include the presence or non-presence of mobile technologies in these considerations.

Whilst instructors such as Ian (case two) and Charles (case three) acknowledge the importance of allowing young people access to their portable comfort zone to aid participation, other instructors took a different approach. For instance, Callum (case one) suggested that the presence of a portable comfort zone may inhibit a young person’s ability to fully immerse themselves in a course. “A big part of Outward Bound is encouraging people to stretch themselves out of their comfort zone. At that moment, when you’re feeling uncomfortable, scared, and unhappy, if you’ve got access to ring home with a mobile then you can go off with your phone” (Callum, case one). Although this narrative featured fewer

times than portable comfort zones as vehicles to increase participation, it does demonstrate the other side of the portable comfort zone coin and perhaps offers a glimpse into an important conversation for residential outdoor education moving forward. Naomi (case three) reinforced the narrative that a portable comfort zone might be a reason to allow young people to have their phones when suggesting that a young person’s portable comfort zone is akin to “giving a baby a dummy and going ‘you’re fine. We don’t need to cry. You’ve got your dummy. And yet I’m going to ask you to stick through this other bit’” of a challenging activity.

Some instructors also extended beyond notions of portable comfort zones in activities themselves and looked holistically at the role a portable comfort zone might play in the residential setting. Louise (Case two) summarised these descriptions when suggesting that “a lot of (young) people would struggle to even come away if they couldn’t bring their phone with them”. The data indicates the ways in which instructors are intentionally considering the role of mobile technologies in their practice. Whilst the majority of instructors prefer young people to be phone-free, they also acknowledge the important, comfortable, familiarity a phone can offer a young person who may already be outside their comfort zone just by being away from the home environment.

Brief thoughts and reflections

The findings from instructor interviews presented here hold key insight for policymakers, researchers, and instructors. What has become apparent is that instructors are often very clear on their reasoning for including or excluding the mobile technologies of participants. When excluding mobile technologies, the rationale often centres on the culture of “no technology here” in outdoor and adventurous environments. Alongside this, narratives of Outward Bound programmes offering young people a space to “detox” from their always-connected lives are present and that phones distract from the core outcomes associated with residential outdoor education.

As colleagues and I wrote recently (4), the data presented here encourages those involved in taking learning outside to think critically about what role mobile technologies play in the development of learning objectives and outcomes. Alongside this, in relation to the portable comfort zone model described in this article for the first time, we must also consider the affordances mobile technologies can offer. For the instructors included in this study, the affordances provided by a young person having a mobile phone in their pocket centred on how this simple act may offer young people a comfortable space which may enhance their participation and learning in residential outdoor education.

Next time

Of course, with this being the 100th issue of Horizons, I hope the second of this four-part series offers pause for reflection. Across the 99 previous issues, we have seen profound changes in relation to the influential role technologies play throughout society and in young people’s lives. No doubt, the next 100 issues will give rise to yet more significant change which I am sure the outdoor education sector will be well-placed to address and respond to. In issue 101, I will present data which was generated during the second phase of this study which centres on young people’s experiences of mobile technologies and social media at Outward Bound. Here, I will discuss the roles of TikTok, Netflix, and Minecraft as I have seen these online spaces relate to young people’s perception and participation in residential outdoor education p

REFERENCES

1. Strong, D. (1995). Crazy mountains: Learning from wilderness to weigh technology. New State University of New York Press.

2. Kirwin, M., Harper, N. J., Young, T., & Itzvan, I. (2019). Mindful adventures: A pilot study of the outward bound mindfulness program. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 22(1), 75-90.

3. Brown, M. (2008). Comfort zone: Model or metaphor?. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 12(1), 3-12.

4. van Kraalingen, I., Hills, D., Reed, J., Beames, S., & Munge, B. (2022). Digital technology and networked spaces in outdoor education: reflections upon presenting at an international webinar. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1-14.

IMAGES

NOT A HERO’S JOURNEY

HORIZONS CAUGHT UP WITH JESSIE STEVENS, CLIMATE ADVOCATE AND FOUNDER OF ‘PEOPLE PEDAL POWER’ - A CLIMATE MOVEMENT WHICH SAW HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE CYCLING TO THE COP26 CLIMATE SUMMIT.

Back in 2020, the Covid pandemic pushed COP26 - an annual international climate summit which, for it’s 26th sitting, was set to held in Glasgow - forward into 2021. Jessie Stevens, who was 16 at the time, saw this as an opportunity. With widespread disruption to school and daily life, Jessie started to think about how she could attend the summit and bring the collective voice of young people across the country with her. But, with train fares proving unattainable, car travel proving inaccessible and flights far too environmentally damaging, Jessie started to look at cycle routes.

Fast forward to October 2021 and Jessie was preparing to pedal nearly 600 miles to Glasgow from her home on the south coast of Devon. On the way she would engage with community groups, encourage as many people as possible (with an emphasis on young people) to join her for a few miles of the journey and aim to give a platform to underepresented voices in the climate movement through the production of a feature length film. Not only did she achieve all of this, but she acted as a youth ambassador at COP26 and attended the full two weeks of the conference which was dubbed the ‘last chance to save the planet’.

Fresh off the premiere of her award winning film ‘Not a Hero’s Journey’ at Kendal Mountain Festival, we caught up with Jessie to talk about her experience.

Hey Jessie! Tell me about yourself.

This is something that’s changed a lot over the past few years as I’ve found my place in the climate movement. I’ve gone from a young person grappling with climate anxiety, to an activist, and in the past year, a Climate Advocate. For me, Climate Advocacy takes many forms: public speaking, writing and grass-roots organizing. This work has also brought me into adventure media and inclusivity in the outdoors.

In 2021, you cycled from your home in Devon to Glasgow to attend the COP26 climate summit. How did the experience affect you?

The experience affected me greatly. In the lead up to the event, my work was very much focussed on the politics of climate change and processes behind it. During my time in the COP26 ‘Blue Zone’, I quickly learnt that so much power comes from community organising and connection. I found COP26 to be a sterile environment full of empty promises and gatekeeping. In contrast, the streets of Glasgow were full of joy, hope and real action. This experience really changed where I put my energy and how I campaign in the future.

Community is such an important part of being in the outdoors. What role did community play in your journey to COP26?

Community was such a huge part of the journey. We had so many people join the movement from all walks of life. I quickly learnt that the bike is such a wonderful way to facilitate connection, tell stories and share joy.

You were a youth ambassador at COP26. Tell us about your experience as a young person at COP26. My experience within COP26 itself wasn’t a very positive one. Young people were excluded from meetings and there were limited options for collaboration. Not to mention the huge amount of greenwashing and lobbying by fossil fuel companies throughout the conference. I went into the summit as a YRE (Young Reporter for the Environment). In this role I had the pleasure of speaking to so many amazing organisations and individuals who were fighting for change, within each meeting and event. This definitely brought me a lot of hope.

What’s next for you, Jessie?

I am really interested in the power adventure and nature connection has on climate action and community mobilisation. I’m not yet sure how, but I would like to bring these elements together through mediums such as media production and outdoors guiding. After all, if you can’t see what you need to protect, how can you? p

FANCY A FILM NIGHT?

Not a Hero’s Journey, winner of Best Environment Film at Kendal Mountain Festival, is now available to watch online on the Alt. Film House YouTube.

MY IMPLICIT BIAS JOURNEY

AUTHOR

Max Vendrig

Max Vendrig is a Canadian outdoor guide, instructor and educator. Max has worked internationally across New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the U.K. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Outdoor and Experiential Learning at the University of Cumbria with a focus on health and well-being.

APPLYING A REFLEXIVE LENS TO CANADIAN EXPEDITION CULTURE AND INDIGENOUS RELATIONS

Reflexivity is a strategy to critically situate our own knowledge, values and power within dominant social orders (1). It enables practitioners to challenge previous assumptions and knowledge, confront implicit biases, and question personal behaviours which perhaps silence the voices of others or otherwise marginalise them (2). While reflexivity can be uncomfortable, it is an essential process for responsibly ethical practice within the outdoor industry. Drawing on anecdotes, this personal essay looks to explore Indigenous-Canadian relations to critically evaluate my own professional practice as a Canadian outdoor guide.

Firstly, it is necessary to establish the historical context of Indigenous relations in Canada. In Canada, Indigenous people are primarily classified as Inuit, First Nations or Metis, which are then further divided into more than 600 sovereign tribes; each possessing their own rich history of traditions, stories, songs, laws and cultural practices that stretches back over a continuous history of land occupation on Turtle Island for 14,000 years (3).

Yet what binds these diverse and vibrant groups together is their shared tragedy of European colonisation. While there are scattered accounts of Norse-Indigenous interactions as early as the 10th century, European exploration began in earnest from the late 15th century with the arrival of British and French explorers (5). Within five hundred years, we have witnessed a catastrophic erasure of Indigenous lives, cultures and knowledge through disease, warfare, assimilation and genocide. Euro-Indigenous treaties that were meant to engender peace offers a history of broken promises, neglect, abuse of power and, devastatingly, the residential school system which operated from the 1880s to late 1990s. At least 150,000 children between infancy and young adulthood were indoctrinated into residential schools run by church denominations in partnership with the Canadian government. They were forcibly removed from their families and culture in an attempt to whitewash and assimilate into an idealised eurocentric society, and in exchange suffered unspeakable physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of their supposed guardians.

More recently, in 2021 the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children in unmarked mass graves – some as young as three years old – were discovered at multiple sites formerly belonging to residential schools. This has brought the world’s renewed attention to this shameful chapter of Canadian history, re-opened deep wounds within communities and sparked fresh debate over current Indigenous relations, reconciliation and intergenerational trauma.

A call for reflexivity

Some of the key questions to ask oneself when practicing reflexivity are:

• Why did this pass me by?

• Where was my attention directed at the time?

• What historical, political and cultural structures were in place which facilitated me to lose attention and make that error in perception?

None of the above information regarding Indigenous history was explicitly taught to school children – the current curriculum in both primary and secondary schools artfully skims over the less-savoury aspects of Canadian history. This was a contributing factor to my own ignorance and lack of awareness to Indigenous issues; It was never a topic of discussion at dinner, and I was never exposed to Indigenous culture despite growing up in the Canadian province of Ontario.

These current affairs stand in stark contrast to the cultural perception of Indigenous beliefs and practices, which has been greatly romanticised by Canadian and international tourists alike. Walk into any souvenir shop in Canada, and you will undoubtedly see an array of colourful dream-catchers, moccasins, inukshuks and other icons of Indigenous identity that have been cheaply reproduced and peddled to the masses. According to Statistics Canada, Indigenous people account for 4.9% of Canada’s population, and yet Canada’s Indigenous tourism sector’s direct economic footprint in 2017 was estimated to exceed $1.7 billion in GDP (6).

A map of the traditional territories of Indigenous people, treaties and language of Turtle Island superimposed over today’s North America (4).

A Critical Stance on Recreational Canoe Expeditions

This fascination extends to a sustained interest in authentic Indigenous experiences such as canoe expeditions. Yet does the very process of cultural commodification inherently render an experience as inauthentic? This exploitative relationship with nature is precarious in that it ignorantly assumes the attitude What can this experience in nature give me? rather than What can I do to support the land?

Whilst working as a canoe guide in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park, it was my job to take clients on 2 to 5 day expeditions. All gear, food and necessities would be pre-packed prior to guest arrival. The route would be fixed and permits acquired that designated which lakes we would occupy each night. I would deliver safety and skills briefings, and then away we would go into the wilderness: a wilderness that came with established wooden thunderboxes for client ablutions and ready-made fire pits. Expedition kit came with a series of pots and pans, but guides were encouraged as often as possible to cook over an open fire for authenticity.

My passion lay in delivering impactful experiences to clients that shared this appreciation of outdoor spaces. For years, I revelled in the moral superiority of having the opportunity to exist in nature (and getting paid to do it). My underlying assumption was that the height of human experience happened in such landscapes – that this was the best way to lead an authentic life. The lifestyle and community of the outdoor industry fitted the perception of myself that I liked best and allowed me to best express how I wanted to be perceived by others: adventurous and connected to nature.

Algonquin Provincial Park continues to be a place in which I experience joy. It is an opportunity to connect with myself, others and nature; it possesses aesthetically-pleasing landscapes that inspire a Burkian (Edmund Burke and the Sublime) sense of awe and humility; it empowers me and instills a sense of hyper-presence; it allows me personal agency where there is a tangible element of risk, or rather, the mastery of risk. Beyond my own interests and passions, I acted as an experience-broker for enabling clients to enjoy their own version of authentic Canadian wilderness. Life was good.

Yet I was woefully oblivious to the role I actively played in stifling Indigenous voices and furthering a neo-colonialist agenda. As a guide, I was given the gear and food I required to deliver a successful trip to clients but received no education or awareness of the Indigenous people that claimed heritage there.

Upon introspection and research, this romanticisation is problematic when viewed with a contemporary lens. While I may have perceived myself as celebrating Indigenous culture, my practices leant themselves more to cultural profiteering from these spaces while failing to acknowledge that they were once (and continue to be) Indigenous lands. Despite a growing awareness and empathy for Indigenous issues, the sphere of canoe expeditions has a long way to go to become an open and welcoming space for Indigenous groups.

Strategies for change

Firstly, there is a lack of dialogue for the history of Indigenous presence in leisure areas. Looking up traditional place names rather than using the anglicised names is a small yet vital step in building this awareness. For example, last summer I went on a paddling trip with my father around Ontario, and when posting on social media I tagged or described places using First Nations etymology. It helped me begin to realise the history of a place beyond the westernised knowledge I had direct access to and

started conversations with friends and family within my sphere of influence.

Secondly, there is a lack of Indigenous involvement in facilitating these experiences; in ten years I have never worked with a guide who outwardly claimed Indigenous heritage. Therein lies the irony that, despite pioneering canoe travel, Indigenous groups have been largely shut out of the expedition industry. This mantle has been awarded to inherently white, westernised businesses that cater to wealthy, westernised demographics. Tourism has the potential to contribute to an understanding and a more equal relationship between the Indigenous communities and the non-Indigenous people who come to visit them, but from a contemporary standpoint it acts as a form of neo-colonialism.

Finally, there is an institutionalised lack of understanding from guides and other key players in how our actions and biases continue to uphold euro-centric hegemonies, or dominant socio-political structures of Western cultures. The shape of culture, of narratives, makes us act and think in certain ways; however, one must ask themself:

• If I cannot change my (white privileged) background, what can I change?

• How can we educate, inform, remedy these forms of implicit bias that are complicit in stoking the fires of racism and classism without employing patronising language?

• How can I build more empathy and understanding into a community of guides, instructors and educators? And how can we positively impact the future without succumbing to ‘white saviour’ complexes or new forms of colonialism?

Reconciliation does not need to wait for the political processes of formalised institutions such as the government; it can begin at the grassroots level of guides and small business owners by beginning with critical questioning (8).

Conclusion

The process of learning (and unlearning) is not homogenous; it is messy and non-linear. The intersection of Indigenous culture and knowledge with modern canoe expeditions is a complex issue; nor is it exclusive to North American Indigenous groups – it is just as applicable to other colonised areas such as Oceana, the West Indies, and parts of the African continent. Yet the rationale for reflexivity remains—so that practitioners can develop a wider understanding and perspective of what it means to be a professional in outdoor education.

I genuinely believe in the skills, mindset, sense of place and identity-formation one can gain from impactful outdoor experiences, and I remain a passionate advocate for this; I also acknowledge that I have more to learn from Indigenous traditional knowledge. At this stage in my professional journey, I am under no illusions of expecting myself to have all the answers: It is equally important to be asking the right questions, and to continue to ask questions as we move forward into a sphere of greater understanding and awareness p

REFERENCES

1. Rose, J. and Paisley, K., 2012. White Privilege in Experiential Education: A Critical Reflection. Leisure Sciences, 34(2), pp.136-154.

2. Bolton, G., 2009. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. 3rd ed. Sage Publications, pp.3-24.

3. Fagan, B. and Durrani, N., 2016. World Prehistory: A Brief Introduction. 9th ed. Routledge, pp.124.

4. Native Land, n.d. North America. [image] Available at: <https://native-land.ca/> [Accessed 5 January 2022].

5. Williams, G., 2015. Exploration. [online] The Canadian Encyclopedia. Available at: <https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/exploration> [Accessed 3 January 2022].

6. Fiser, A. and Hermus, G., 2019. Canada’s Indigenous Tourism Sector: Insights and Economic Impacts. [online] Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, p.6. Available at: <https://indigenoustourism.ca/ wp-content/uploads/2019/05/10266_IndigenousTourismSector_RPT.pdf> [Accessed 30 December 2021].

7. Vendrig, M. 2021. Ontario Rivers. [Photographs].

8. Curtin, N. and Bird, S., 2021. “We are reconciliators”: When Indigenous tourism begins with agency. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, pp.1-21.

IMAGES

All images have been supplied by the author. Author retains copyright.

One small step for me, one slightly larger step towards reflexivity (7)

EVERYONE’S WELCOME DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

IN THE OUTDOORS

THE ‘EVERYONE’S WELCOME’ PROGRAMME PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR A DIVERSE GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE THE OUTDOORS IN NEW WAYS, WHILST CHAMPIONING PATHWAYS IN THE INDUSTRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF COLOUR. READ ROB (TELFORD AND WREKIN COUNCIL INCLUSION OFFICER) AND ELLA’S (PARTICIPANT AND ARTHOG AMBASSADOR) STORY OF THE PROGRAMME.

AUTHOR Ellalouise

Hi my name is Ellalouise, but most people just call me Ella :) I have five siblings and one of them has only just been born! I love music and writing, so I hope you enjoy my article.

Rob (Telford and Wrekin Council Inclusion Officer)

‘Everyone’s Welcome’ is a project based on the work by Gina McCabe, Sarah Wilkes and Stuart Fraser and is supported by Telford and Wrekin Council. The challenge isn’t just to be inclusive, but to be really good. The project took energy from the 60th Birthday celebrations of Arthog Outdoor Education Centre and, hopefully, is just beginning. Telford and Wrekin Council prides itself on Arthog, an outdoor activity centre based in the picturesque Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park overlooking the sea. Arthog offers young people and adults opportunities in team building, gorge walking, canoeing, mountain walking, rock climbing and much more.

Following on from a recent training course around equality in education, Jo Barnett (IOL CEO) and I agreed that we would like to do something special for Arthog’s 60th anniversary, working towards and leaving a legacy for the next 60 years and beyond. We agreed on an idea: a project entitled ‘Everyone’s Welcome’, which gives a diverse group of young people an opportunity to become Arthog Ambassadors.

The aim would be to use Arthog’s facilities to challenge them and help them to help pave the way for other young people who ordinarily find this type of experience beyond their reach. Everyone’s Welcome – Arthog Ambassadors would have three aims:

AUTHOR Rob Wilson

Rob Wilson currently works as Equality, diversity and inclusion officer for Telford & Wrekin Council. He has worked with young people and families in Telford for almost 20 years, from coaching football, working in the youth criminal justice system, homelessness, education, employment and training, which have given him a better understanding of people.

1. To champion other diverse young people (aged 13 - 25) in accessing, enjoying and benefiting from the outdoor opportunities offered by Telford & Wrekin Council.

2. To champion future employment and/or education opportunities by diverse young people leading to career pathways in the outdoors.

3. To promote diverse young people taking part in the outdoor activities that they are currently underrepresented in.

We worked closely with several of our local secondary schools who were able to put forward a number of their students. Word quickly spread and several other students showed a desire to join the project – the delight on their faces as we discussed the project with them told me all I needed to know!

Ella (Participant and Arthog Ambassador)

Hey! My name is Ellalouise, but you can call me Ella. I’m here to tell you about the Everyone is Welcome project, which is a project seeking to

enhance the representation of Black and Asian young people in the outdoor community - a mouthful, isn’t it?

It all started when my youth worker told me about the Everyone is Welcome project. I had a meeting explaining what the project was about and I was asked whether I wanted to become an Ambassador. I needed to fill in the letter and explain why I want to take on the role and of course I filled it out! Now, I’m glad to say I’m officially an Arthog Ambassador.

A few weeks after that meeting it was coming closer to the day that we left for Arthog and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I felt sick just thinking about it, but it didn’t mean I was not happy for the opportunity because I absolutely was!

I’ve always wanted to be a part of something like this, almost to prove myself to everyone else. As someone who has both white and black heritage, I never felt black, despite the fact that I identify more with my black heritage. Winter makes me paler, which I knew for a few years but still refused to go outside because I didn’t really appreciate my skin. This caused my skin to go paler. I wish this never happened, because it has caused me to be insecure and rethink who I really am, but we come in all different shades, and it doesn’t make me any less black. I learned that being at Arthog.

The day I was due to leave for Arthog came around quick! My friend Tiana and I convinced ourselves not to go – we were way too nervous. But I kept thinking to myself, this is what I’ve always wanted and I’m just giving it away just like that because I’m scared? I knew I needed to go, and I managed to convince my friend to go as well. My friendship with Tiana came out of this project – I was introduced to her at the original meeting, and we got along straight away and I’m so glad I met her. My stepdad took us, and we arrived around 10pm. I nearly got thrown onto the floor as my two friends hugged me, but I appreciated it because it made me feel a lot better.

Before I tell you what happened when we woke up, I want to tell you more about my anxiety and how it affects me, so you can understand what it’s like to be in my body. I’ve been dealing with anxiety for years. There are not enough bad words to describe what it’s like, it’s something that keeps me up at night, it makes my body shake violently because I feel like I’m in danger. It makes me stay in the house and never want to go out. It has control of me. To describe anxiety, it’s like the man behind the curtain when you watch a puppet show, it holds its claws tightly around your strings as it pulls you to your bed where you wish you won’t get up the next day. It’s something that watches you at night, waiting for its next moment to pounce.

With this in mind, I’ll return to my story as an Arthog Ambassador. The next day we woke up and were told that we were going gorge walking. I had heard of it because of my parents so I was pretty nervous, but excited. We got geared up and entered the minibus, by now I was feeling overwhelmed and my anxiety was all over the place. I knew I was going to throw up, but I was trying hard to stop it from happening, but my attempts were unsuccessful and, after getting cleaned up, I had completely lost hope of me being able to do the walk. As we made it to the site, we went and looked at the rock pools and saw a baby crab that I was lucky enough to hold. We ended up doing the gorge walk and I was really proud of myself - I was climbing those rocks like Spider-Man climbed up buildings! When we arrived back at Arthog I started to feel like I was at home.

After resting a bit, we were told we were going canoeing, now I had no

idea how this was going to go, but I felt like a car that needed fuel; I drank as much water as I could. I was still feeling sick and I decided I wasn’t going to go, but after thinking on it for a while I decided that I needed to do this - not just for me, but for everyone else too. After partnering up we got into our canoes - I was with Jo and Tiana and two of the boys. We put all our strength into beating Rob in a race and of course we won! I didn’t do all of those workouts for nothing!

I took some beautiful photos and did some sand art because it’s one of my favourite things to do and I set myself a challenge to pull a canoe myself as we were putting the canoes back. I grabbed onto the string and wrapped it around my wrist and pulled as hard as I could, I felt like Dwayne The Rock Johnson. I pulled until my hands were red and sweat was rolling down my face like in those movies! I completed my challenge and was completely out of breath, but I did it. We arrived back cold but proud and cleaned ourselves up. We did some talking and then Jo decided for us to have a meeting on how we could move the project further forward. I’ve never been prouder of a group of people in my life, they were all so well spoken and smart and I loved hearing what they had to say and I’m so glad I was with people who I can relate to and identify with. After finishing up our meeting, Jo took us on some night activities. Me and my friend Tiana were wondering whether or not we were about to be kidnapped as we had blindfolds! But it all made sense once Jo explained… first, we had to all get onto this wooden plank and we had to order ourselves from tallest to shortest without falling off. All of us were thinking one thing and one thing only, “there’s no way we’re going to do this”. We all thought for a few seconds before coming up with a plan - soon we were all working together getting everyone in the right place. I have never held hands with so many people in my lifetime and in the same moment I realised I was the second shortest person.

After finishing up we all went back and I made a delicious hot chocolate while talking to some of the girls; of course, we were talking about hot chocolate! Me and Tiana went outside and talked for a while before playing what I call “night football” - the best way of playing! We played for around 30 minutes and decided to go into our rooms where we talked about funny stories that had happened to us…we talked for ages, thank God we were the only ones in the room!

ROB

The students are already asking about next year’s events and having more time to spend at Arthog. I would like to say a huge thank you to our secondary schools Madeley academy, Charlton and Telford Prior for their hard work in choosing a diverse and dynamic group for us. Thanks to the Arthog staff for their knowledge and expertise, our volunteers and to the students for kick-starting what now feels like a summer of fun (we all definitely deserve it). Watch this space for more information and contact me robert.wilson@telford.gov.uk if you would like your child or their school to get involved in the Everyone’s Welcome Arthog Ambassadors project 2023.

ELLA

I can’t put into words how much this project means to me and what it’s done for me. I learned a lot about the people I was with, and it has made me appreciate people so much more. I will forever be grateful for this experience. Thank you for reading my experience and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it p

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THE NATURE FIX LEARNING TRANSFER

AUTHOR Dr Jenni Myers

Jenni Myers, founder of The Nature Mind, has a PhD in Psychology gained through researching Wilderness Therapy, an MA in Interdisciplinary Psychology, and a BSc (hons) in Psychology. She also has an NLP Master Practitioner Certificate, a Certificate in Counselling and has a fascination with people’s relationship with nature.

A widely accepted definition of wilderness therapy is that it ‘involves the use of traditional therapy techniques, especially those for group therapy, in out-of-doors settings, utilizing outdoor adventure pursuits and other activities to enhance growth’ (1, p. 13). Research suggests wilderness therapy can promote personal and social development, increase selfesteem, decrease aggression and anxiety, and promote discipline and cooperation (1). Davis-Berman and Berman’s (1) Systems Theory suggest that wilderness therapy works through providing an alternative system to the dysfunctional system individuals may experience in their home lives. However, this presents a problem for participants of residential wilderness therapy as following the conclusion of the programme they will return to the family system where their old, prior behaviours may be reproduced and supported.

To gain a better understanding of how the positive effects of residential wilderness therapy can be maintained once a participant has returned to their home environment, Davis-Berman and Berman (2) conducted a study which revisited participants of a wilderness trip two decades after their initial experience. Four participants were interviewed with specific focus on why they took part in the trip, their reflections on the trip and things that had happened in their life following the trip. Most of the participants agreed that the trip came at the right time in their lives, specifically because it was at the point in which they were ready for change. Additionally, even though the participants believed the trip to be an important event in their life, they did not believe it was life changing. However, they did explain that they had learnt lessons which helped them cope with events in their life. Davis-Berman and Berman concluded that the trip did not protect the participants from the challenges in life, but helped them deal with them better.

Davis-Berman and Berman’s finding that participants did not feel the programme to be life changing highlights a common problem within wilderness therapy. This problem stems from the inability of participants to integrate what they have experienced during their residential programme back into their everyday lives, thus not sustaining their physically and mentally healthier state. Importantly, this is not the only research to highlight this problem. In a study looking at the restorative effects of nature for people living in Sweden, suffering from stress-related

THIS SECOND ARTICLE OF THE NATURE FIX SERIES EXPLORES WHAT THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF WILDERNESS THERAPY ARE AND HOW THEY CAN BE ENHANCED

illnesses, Nordh et al. (3) found that even though participants enjoyed the experience, they were disappointed that there was nothing in place for them following the programme. Despite displaying initial improvements in stress and wellbeing, their quality of life decreased following the programme, with increased anxiety and depressed mood. Nordh et al. attributed this to confusion about the future and political change within Sweden, suggesting that the programme had not given the participants the skills needed to integrate the positive experience back into their everyday life.

In response to this issue, we might focus on an example of one aspect of the wilderness environment which is argued to promote a positive change in participants of wilderness therapy. This is the restorative effects of nature. Kaplan and Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory (4) argues that the wilderness environment is a restorative environment which is important in aiding recovery from mental fatigue. The mechanism at the heart of this is the wilderness environment which promotes a switch from a direct form of attention to an involuntary form of attention due to its ability to invoke fascination. When we switch to an involuntary mode of attention our capacity for direct attention can be restored and mental fatigue is recovered from. If the restoration of mental fatigue can be maintained upon return to one’s home environment, there may be fewer cases of regression in symptoms.

It is argued (5) that meditation has similar effects on an individual to those seen in individuals spending time in natural restorative environments. To explore this further, as part of my PhD research, I designed, delivered and evaluated a wilderness therapy programme built on the model of using meditation to enhance the participants relationship between themselves and nature. By experiencing the meditative practices, the participants were gaining tools which they could take away from the programme and back to their everyday lives, thus enhancing the integration between the two. For the participants, these tools helped them deal with difficult feelings and emotions and acted as a method of grounding themselves and feeling calmer, or as practices to help them keep a balance within themselves. Participants who were interviewed following their participation in the programme all talked of how these tools would continue to influence their lives, thus suggesting that they had used them to integrate the experience. Therefore, despite returning to the environment which supports their unhealthy behaviours, they now had a means of reconnecting to their experience of the residential wilderness therapy programme and had the ability to draw upon the practices which nurtured their identification with nature and the positive effects this had for them.

A full understanding of the impact that meditation methods had on the participants’ lives was not achieved until the six month follow up interviews. During these interviews it became evident that despite initially having a positive impact upon the participants’ lives, it was not something which they were able to maintain. The main reason for this appeared to be not having the time for, or prioritising self-care, thus not having time to engage in the meditation practices which they had learnt and returning to the situation they were in prior to their participation in the programme. This does not mean that the programme was not valuable to the participants, as they identified it as being significant to their development. However, because they were not able to make the time to continue to reflect upon their experience and how it relates to their lives, the potency of the experience loses its significance. This suggests that it may not be the perceived disconnection from the natural environment which is responsible for participants’ inability to maintain the positive improvements gained through a wilderness programme. Instead, it may be their removal from an environment which gives them

the time and space to reflect upon themselves. Should the participants have been able to find the time to continue to utilise the meditation practices, they may have been able to maintain the positive improvements which they experienced.

These findings corroborate a trend in wilderness therapy research that although participants can be given the skills to improve their outlook, upon return to their home environment they eventually return to their old behaviours. Nordh et al. [3] suggest the reason for this is participants not being given the skills to integrate their experience back into their everyday life. However, findings from this study would suggest that the reason the participants were unable to maintain the change is because they could not find the time and motivation to engage in the practices which they have been given to help them integrate the experience. This can also be explained by Davis-Berman and Berman’s [1] theory which suggests that participants of a wilderness programme struggle to maintain improvements because they return to an environment where destructive behaviours – such as not making time to look after oneself – are supported. Therefore, as well as participants being given tools to help them integrate their experience, further aftercare is required to help them engage with these tools. This proposal is supported by the research carried out by Bettmann [6] which found that positive effect was maintained by participants of a wilderness therapy programme when they were given aftercare. These findings also highlight the importance of a suggestion made by Berman [7] that research needs to be directed to finding a way to motivate people to engage in an activity which may be beneficial to them, such as taking a walk. This is particularly important when looking at the treatment of illnesses such as depression which may make it particularly difficult for a person to motivate themselves.

In the next issue, I’ll be looking at the key ingredients of wilderness therapy and how they can be used to develop positive and affective experiences in the outdoors p

NATURE ON YOUR MIND?

Click here to check out Jenni’s purpose built resource, The Nature Mind, and get in touch with her for more information.

REFERENCES

1. J. Davis-Berman and D. Berman, Wilderness Therapy: Foundations, Theory & Research, Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Companu, 1994.

2. J. Davis-Berman and D. Berman, “Reflections on a trip: Two Decades Later,” Journal of Experiential Education, vol. 3, 2012.

3. H. Nordh, P. Grahn and P. Wahrborg, “Meaningful activities in the forest, a way back from exhaustion and long-term sick leave,” Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, vol. 8, pp. 207-219, 2009.

4. R. Kaplan and S. Kaplan, The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

5. S. Kaplan, “Meditation, restoration, and the management of mental fatigue,” Environment and Behaviour, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 480-506, 2001.

6. J. Bettmann, K. Russell and K. Parry, “How Substance Abuse Recovery Skills, Readiness to Change and Sympton Reduction Impact Change Processes in Wilderness Therapy Participants,” Journal of Child & Family Studies, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 1039-1050, 2013.

7. M. Berman, E. Kross, A. Krpan, M. Askren, A. Burson, P. Deldin, S. Kaplan, L. Sherdell, I. Gotlib and J. Jonides, “Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression,” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 140, no. 3, pp. 300-305, 2012.

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VENTURE TRUST OUTDOOR THERAPY SERVICE

WHAT, WHO AND HOW?

AUTHOR Katarina Horrox

Katarina is the Clinical Manager of the Venture Trust Outdoor Therapy Service. She is an art psychotherapist and psychodynamic organisational therapist registered with the British Association of Art Therapists and British Psychoanalytic Council. Her professional experience is in community, institutional and outdoor settings, in the last decade focusing on work as an Outdoor Therapist and Senior Field Therapist on wilderness programmes in the Scottish Highlands. She is a representative of The International and European Adventure Therapy Committees.

The Venture Trust Outdoor Therapy Service is a free service offering therapy in outdoor settings in Scotland. Accredited counsellors and therapists work one-to-one with clients for up to twenty sessions in green spaces within the client’s local community. Green spaces can be parks, wetlands or woodlands. The work tends to take place in naturebased settings, but sometimes it happens in urban environments, such as housing estates or docklands. This depends on the needs of the client and where the person feels able to meet. We have found that adapting to the needs of our clients by working in their local communities can increase access to therapy.

The service is open to young people and ex-service personnel of any age. The motivations for therapy are varied, though clients will often have experienced trauma and adverse life circumstances. They may also have received diagnoses such as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. Before starting work with any client, we will take time to carefully consider and assess whether we are the right service for them. We work with clients on whatever issues are present in their lives and hopefully accompany them in finding ways to move forward.

The service operates across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife, Glasgow, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk. In these Local Authority areas, there has been a focus on working in locations defined as “deprived” on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. These settings tend to have fewer resources and lower incomes.

The therapeutic model has been developed by a clinical team with extensive outdoor practice, building upon Venture Trust’s experience of working with vulnerable client groups in outdoor settings. The organisation has facilitated personal development work in outdoor, wilderness and community environments since 1982. Through its work, it has understood that offering an “alternative” means to experiential learning and, more recently, to therapy, has the potential to engage a broader group of people.

The staff team is made up of six counsellors and therapists of various modalities. For example, there is a psychodynamic counsellor, an art therapist, a transpersonal counsellor etc. Each therapist is professionally trained, accredited and practising within clearly defined ethical guidelines. As part of the work, therapists receive individual and group supervision with an experienced practitioner. The supervisor will invite therapists to reflect on themselves, their client work, the staff team and the wider organisation, as well as the socio-political and environmental context. All therapists have studied an ecotherapy-related field, such as ecopsychology, deep ecology or conservation. They also hold relevant outdoor qualifications for the environments in which they practise and they hold valid Outdoor First Aid Certificates.

The service is built on the rationale that, when therapy is practised outdoors, it must take place safely and ethically. This includes respecting the natural environments that we enter into. We believe that we work both in and together with the natural world. In the spirit of ethical practice, we value the Institute for Outdoor Learning’s Statement on Outdoor Mental Health Interventions and Outdoor Therapy (7). This comprehensive document has set out how we might understand the level and type of therapeutic offer we are making. Our service sits in both zones two and three – “therapeutic enhancement” and “integrated outdoor therapy”.

Why develop an Outdoor Therapy Service: greater access and ecological sensibility

The service was developed because there is compelling evidence that outdoor therapy has the potential to offer additional elements, when compared to traditional clinical practices, and can widen access to psychological therapies (1, 2, 3, 5, 6). These concepts have been consolidated through client feedback, data monitoring and professional experience.

Outdoor therapy may have the potential to increase access to therapy because it takes place in a non-clinical setting. The location is chosen by the client which can provide a sense of familiarity and autonomy. The therapist-client power-dynamic is altered because the therapist is stepping into the client’s environment, rather than vice-versa. The meeting takes place in a public space, which may be particularly important to clients who have experienced institutional power dynamics, such as being taken into care. These encounters with institutions may have caused an understandable resistance to engaging with statutory services. Meeting outdoors invites the client to take more control over the therapeutic process.

The environment is a live natural space which brings with it animate experiences and the embodied process of moving through a landscape together (4). It offers visible, tangible metaphors and an interaction with the natural world. This can inform and shape the therapy, helping clients to develop their connection to nature and an ecological sense of self. This may encourage the development of a healthy and engaged response to the climate crisis, rather than one overwhelmed by anxiety or disavowal (8).

Impact: improved wellbeing and nature connection

The impact of the service is monitored through clinical measures and through client and referrer feedback. The measures used are the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE) and The Nature Connection Index (NCI). Initial results have been promising. The CORE, which measures wellbeing, has indicated that in 2021-2022 59% of clients showed a significant improvement, 23% a small improvement and 18% stayed the same, in a sample of 54 clients. The NCI showed a 64% increase in nature connection in a sample of 31 clients.

Anonymous feedback collected from clients after the end of the therapy has also been insightful. Elements identified as valuable in outdoor therapy are the sense of space, feeling at ease in nature, movement in sessions and being able to manage

eye-contact. For clients who have experienced trauma, being able to navigate eye contact and being in a naturally regulating environment like a green space, may aid engagement with a therapeutic process. On average, clients have rated the importance of therapy being outdoors as 4.8 out of 5.

The future: broader reach, outdoor therapy training and professionalisation

The intention is for the service to expand its reach across Scotland in the next 3-5 years. Given the varied potential benefits of this practice, we hope that outdoor therapy will be adopted at a statutory level. We believe that more research needs to take place to evaluate its impact and what is efficacious about it. We welcome research collaborations with these objectives.

Venture Trust has also developed a series of Outdoor Therapy Trainings. These are rooted in the long-term experience of our service and are designed for both outdoor practitioners and therapists. The aim is to introduce participants to a safe, ethical and creative outdoor therapy practice. These 1-day, 2-day and 4-day trainings cover a variety of topics, including containment, boundaries and risk. There is a focus on attending to both psychological and physical safety. The trainings introduce attendees to working together with the natural environment through experiential and reflective activities. Courses continue in 2023 and we

REFERENCES

1. Cooley, S. J., Jones, C. R., Kurtz, A., and Robertson, N. (2020). ‘Into the wild: A meta-synthesis of talking therapy in natural outdoor spaces.’ Clinical Psychology Review, 77, Article 101841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j .cpr.2020.101841

2. Ewert, A. W., Mitten, D. S., and Overholt, J. R. (2014). Natural environments and human health. Cabi. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845939199.0000

3. Harper, N. J., & Dobud, W. (eds) (2021). Outdoor therapies: An introduction to practices, possibilities, and critical perspectives. New York: Routledge.

4. Jordan, M. (2015) Nature and therapy: Understanding counselling and psychotherapy in outdoor spaces. New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

5. Mygind, L., Kjeldsted, E., Hartmeyer, R. D., Mygind, E., Bølling, M., AND Bentsen, P. (2019). ‘Immersive nature-experiences as health promotion interventions for healthy, vulnerable, and sick populations? A systematic review and appraisal of controlled studies’. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 943. https://doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00943

6. Naor, L. and Mayseless, O. (2021a) ‘Therapeutic factors in nature-based therapies: Unraveling the therapeutic benefits of integrating nature in psychotherapy’, Psychotherapy, 58(4), pp. 576–590. doi:10.1037/pst0000396.

7. Richards, K., Hardie, A and Anderson, N. (2020) “Institute for Outdoor Learning Statement of Good Practice Outdoor Mental Health Interventions & Outdoor Therapy” Institute for Outdoor Learning

8.Weintrobe, S (2022) ‘The new bold imagination needed to repair the ecological self’. In Hollway, W., Hoggett, P., Robertson, C., Weintrobe, S. (eds) Climate psychology: A matter of life and death. Phoenix Publishing House, pp. 98–144.

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LOVE HER WILD OUTDOOR ACADEMY

ENCOURAGING WOMEN TO BE OUTDOOR BEGINNERS AND LEADERS

100 miles is a long way to drive when your head is buzzing with ideas! Before I’d even unpacked, I furiously typed up my ideas on my laptop before they escaped my brain! This was the beginning of Love Her Wild’s (LHW) Outdoor Academy.

I’d just returned from the first ever Love Her Wild leaders’ weekend –two days of sharing reflections, ideas, training and fun with the other amazing women who look after the local groups of this inclusive women’s outdoors community. One of the common challenges the leaders had identified was supporting women to have the confidence and skills to regularly take part in outdoor adventures, of any shape or size. We all shared stories of members confiding that they “lurk” on social media, watching others have adventures, whilst feeling they themselves are not fit/fast/brave/skilled enough.

There is still an enduring perception of the outdoors as an extreme, competitive place which requires fitness, expensive travel, kit or expertise. Women in particular find this challenging and the 2021 LHW survey showed that, sadly, they are not always made to feel welcome. Yet we know the huge benefits access to the outdoors offers in terms of wellbeing, social and emotional learning, and environmental awareness to name just a few.

We’ve tried various ways to support and encourage new members to take their first steps in the community, from new members events, online Q&A sessions, social media welcome posts and beginner navigation sessions. But leaving the leader weekend with new ideas, enthusiasm and energy convinced me that there was another method we could try. Why couldn’t we offer a similar weekend of outdoor learning tailored to give our outdoor beginners the skills and confidence to make the outdoors (and our LHW community) part of their lives?! Several months of grant applications and planning later, Outdoor Academy is ready to launch in April 2023!

What will Outdoor Academy look like?

Outdoor Academy is designed to be a beginners guide to the everyday outdoors! 15 team members will be selected through an application process to join the fully-funded weekend. It will be packed with outdoor learning workshops, activities and discussions to build outdoor confidence and skills from scratch. It’s important we hear what the team

AUTHOR Siân Brewer

Siân has worked on National Park Youth Voice projects, teaching with outdoor educational charities, training Ten Tors teams and running Discover Your Outdoors as a sole trader. She became involved with Love Her Wild whilst working towards becoming an Accredited Practitioner of the IOL.

members feel they need from the workshops to achieve this - so we’ve asked them in the application form. Ideas so far include the often-overlooked basics of what to wear, where to go and what to do when you’re there. Our previous experience in the community has also suggested workshops on overcoming confidence barriers, navigation, leave no trace and camping skills.

We are determined that the event will have a lasting impact and a wider reach than just the 15 attendees. All workshops will be designed to have ‘to do’ actions so team members can get outdoors locally. We hope they will be inspired and empowered to explore their local areas, take their families and friends outdoors more, join local LHW events, book outdoor skills courses and plan outdoor adventures. Day two of Outdoor Academy will be dedicated to creating opportunities for inspiring the 26k strong LHW community. Again, we would like team members to shape what this looks like, and ideas so far include arranging local meet ups, creating videos, how to guides and diaries.

Over the coming issues I will be reporting back on the progress of Outdoor Academy, the challenges that unfold, its impacts, learning and how Outdoor Academy has helped the professional development of the leadership team. Stay tuned! p

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MY JOURNEY INTO THE INDUSTRY

JAKE HARMER, APPRENTICE WITH SKERN TRAINING & SKILLS, TELLS US ABOUT HIS JOURNEY INTO THE INDUSTRY

AUTHOR

Jake Harmer

Jake is 22 years old, from the south east of England and works as an outdoor activity instructor for Kingswood at their Grosvenor Hall site in Kent. He has been with the company for just under a year and aspires to pursue a career in delivering outdoor activities and promote education in the outdoors.

Forward by Steve Randles, Head of Education and Quality –Skern Training & Skills

An apprenticeship allows people to combine theoretical training with hands on experience. The level 3 outdoor activity instructor standard is the perfect entry level into the outdoor sector, allowing people to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to become an outdoor instructor and progress their personal career within the sector. Skern Lodge has been an independent training provider in North Devon since 1976, offering excellence in its courses and services. In 2019, Skern Training & Skills became a main provider and now offers a number of standards across different sectors including – Outdoors, Leadership and Management, and Agriculture and Hospitality. It has been a privilege to develop the curriculum for the Outdoor Activity Instructor standard and, through Skern Training & Skills, support over 70 apprentices through their end point assessments in 2022. It’s great to see how apprenticeships can support individuals such as Jake progress and develop in the outdoor sector.

Jake’s Journey

Working with children and young adults has always been the direction I wanted my career to take. However, the outdoor industry had never crossed my mind as a career path. After numerous hours of work experience at local primary schools, I decided a degree in education would be my best course of action to achieve this goal, but due to the state of the world during the pandemic, my dreams of a degree had to be put on hold. Looking back at this, I believe this to have worked out in my favour as I would never have come across the advertisement for an outdoor activity instructor apprenticeship at Kingswood. Several of my friends had pursued the apprenticeship route across different trades and professions and the response I got from them was mixed; some said it was

better than a degree and others swore they would never do one again, but I had to try for myself to find out.

Following a successful interview process, I was offered a place to start in January 2022 with a full month of induction and training at the West Runton site in Norfolk along with almost 30 other apprentices. I can say with confidence, I made some amazing friends and had one of the best months of my life. We started with a week of fun activities and time to get to know each other with some role model members from Kingswood and Skernat at the helm, guiding us through the backbone of what would eventually become our everyday job. The rest of the month was focused on getting a better understanding of what the job actually entails and gaining some necessary qualifications such as first aid, safeguarding and all the in-house activity training my brain could hold. This month left me feeling confident about stepping into my role as an instructor as well as teaching me plenty of transferrable skills that don’t just benefit my job, but my personal development too.

Sadly, that month came to an end faster than I hoped and I had to say goodbye to the majority of the people I had been living with and spending almost every waking hour with for the last month while we all split to travel to our different sites and progress with our apprenticeship. I was not sad for long, however, as upon arriving at Grosvenor Hall I was greeted by an extremely friendly team who, over the last 10 months, have become more like a family than colleagues. Straight away I knew that no matter what challenges I was to face over the months to come, I would have an amazing support system to aid me through the busiest part of the year and beyond - and I’m glad I did, as peak season proved to be a real challenge!

Throughout my time as an apprentice, I have been given many opportunities for training that can aid my career development as well as give me a better footing if I choose to develop my career somewhere else. So far, I have been able to complete a GB qualification in fencing as well as my full ERCA ground belay and accessing ticket. The next step for me will be completing the Paddlesports instructor course in the next month and then onto my end point assessment for the apprenticeship. To anyone who may have an interest in pursuing a career that isn’t your everyday office job, the outdoors is full of so much opportunity that’s just begging to be taken. I haven’t looked back since entering this industry and would highly recommend it to anyone. I have had the most amazing 10 months; met lifelong friends, overcame fears and really started to make an impact on young people. Give it a go, you might be missing out on the best job you’ve ever had p

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SKERN?

More information over at skerntrainingandskills.com

A PICTURE OF OUTDOOR LEARNING PARTICIPATION

AUTHOR Dave Harvey

Dave Harvey recently completed a PhD through the University of Cumbria, looking at the development of progression and ecosystem models to enhance engagement in outdoor learning. He now runs his own company, Dave Harvey Outdoor Learning, offering research, consultancy and training to the outdoor sector.

This is the third article in this series of three highlighting key findings from my IOL sponsored PhD that explored the issue of increasing participation in outdoor learning (OL). Previous articles have looked at progression in OL and the issues surrounding assessing current participation levels.

The Covid pandemic has clearly demonstrated that the benefits of spending time in the outdoors are being increasingly recognised at multiple levels of society. One route to engagement is through the opportunities provided by the outdoor learning sector, yet a growing body of research shows inequitable participation across different populations.

People access the outdoors for a variety of reasons at different times of their lives. Children are necessarily dependent on adults and the roles of parents and teachers are critical in facilitating access. As young people grow and gain more independence, they still rely on these key enablers but their own capacity to choose becomes more significant. As adults, different goals and circumstances alter the picture again and generates an interplay of factors that influence access. Being able to access the benefits associated with the outdoors, either independently in a recreational sense or through facilitated provision in an OL sense, is dependent on a variety of factors. Access Theory (AT) provides a helpful framework to analyse these processes, relations and means, or mechanisms, categorising them broadly as economic, social and institutional, knowledge based, and rights based (1).

Economic factors relate to money. Lack of money affects people’s ability to pay for services and resources whether you are a participant, parent, teacher or youth leader. The sustainability of many OL projects often depends on their financial viability, so the issue of how things are funded cuts across all aspects of provision.

Social and institutional mechanisms include the issues of social identity, the ability to develop and use networks, and access to individuals or organisations who are in a position of authority that means they can facilitate access for others. These are cultural and societal mechanisms that underpin many other factors and form the social and structural fabric of people’s lives. The IOL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion webinar series has begun to raise awareness of some of these issues.

Knowledge based mechanisms go beyond the basic knowledge of knowing what to do, where to go and how to do it, to also engages with the underlying reasons supporting why access is valuable in the first place. Who controls the flow of knowledge and the messages that are sent out? How this knowledge is held and shared influences how people view aspects of OL /OR and their belief in their capability to access it.

Rights based mechanisms are those that are related to law, custom or convention, i.e. what the government, society or communities sanction ether legally or culturally. The law relating to access to land or water, for example, influences people’s opportunities to engage with the natural environment, while the policy level support for OL in a country’s school curriculum affects levels of engagement in individual schools.

AT suggests that access can be split into three distinct aspects that involve a complex interaction between participants, parents, teachers and youth leaders, providers and a wider group of people (‘gatekeepers’) not directly connected to the sector but who nevertheless have a strong impact on provision. The first aspect involves controlling access and concerns the ability to mediate or control other people’s access. Maintaining access is about keeping access open. Gaining access relates to the factors that help or hinder an individual or organisation in being able to access the opportunities and benefits that may exist and can be seen to operate at different levels of participant and provider.

Maintaining and controlling access are closely related and depend on relations between people who have control over resources management or use, some of whom may not be directly related to the OL sector. To maintain access, for example, people may have to pay other people who control it. It is a complex pathway, as a participant may pay a provider to enable them to access activities and experiences, and the provider in turn may pay a landowner for access, either directly through access fees, or indirectly through car parking charges.

Access is often a combination of various factors, the blend of which will be unique for each person, underpinned by an equally unique local context, and the economic and cultural drivers will vary in different localities. In a previous article (see Horizons 98) (2) I suggested the progressive development of people’s capability to choose as a ‘golden thread’ that could link a wide variety of OL experiences across the course of their lives. Given the wide range of access mechanisms that interact to influence engagement and participation, providers and practitioners may be forgiven for feeling that they have limited resources with which to tackle such challenges. How do you tackle social deprivation or cultural views that position access to the outdoors as something for other people?

Clearly, no single provider can offer everything that an individual needs or wants. It makes sense therefore for participants to be able to access a

‘map’ of opportunities that meet their needs. The use of the term ‘access’ is critical here, as it acknowledges the multiple mechanisms at work and it is not as simple as merely pointing people to the different activities. Collectively, the various participants, communities, providers, organisations and venues are part of an overall picture of provision that is situated in a wider framework of local culture, government and council policy, national agendas, local business and cultural institutions including health, education, religion and identity. All of these interact on social, economic and cultural levels, but from an OL provision perspective they do so with little sense of cohesion.  One way to address this is to bring all of these organisations, institutions and stakeholders together into a social innovation ‘ecosystem’ (SIES) model (Figure 1).

Use of the concept of an ‘ecosystem’ to describe something that is far from natural is becoming increasingly popular and, while not without its critics (3), has a number of advantages. The particular OL ecosystem I suggest here has social innovation (rather than, for example, business, education or knowledge) at its heart and brings together a number of core principles. An OL system:

• is designed with a clear purpose in mind

• is based on an understanding of the local context

• is locally embedded and has enough scope to achieve ‘critical mass’, i.e. enough potential engagement to make it work

• makes use of existing resources and works to secure additional resources to enhance provision rather than becoming a competitive provider

• treats all partners equally

• has members who are interdependent and need each other to achieve their goals

• has a focal organisation or leader to faciliate the relationships and set standards

• has resources and a base

• has access to external funding

It is vital also that ecosystems are thought of in their local context.  They need to be part of the community rather than ‘parachuted in’ - a case of infill rather than outreach.  The people who know the community best are the community themselves, and sustainability is more likely if the local community is involved in the plan from the start.

Unlike an ecosystem in nature, an intentionally designed societal one needs to have some form of coordination if it is to achieve more than what could happen simply by letting events take their natural course. A hub organisation or person is necessary, at least in the initial stages, to facilitate the interactions between the various members and develop the ecosystem itself, bringing different organisations and individuals together, seeking additional funding and working with communities and institutions to develop opportunities.

The model is a local perspective one that concentrates on developing experiences in the community and local area, yet it allows for more distant residentials and trips as part of the overall provision. As well as being of value in their own right, these experiences can be used to develop understanding of what can be achieved in the local area or can build from the local area outwards.

The provision of opportunities is critical of course, but it is also necessary to address the underlying issues that affect people’s ability to access them. The idea of ecotones, borrowed from biological ecosystems is helpful here. Ecotones are the ‘fluid transition spaces’ (4) that comprise the boundaries between different elements of an ecosystem. In an SIES they are the transition spaces between different stakeholders. Beyond signposting, attention needs to be paid to where these ecotones are situated and how the transitions can be facilitated, which may require training and support. How, for example, do young people make the transition to attending a canoe club after a single school residential experience? How do families access the skills and knowledge to go for a walk in the countryside when it is regarded as only a place and space for others?

Figure 1. Outdoor Learning Ecosystem Model (Harvey, 2022)

Providing someone who can accompany that first visit or putting on events in the local area that assist with the development of skills and knowledge, for example, are crucial first steps that can, ultimately, encourage autonomy (5, 6). Successful management and monitoring of the boundaries between ecosystem elements can help to facilitate progressive learning pathways that have been shown to be directly related to long-term interest and identity development (3). The ecosystem makes the links between the different opportunities and the participants, and by concentrating on the transition zones helps to challenge the barriers that exist due to lack of confidence, knowledge, social identity, local culture or transport.

The development of a wider range of opportunities and participants’ capibility to access them encourages the growth of both OL and OR. Schools, youth groups and other non-formal organisations can provide opportunities that then link to further learning or recreational opportunities linking to local council objectives, OL sector objectives and national agendas. The experiences provided in the non-formal sector can support the longer-term engagement by hooking into the local ecosystem and working with other providers to develop skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that encourage sustainable use of the environment when transferred to a recreational context. Both OL and OR share similar goals relating to physical and mental health, wellbeing and nature connectedness, suggesting a closer relationship between the two sectors than may currently be acknowledged.

The OL sector has a big role to play in promoting the lifestyles that encourage these goals to be met, so it makes sense that they provide people with the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that will enable them to access them for themselves.

Concluding thoughts

The model is not without significant challenges. It requires a commitment from the sector to buy into the idea of progression that promotes OR as well as OL, and signposts participants to other opportunities.  It requires commitment from gatekeepers who may not be directly connected to the outdoors to promote participation, both in an OL context and an OR one, and, perhaps most significantly, it requires conscious design and funding. Examples that reflect ecosystem principles and that have achieved considerable success in boosting participation do exist already, most notably the Outdoor Partnership in Wales and its more recent projects established in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, all of which are different and reflect their local contexts. The Outdoor Partnership was established in 2004 bringing public, private and third sector organisations together to work effectively in the outdoor sector with a common vision. The Outdoor Partnership’s strategic approach envisages a ‘generational change’ where engagement with outdoor activities is the ‘norm’ – an accepted feature of the regular lifestyles of the local population. As a result of its work to date the Outdoor Partnership and its partners has achieved a number of key outcomes including the establishment of over 100 new community clubs and over 13,000 participants (7).

An ecosystem has the potential to bring together the different stakeholders who control, maintain and help people to gain access to OL, facilitating conversations and routes to participation that may otherwise be missed. The model acknowledges the different institutions and structures that affect access and works with them to facilitate it. By focusing on the transition zones it helps people to bridge the gaps between where they currently are and new opportunities, working with the various mechanisms by making links between the different stakeholders to help all of them to meet their goals p

REFERENCES

The key reference is my PhD thesis: Harvey, D. (2022a) Outdoor learning across the community: The development of progression and ecosystem models to enhance engagement. PhD Thesis: University of Cumbria. Available at https:// insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6542/

References in text are:

1. Ribot, J. C. and Peluso, N. L. (2003) ‘A Theory of Access’, Rural Sociology, 68(2), pp. 153–181.

2. Harvey, D. (2022b) Progression and autonomy in outdoor learning. Horizons (98)

3 .Oh, D.-S. et al. (2016) ‘Innovation ecosystems: A critical examination’, Technovation, 54, pp. 1–6.

4. Hecht, M. and Crowley, K. (2020) ‘Unpacking the Learning Ecosystems Framework: Lessons from the Adaptive Management of Biological Ecosystems’, The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 29(2), pp. 264–284.

5. Bandura, A. (2018) ‘Toward a Psychology of Human Agency: Pathways and Reflections’, Perspectives on psychological science, 13(2), pp. 130–136.

6. Hartworth, C., Richards, C. and Convery, I. (2020) ‘Entitlements, Capabilities, and Crisis in the United Kingdom’, Journal of Applied Social Science, 14(1), pp. 40–54.

7. The Outdoor Partnership (2022). Enhancing People’s Lives Through Outdoor Activity: The Outdoor Partnership Strategy 2021-2031. Available at: https://outdoorpartnership.co.uk/our-strategy

IMAGES Figures have been provided by the author, who retains copyright. Images have been sourced from pxhere. com. Photographers retain copyright.

CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOURS HOW READY ARE WE?

AUTHOR

Ella Sutton

Ella is a freelance outdoor instructor and PhD student at the University of Southampton. As part of her PhD, Ella is in the process of developing and testing an ‘Environmental Literacy Course’ for outdoor instructors. The course focuses on ways to integrate environmental learning into adventure activities, to improve knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviours. The course will be trialled at centres around the UK in Spring 2023.

The outdoor sector is increasingly becoming recognised as a vehicle for inspiring environmental awareness and understanding; but is this expectation really being met?

In adventurous education we lead groups into often wild, secluded, and beautiful areas whether it be on land, shore, or sea. We take advantage of the natural playground, bringing joy to those that we’re able to share it with. We provide a safe opportunity for others to experience the thrill of the activity and expose them to a spectacular environment they may not otherwise be able to see. We hope that by the time we say goodbye, with smiles on their faces and memories to cherish, they might reflect on their position within the environment, their responsibilities, and their future actions.

Outdoor adventure is challenging to define: an amalgamation of sport, exploration, challenge, and risk, coupled with the refined goals of outdoor education, priding itself in developing qualities such as resilience, confidence, and teamwork. In every aspect of outdoor adventure, the setting it occurs in is an integral aspect, the natural environment enabling the activity to happen whether that be ski touring across mountains, gorge walking, climbing, surfing etc. We are constantly relying on the preservation of these areas to allow us to keep working and adventuring.

The psychological drive for adventure is often satisfied by thrill, excitement and adrenaline. However, the experience can also bring much more; peace, tranquillity, appreciation, and an understanding one’s sense of place in the world. There is a movement among some outdoor businesses that are aspiring to be greater environmental influencers, sharing a vision to not only aid personal growth, but also to improve environmental understanding, and build an affinity for nature among their clients.

However, while the expectations of outdoor adventure may have changed over time, the delivery mechanisms have stayed broadly the same,

having been passed down through the seasons of instructors, guides, leaders, etc. Some may feel these methods are still applicable; the environmentally related outcomes being a happy by-product of a wellestablished activity, therefore ‘let the mountains speak for themselves’, so the saying goes. I have no doubt these environmental values are deeprooted in outdoor adventure, but I will argue there is potential for a far greater influence. I reflect on a quote from Alison Lugg who says, “it is not merely a matter of exposing people to outdoor experiences and hoping that they become infused with environmental awareness or sensitivity.” (1)

I think this quote sums it up perfectly. Yet, if it’s not a matter of exposing and hoping, then what are we doing in our current practice to meet this expectation? What are we giving back to the places that share so much with us? How can we subtly educate or inform to increase environmental knowledge, or promote attitudes that will lead to the motivation for long-term environmentally responsible behaviours? How can we give people the tools so that their experiences in nature can still be relatable when they arrive back home?

Outdoor professionals are recognised by IOL as being in an ideal position to influence and educate those we come into contact with about climate change, biodiversity threats, impacts and possible solutions (2). So, if as outdoor professionals we are to make the most of our opportunities and fulfil our environmental outcomes, I believe there is a need for environmental training, for businesses and providers alike, to increase our ability to frame and facilitate change. We are not only exposing people to appreciate the wonders of our shared environment, but we are in the process contributing to its degradation; from visitors travelling the miles to adventure with us, to the equipment we use and the repetitive nature of our trampling. We can choose to accept our impact, but should we not take the responsibility to help ourselves and others grow in environmental knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours, so that we can grow as environmentally literate individuals, families, schools, and communities? p

REFERENCES

1. Lugg, A. (2007) ‘Developing sustainability-literate citizens through outdoor learning: possibilities for outdoor education in Higher Education’, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 7(2), pp.97-112, doi: 10.1080/14729670701609456.

2. Institute for Outdoor Learning (2019) IOL Position Statement of Climate Change and Biodiversity [Online]. Available: https://www.outdoor-learning.org/Good-Practice/Good-Practice/Climate-Change [Accessed 6th January 2023].

IMAGES

Images have been sourced from pxhere.com. Photographers retain copyright.

THE BIG 5

AUTHOR

Loel Collins

With over 35 years experience in the Outdoor sector, Loel is a Lecturer in Sports Coaching at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a senior coach developer with Greymatters Performance Ltd UK. His doctorate and research interests lie in judgement and decision-making in complex environments. Email at: Loel.Collins2@gmail.com

So far in this series, we have explored the nature of decision-making for outdoor instructors. In addition, we have explored the challenges that decision-making poses for the instructor and how better decision-making may be developed. By developing better situational awareness and understanding. This final article outlines a structured thinking tool called the 5 (1).

As Mees et al. have shown, outdoor professionals are adaptive experts. This adaptability requires high levels of situational awareness and an understanding of the demands that it creates for the instructor. Both affect the decision maker and the options they select (2); ‘Doing the right thing in the right place at the right time with the right people.’ As a sector, we have often assumed that experience is the way to develop good situational comprehension and thus sound judgement and decision making and ultimately adaptive expertise.

However, “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”(3). It’s clear that learning from experiences counts, not just having the experience. The way we learn from our experiences is to think on them whilst they are ‘fresh in our minds’, considering what worked, what didn’t and how it could be improved. We know this as reflection, yet we tend not to see ourselves as reflective practitioners. Indeed, we appear resistant to the models advocated in many professional development programmes; they seem time-consuming,

DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING

unproductive or just plain obvious (4). This sits in contrast to the value we place on judgement and decision-making skills. We appear to value thinking about the things we value, decision-making being one of those things (5).

Developing a professional thinking tool

Working with the Outward Bound Trust, Collins and Collins sought to develop a guide that enabled instructors to structure their thinking with the specific purpose of improving judgement and decision-making. In addition, we wanted a model that could be used individually by instructors, between instructors working together on a session, and by an instructor's mentor as part of a continuous professional development process. The result was an approach called the BIG 5.

In the BIG 5, a progressive series of five steps is used to frame a structured thinking process (Figure 1). While the steps are linked to a particular question it is the aim of the step that is important, and questions can be modified depending on the end user. Experience with this approach has also demonstrated that instructors may need to be guided through the process gradually, progressing until they can achieve the aims of each step. Initially steps 1 to 3 may only be used, with steps 4 and 5 being introduced as the instructor’s skills using the BIG 5 develop.

A framework for instructor development

Because “everything works somewhere but nothing works everywhere” (6) the instructor chooses the best course of action in any given situation. Safe and effective practice outdoors depends on many interrelated factors- like all teaching, ‘it depends’ (7) on multiple factors - the environment, the group, the session aim and the instructor.

Consequently, practising decision-making, understanding the elements at play that influence those decisions, how they interact and what options are available are all important. As a result, responses at each step of the BIG 5 can provide valuable guidance in the development of an instructor’s decision making.

This final section examines typical answers in the BIG 5 and their meaning as part of an instructor’s development.

What did you do?

Responses to this first step will indicate the level of situational comprehension. Instructors may need to be encouraged to pay greater attention to their environment, the group or the relationship between both. Instructors with good personal activity skill levels may already have good situational awareness but may need an understanding of the group’s demands. Indeed, the instructor may need to understand the difficulty that members of the groups may have with particular tasks- an effect called the Dunning-Kruger (8) effect. Instructors with teaching experiences may need more comprehension of the environment or activity. Other instructors may need time with groups, as an assistant, to understand the nature of work as an instructor, they require some experience to reflect on.

Why did you deal with the situation in that way?

Instructors may respond in one of several ways in this second step. Some may react with a single option, stating that this is how ‘it’s done’ to complete this task. This could be because your organisation insists it’s done only in one way. For example, a single possibility could be correct in manufactured environments with specific safety procedures.

However, the critical part of this step is to understand why the instructor chose as they did and if they chose at all. Those not making a choice are en-route to being routine rather than adaptive experts, the former may be required.

What other possibilities did you consider?

Some instructors may respond with an almost endless list of possibilities. An expansive list could be a great exercise within a problem-based learning strategy. However, these instructors may also need assistance identifying a ‘short list’ of the most realistic possibilities in that given setting. Some instructors may mistakenly think it’s about having a long list - this isn’t the case, it’s about quality NOT quantity. It’s about having the right amount in the list - a goldilocks thing, just the right amount. The order indicates the instructor’s thinking on each option. As a rule of thumb, the later in the list, the less experience, if at all, the instructor has with those possibilities. If these later options are realistic, the instructor could try those options in a suitable, safe, setting. Typically, the instructor will need 3-4, including the one they selected, realistic options they have experience of using.

Why did you discount these other options?

This step is particularly challenging and may require time. By their nature, these discounted options may have received little consideration from the instructor. The possibilities early in the list of options should be easy to deselect; however, later down the list, the inexperience with these options will become apparent. Indeed, this could be a way of creating a realistic shortlist. Like step 2, the critical part of this step is understanding why the instructor chose as they did. There is always more than one way to complete a task in teaching and natural environments. The advice for

this instructor is to develop a range of approaches for a given job. It could be that they are considering too many unrealistic options. The instructors’ response provides an insight into their instructors understanding of the risk and benefits of a particular choice and their ability to discount unlikely or unworkable options based on their situational comprehension.

What would you do if…?

In this final step, the instructor is encouraged to describe how the situation will change in light of their choice and to consider what might happen had they chosen a different option from step 4. Again, multiple factors are considered: How will the group and environment change considering what the instructor has chosen? How will they develop, and how will the environment change? And its impact on group learning. The intention is to ensure the group’s skills and the environment coalesce in being in the ‘right place at the right time...’. Because this task is tricky, instructors may not find it simple to project aspects of the session. They may need to be encouraged to consider the future in their session, so they remain proactive rather than become reactive. Although again, in this step, instructors with limited experience may see unlikely possibilities or revert to describing the theoretical outcome once the next step in their procedure is applied. Thus, the intention at this point is to project the situation based on what they understand about what is happening.

Take Homes

As with any skill, effective decision-making requires practice and mentored development. It is only possible to optimise experiences by exploiting the learning potential of that experience. The BIG 5 offers a progression that effectively develops decision-making skills and offers instructors different experiences. Its application requires practice and adaptation to the user’s specific needs, setting, and intended outcome p

REFERENCES

1. Collins, D. & Collins, L. (2020). Developing coaches’ professional judgement and decision making: Using the ‘BIG 5’, Journal of Sports Sciences, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1809053

2. Mees, A., Sinfield, D., Collins, D., & Collins, L. (2020). Adaptive expertise–a characteristic of expertise in outdoor instructors? Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 17(4), 1–16.

3. Aldous Huxley.

4. Nash, C., Mac Person, A, C. & Collins, D. (2022). Reflections on Reflection: Clarifying and Promoting Use in Experienced Coaches. Frontiers in Psychology; Movement Science and Sport Psychology. doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867720

5. Collins, L., Carson, H.J., Amos, P. & Collins, D. (2017). Examining the Perceived Value of Professional Judgment and Decision Making in Mountain Leaders in the UK: A Mixed-Methods Investigation. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. doi: 10.1080/14729679.2017.1378584

6. Wiliam, D. (2016). Leadership for teacher learning creating a culture where all teachers improve so that all students succeed. United States of America: Learning Sciences International.

7. Dave Collins, Jamie Taylor, Mike Ashford & Loel Collins (2022): It depends coaching – The most fundamental, simple and complex principle or a mere copout?, Sports Coaching Review, DOI: 10.1080/21640629.2022.2154189

8. Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1121

IMAGES AND FIGURES

Images have been sourced from pxhere.com. Photographers retain copyright. Figures have been supplied by the author. Author retains copyright of figures.

HUMAN BEINGS OR HUMAN DOINGS?

TRANSFORMING TEAM COMMUNICATIONS

designed to transform how we communicate as a team through building self-awareness, as well as an awareness of those on our teams. This training wasn’t about my job and how I need to be better at it (as much CPD can feel like), this was about me as a person, helping me to see my strengths and my weaker tendencies. It proved to be a revelation. 5 Voices is based on our differing personalities. We all have a leadership voice (yes, even if we don’t believe it sometimes!) and our voice will shape how other people see, hear and understand us. I also learnt that we have a voice order, so that rather than just being pigeon-holed as one voice, I can speak all 5 voices, although some will feel more natural than others. Each voice is a bit different: some are louder and some are quieter, some voices focus on people first and then the task, others focus on task first then people. Some voices believe they are always right, whereas others assume that they could well be wrong. All the voices have unique gifts, as well as having some weaker tendencies.

So – what does this all mean? Allow me if you don’t mind to use a football analogy: Let’s all agree for arguments’ sake that Lionel Messi is the best football player in the world...but would you put him in goal? No. The best teams are made up of a combination of qualities, skills, characters and perspectives and the same is true in leadership.

How often do we meet new people and, as part of our first enthusiastic exchange ask them, what do they do? It is a key fixture on the age-old list of questions we ask when we meet someone for the first time: Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?

Once we feel like we have some decent answers from these questions, we look for some common ground to build on – “You’re from London? My granny lives there – maybe you’ve met?”, or “You work in the Lakes? Do you know Dave…?”. If we’re meeting in an outdoor context, conversation may quickly turn to activities and there may be some comparing of notes about where you’ve climbed for example, routes that you’ve done. For some people, there may then follow an internal dialogue suggesting that the other person is better, more experienced and has climbed at far cooler places than you (or vice versa!).

All these conversations, however, are about what we do, and often we feel defined by our tasks, our roles, our CV, our achievements – the things we do and the things we have done. Lovely as all these things are, our experiences are only part of what defines us. However, if our initial conversation starters included questions about what kind of person you are, your character, and what values you hold most dear, well…that might just feel a little awkward. In the workplace, wherever and whatever that may be, generally we have to lead or work with others - we simply have to get on with people. But how do we do this? Is it just something that comes naturally to all of us, or could we use a little help navigating through our team dynamics to help everybody bring their best? I have been a teacher working in the outdoors for many years and involved in various leadership positions for most of that time. However, I always had a suspicion that maybe I wasn’t a very good leader. Why? Well, because I was fairly quiet, didn’t like conflict or argument, and would often not speak up in meetings. I also generally looked at other colleagues in similar positions and felt that they were just better than me. On being appointed to a senior leadership position a number of years ago I was hugely excited, but also wracked with self-doubt – was I really the best person for this job? Was I good enough? Will people respect me? And on it went…

Then in my first week, everything changed. As a senior team, 8 or 9 of us took part in some training in a system called the 5 Voices, created by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek from a company called GiANT. 5 Voices is

It is important because everyone deserves to be heard, all opinions should be valued and respected; louder voices tend to dominate and assume that everybody agrees, while the quieter voices are quietly disagreeing, but trying to avoid conflict at all costs. A ‘traditional’ view of what a leader is might include them being driven, direct, loud, determined, uncompromising, doesn’t suffer fools gladly, decisive, win at all costs, courageous, leading from the front, strategic etc. All of these are great qualities, but we don’t necessarily need to be great at them all to be great in leadership.

How does this make a difference? Back in my new leadership position I had huge imposter syndrome, feeling I was well short on the list above. This was the beginning of my self-awareness journey, where the 5 Voices system shone a light on the fact that I had the potential to be a great leader because I care deeply about people and harmony in relationships is really important to me. I’m also very values-driven and integrity is central to who I am and how I work. People always come before systems. Also – and this bit is crucial – I learned the voices of the other people on my teams. As a result, I was able to create a team culture where everybody felt heard, valued and understood.

In teams with this type of culture, views of team members are actively sought and acted upon, with leaders having the humility to accept that they don’t have all the best ideas. Nor are they the best at everything. I currently lead someone called Jenny, who is perhaps the most enthusiastic person I have ever met! She is also brilliantly organised, with a keen eye for detail. When she offers to help with planning, it would be very easy for me to pretend that I have everything sorted and don’t need her help. However, by accepting her offer I am allowing her to bring her organisational superpowers to the team, allowing me to focus elsewhereso we both benefit.

So, who we are and the person we want to be is important, not just what our role is. People and teams that develop an awareness of this will be more successful, happier, more fulfilled and with a clearer sense of vision and purpose. We have much greater clarity in leadership, teamwork and communication if we grow in self-awareness and awareness of our teams, rather than simply focusing on what we ‘do’ p

AUTHOR

Steve Foster

Steve runs Foster Leadership, delivering training and coaching to help unlock the potential of people, leaders and teams. Steve also teaches part-time as Outdoor Education Coordinator at a secondary school in Devon. If you would like to contact Steve to find out more, please email steve@fosterleadership.co.uk.

A DAY IN THE WOODS

CONNECTING PEOPLE TO NATURE THROUGH GREEN PRESCRIBING

AUTHOR

Paul Ritchie, Sorbus Learning CIC

Paul is a biologist with a passion for Outdoor Learning and teaching local communities, voluntary groups and others about ecology, conservation and wildlife gardening through courses, workshops and talks. Paul is Director and project leader of a small not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) https://sorbuslearning.co.uk/

In 2022 Sorbus Learning CIC worked in partnership with Surrey Care Trust, Surrey County Council and Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, to provide a programme of outdoor learning for staff, volunteers and clients at the Gateway Allotment Project in Earlswood, Surrey. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of these outdoor activities at connecting people with nature as part of a green social prescribing programme seeking to improve their physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing. The project achieved its intended outcomes and was an inspiring learning experience for all involved.

Background

During the winter 2020/21 I wrote an article for Horizons magazine entitled “Where the Wild Things Are” (Horizons Issue 92) about our family experience during the first lockdown and shared our views about the benefits of connecting with nature and gardening with wildlife during those challenging times. At the time I was trading as a self-employed outdoor learning practitioner and was broadly optimistic about the future…how much can change in a year?

Like many in the outdoor learning sector my business dropped away as a consequence of restrictions imposed by Government and a reluctance of clients to engage in courses, workshops or outdoor learning activities. After an initial steady increase in turnover for 3 years I ended that first financial year in lockdown recording a loss with HMRC. We needed to rethink our business model if we were going to keep doing what we are passionate about: connecting people with nature. We started by reviewing our strengths and weaknesses and considered what opportunities were open to us to face the threat of financial instability. We realised that our family and circle of friends have access to a network of skilled, experienced and enthusiastic associates who have something to offer communities so we set about framing a new business model that involved us registering as a Community Interest Company (CIC). This would enable us to apply for grant-funding.

Surrey Heartlands

Surrey Heartlands is a partnership of organisations working together – with staff, patients, their carers, families and the public – to support people to live healthier lives in Surrey. It secured funding as one of seven test and learn sites for the Green Social Prescribing Programme (GSPP) in England, which meant funding to enable working with communities to try new things. The GSPP in Surrey Heartlands aims to connect people with the health benefits of nature to improve mental health outcomes and address health inequalities for people and communities.

The test and learn sites were to explore opportunities and bring together communities to be involved in the natural environment. This could include walking, cycling, community gardening and food-growing, as well as practical conservation tasks such as tree planting. For people who needed help to get access to nature this could be through supported visits to local green spaces, or waterways and other outdoor activities to reduce isolation and loneliness.

The Surrey Heartlands GSPP test and learn site focused on communities hardest hit by coronavirus. This included areas around Spelthorne, Woking, Guildford and Reigate & Banstead, as well as people across Surrey who have mental health conditions, are living with dementia or who are caring for someone, who have a learning disability, or are from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds. One of these target areas near Redhill was served by an existing community scheme coordinated by the Surrey Care Trust (SCT) called the Gateway Allotment Project, based on New Pond Farm Allotments in Earlswood, which is owned by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council (RBBC).

Our proposal

Our primary purpose as a community interest company is to connect people with nature and for about three years we had been exploring opportunities to set a ‘Day in the Woods’ project locally so that adults could benefit from the Forest School experience. As a team of experienced outdoor learning practitioners and woodland workers, but perhaps more importantly successful fundraisers and previous recipients of grant-funding, we set about adapting our project proposal to meet the criteria set out by Surrey County Council (SCC) for their ‘test and learn’ programme.

We submitted an application for a grant-funded project to be planned, delivered, monitored and reviewed by Sorbus Learning CIC in December 2021 to help people connect with nature. It comprised a 7-month programme of outdoor learning workshops, courses and events delivered for SCT at the Gateway site. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of outdoor learning sessions as a method for providing high quality and accessible nature-based activities as part of a national green social prescribing programme. We were successful so after initially identifying learning needs with our clients we started delivery in April 2022.

Our project

This project was funded by SCC through the Adult Care Team with a formal grant agreement from the Surrey Heartlands Nature Connection Fund (NCF) paid to us as a potential green social prescribing provider. The funds were held in our business account, to be managed and recorded as ‘restricted income’ for the purposes of HMRC and Corporate Tax. Our funding partners at SCC set clear outputs, inputs, measures and outcomes for the project that required us to collect aggregate and individual data about clients under GDPR guidelines.

We planned, delivered and reviewed our green social prescribing programme through four project stages – client phase (project proposal), planning phase (project plan), delivery phase (activity programme) and reporting phase (final report). We recorded data using traditional forms, national criteria (e.g. Nature Connectedness Index), zines, photographs, highlight reports and perhaps most importantly video testimonies. We wrote a final report to ensure effective sharing of the learning outcomes arising from the project with SLCIC, SCT, SCC and RBBC as key stakeholders.

The Surrey Heartlands green social prescribing programme (GSPP) aims people to nature so that it will improve mental health outcomes and address inequalities. Surrey Heartlands GSPP will improve the health and wellbeing

Developing new nature-based initiatives to everyone – the aim is to work with

aims to connect address health wellbeing of people initiatives that are accessible with local people and

Outcomes

As part of the Surrey Heartlands NCF grant-funding agreement, SCC set four key outcomes for staff, volunteers and service users or clients participating in the programme:

1. The anecdotal, photographic, video, written and verbal feedback suggests the outdoor learning sessions helped increase familiarity and connection with nature and outdoor environment, with one attendee at a Family Day event proclaiming loudly to the group – “I’ve learnt two things today, solitary bees don’t sting and pigs have teeth!” The hard data has yet to be processed and interpreted.

2. A key feature of our ‘Day in the Woods’ activity was a Kelly Kettle for boiling of water because on the sound of its whistle the coppice group came together around the camp-fire for a drink, biscuit, rest and chat. An opportunity for engagement and socialisation with other clients, volunteers and practitioners. The verbal feedback of “it makes me feel alive” was recorded on video and photos for that outcome.

3. As outdoor learning practitioners we delivered activities that increased the learning and skills of the participants based on nature, wildlife gardening, natural environment and nature. Moving the activities from the allotment site to nearby Felland Copse immersed the clients in a more natural environment of an ancient woodland and the opportunity to learn coppice and woodcraft skills.

4. We should not forget the positive benefit for the educational, physical, mental, emotional and social health and wellbeing experienced by the practitioners who engaged in this project too.

A key aspect of our success in securing grant-funding was having an appropriate project proposal ready with supporting evidence and adapting it to meet the specific criteria set out in the funding agreement. We also engaged with partners at an early stage of the application process and client phase to ensure that our project would meet their aims and objectives. When validating ourselves to the funders we were able to draw on our professional status as Accredited Practitioners of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (APIOL) and qualified Level 3 Forest School Leaders.

Conclusion

Our outdoor learning practitioners provided an extensive and varied programme of outdoor learning activities, workshops and courses that engaged clients, volunteers and key workers with nature and the natural environment. We worked in partnership with teams from SCT, SCC and RBBC to develop a 7-month programme that took place both on New Pond Farm Allotments and the ancient woodland at Felland Copse nearby, to benefit people and local communities of Earlswood, Woodhatch, Horley, Reigate and Redhill.

Participants experienced a range of different outdoor activities appropriate to their learning needs and capabilities that helped their mental wellbeing, isolation and physical health and fitness. These activities also facilitated their understanding of nature; acquiring new practical and artistic skills; experiencing different methods of relaxation and restoration; and providing relaxed opportunities to socialise and make new friendships. In short, this grant-funded programme empowered, motivated and restored people through their connection with nature p

MARTIN SMITH IN

BRAND NEW Q&A SERIES WITH FIGURES FROM THE WORLD OF OUTDOOR LEARNING

IOL CEO JO BARNETT CAUGHT UP WITH MARTIN FOR A CHAT ABOUT LIFE, WORK AND THE OUTDOORS.

Jo Barnett: So here we are at the 100th edition of Horizons and in that 100th edition we want to celebrate some of the best things about outdoor learning. For this profile interview, we wanted to interview someone who has dedicated their career to the outdoor learning sector and made a positive difference - both professionally and personally. Martin Smith, we think this would certainly describe you! We’d love to take a look at your career over the years – let’s kick off with the ‘now’, what is your current role in outdoor learning?

Martin Smith: Thanks Jo, those are kind words. My current title is Senior Advisor, Academic Resilience for the Greenwood Academy’s Trust. This role entails supporting our academies in their delivery of personal development for young people, initially looking very much at ‘character’ and more recently with a focus on ‘cultural capital.’ On top of that, I am responsible for the development of outdoor learning supporting our academies in terms of their curriculum delivery as well as providing advice on educational visits. So, it’s a bit of a mix of things. But it’s very enjoyable and it certainly isn’t a career path that I would have discussed with the Career’s Adviser before leaving school! My current role is a great way to finish my career because it’s giving me the opportunity to not only work with school staff, but also with young people, and that’s where my journey started. In addition to the ‘day job’, I am also Chair of what was the Outdoor Council, which will soon become the new Advisory Board for the Outdoor Learning Association, which is currently supported by the IOL. In addition, I am chair of Adventure UK, which oversees both the Option 3 development, which is the proposed non-statutory replacement for AALA, and the Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC) which overseas Adventure Mark. Alongside this, I sit on a number of Department for Education groups covering enrichment, out of school settings and, believe it or not, anti-terrorism. I also chair the DfE working group on Learning Beyond the Classroom. So that’s me, I guess!

JB: Where did your initial love for outdoors come from?

MS: We have lots of family tales about hacking our way through brambles, where there should have been a footpath and wasn’t of course…the number of times my Dad got us lost even though he was a King’s Scout! But despite that, we did have very positive experiences and I was lucky enough to have lots of open and free access to the outdoors, outdoor play in particular with friends and mates. I think that friendship bit is key. More friendships developed through the joint Scouts and Guides group I was involved with was so important – those experiences stay with you.

JB: What do you think is the most significant thing(s) that you’ve learned looking back at your career in outdoor learning?

MS: It’s the importance of relationships. Developing personal relationships is a key life skill, that is important throughout your life. In the outdoors, you do get into situations sometimes that are quite challenging,

but are controlled…and sometimes quite challenging, but less controlled - having those relationships and working with people closely in those situations, is incredibly valuable. As my career has developed, the value in developing relationships has gone on to support much of my partnership working. I have also probably learnt more from the young people I work with than they’ve probably learned from me to be honest!

JB: What are you most proud of, Martin?

MS: Having fun with others. I like having a bit of a laugh, having people around you and enjoying both being with them and what they’re doing. When I look back and reflect, I’m really proud of being able to do that with the loads of people, young and old. And linked to what I said earlier hopefully we have all learned something as well.

JB: What do you think will be next for the outdoor learning sector?

MS: We need to make a step change in the development of our partnership working across the sector. We must join up together and share our resources more effectively. We also need to move from most of our ‘influencing’ work being undertaken on a voluntary basis and begin to ‘professionalise’ our lobbying. If we really value our work we need to invest effectively to ensure the message is received in an actionable way by decision makers. There are lots of challenges, but I think some great opportunities as well. In England we have begun to lay the foundations of some great working relationships with the DfE and the Outdoor Learning All Party Parliamentary Group. There are also some really exciting developments in both Wales and Scotland relating to the possibility of making residential outdoor education an ‘entitlement’. Everyone across the UK will be able to learn from the developments in Wales and Scotland.

JB: What are you doing next?

MS: I’m going to be retiring shortly. Well, I’ve got loads of hobbies and toys, both indoors and out. I’ve got a grandson, and hopefully others to follow, who I’ll be pestering to play with me. Also, it’s just going to be enjoying the outdoors. Everything the outdoors has given me, it will continue to give me. I want to share that with other people as well. I just love the idea of saying to my partner Chris, ‘Hey, it’s going to be sunny in the northwest next week, shall we go?’

JB: Thank you very much Martin, it’s been wonderful talking to you.

MS: It’s been a pleasure p

IMAGES

Images have been supplied by the author. Author retains copyright.

FROM THE VAULT

A LOOK BACK AT HORIZONS ARTICLES OVER THE YEARS

IN THIS EDITION, CHRIS LOYNES TAKES A LOOK BACK AT HORIZONS #2 AND REFLECTS ON ROGER GREENAWAY’S ARTICLE ‘HIGH QUALITY ADVENTURE FOR ALL: WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?’

How to choose? As I was the editor of the first issues of Horizons it seemed best to look there. The magazine arose from the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Leadership when it split into a peer reviewed academic section and a professional magazine. The two publications appeared for a while as two sections in the same covers and my selection is from the first year of the Horizons half in 1997 – confusingly Volume 14!

I considered ‘Too many singers and not enough songs?’ by Peter Higgins (JAEOL, 14:1). He argued for a convergence of professional bodies in our field. That process is currently very active, so it seems right to reflect on this a little later! I then looked at ‘A personal view of outdoor education’ by Des Rubens (Horizons 4) to find that it was an interview with me reflecting on my, as it was then, 25-year-long career. There is not the space here to reflect on a further 25 years despite the currency of some of the topics, such as inclusivity and the quality of adventure!

So, I have landed on a short series of articles by regular contributor at the time Roger Greenaway who explores some of these same issues. I’ve chosen ‘High quality adventure for all: what does it look like?’ (Horizons 2). Roger asks the question ‘(w)hat is the point of adventure for all if high quality adventure is reserved for a few?’ He then explores ideas of progression in adventure considering when it acts as a barrier and when an enabler for all.

In 1997 the Lyme Bay tragedy was still fresh in people’s minds. AALA had emerged on the scene as had the National Curriculum, the outdoor centre market had shifted from secondary to primary school pupils and risk management and its associated paperwork had arrived. Local authority provision had been challenged by funding cuts and the field had atomised into a plethora of voluntary, public and commercial sector providers. It was a time of much change. So, it was good to read an article calling for the field to reflect on some core principles of inclusion and progression for all.

For Roger, adventure was perceived by society as a marmite experience, with as many views held against as for its inclusion in education. He assumes that adventure for all is an unquestionable good, but thinks that the critics have a point when progression to ‘high quality experiences’ in any activity is based on considerable skill development, technical equipment and travel to places further and further away. The barrier to access, he suggests, are many and young people are easily discouraged by these hurdles. In the place of a jam tomorrow ladder of progression Roger

offers a new version of progression moving from ‘novelty and challenge’ to ‘responsibility and curiosity’, leading to ‘freedom of opportunity and discovery’ with the first experiences being ‘high quality’ and deserving the focus of the field’s ‘energies, minds and resources’. It was fascinating to find Roger quoting Mohammed Dhalech, someone I have been recently working with.

‘The first experience in the outdoors is always the most important. It has to be a positive one to ensure participants are not put off and come back again.’ (1)

Roger adds that there should be many pathways to adventure that appeal to the diversity of young people and the affordances of a place – coincidentally the reason why we called the magazine Horizons in the plural. Dave Harvey (2) has recently returned to the themes of progression and access in the pages of Horizons arguing for ‘autonomy’ as the ultimate goal of all outdoor learning and for there to be many pathways in the ‘ecosystem’ of opportunities in any community. Sounds familiar! And just like Roger, this argument is made based on the value of the outdoors for all as progressive experiences relevant throughout young people’s maturation. In re-reading Roger’s article, it was good to be reminded of the value of high quality first experiences.

Roger says much more in this article of course. It remains highly relevant and is well worth a read. Good luck to Horizons in its next 100 issues –may it long continue to stimulate our energies and minds! p

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Do you remember an article from the last 100 issues of Horizons that you’ve used in your own work? We want to hear from youemail horizonseditor@outdoor-learning.org.

REFERENCES

1. Willis, E. & Russell, D. (eds) (1995). From Inspiration to Reality: opening up adventure for all.

2. Harvey, D. (2022). Progression into Outdoor Learning, Horizons 98

IMAGES

Images have been sourced from pxhere.com. Photographers retain copyright.

AUTHOR Chris Loynes

Chris has been an Outdoor Educator as a teacher, youth worker, consultant and academic as well as being the founding editor of Horizons. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Human Nature Relations at the University of Cumbria in Ambleside. His outdoor passions include kayaking and sailing in the Hebrides, and the hills, woods and wildlife everywhere.

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