LEADERSHIP FOR LIFE
Steve Mackenzie, Head of the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award, tells us all about the ongoing benefits and successes of the Outward Bound Trust’s award
MAKE IT TANGIBLE!
How can the concept of sustainability be made more tangible in tertiary education?
DO YOU KNOW YOUR APPLES?
Find out how to identify a variety of apples this autumn
DO I NEED A DEGREE?
Colin Wood explores the UK’s higher education landscape and what it offers for outdoor learning
EDITORIAL
Catherine Dunn - Editor
Catherine is an award winning filmmaker and creative. Her work primarily looks at mental health, adventure and the climate crisis. She holds an Outdoor Education MSc.
Welcome to the latest edition of Horizons magazine! As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, a whole new variety of activities become available to us outdoors - take apple identification (p.22) and winter foraging (p.37) as two to try this year!
This issue, we’ve got some wonderful features to share, including Steve MacKenzie’s piece on the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award (p.11) and an insightful article by the staff team from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences’ friluftsliv programmes on making sustainability a tangible concept in practice (p.28). We’ve also got some handy articles for those looking to take the next step in (or return to) education - Colin Wood walks us through the UK’s higher education offering for outdoor learning (p.15), while Roger Hooper discusses the new lifelong learning government initiatives (p.34).
There’s plenty more to explore in this issue as well, so find a comfy chair and get stuck in p
Interested in contributing? Get in touch: horizonseditor@outdoor-learning.org
HORIZONS
ARTICLES
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. 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/ IOL. Find past articles in the Horizons archive: outdoor-learning-research. org/Horizons-Archive.
ADVERTISE
Contact Fiona Exon at IOL for information: fiona@outdoor-learning. org. Advertisers retain copyright of their adverts. Adverts shared in this magazine do not represent endorsement by the Editor/Editorial Panel/IOL.
ISSUE CREDITS
Design and editing is by Catherine Dunn and proofreading is by Jack Reed. Editorial reviews are by Geoff Cooper, Suzie Dick, Di Collins, Sam Moore, Ian Healey, Eluned Roberts, Colin Wood, Liam Scott, Jack Reed, Stuart Meese and Morgan Luddington - of the Editorial Panel. Many thanks to the Editorial Panel for offering their continued support to Horizons magazine.
IMAGES
Images throughout this magazine have been sourced from Unsplash, Shutterstock and contributors unless otherwise specified. Photographers retain copyright.
INSTITUTE FOR OUTDOOR LEARNING
The Institute for Outdoor Learning is the professional body for organisations and individuals who use the outdoors to make a positive difference to others. Our Members have a shared vision of Outdoor Learning as a highly valued form of development, education and employment in UK society. Learn about IOL and how to become a member: outdoor-learning.org
©2024 Catherine Dunn ISSN 2634-8799
CONTENTS
SCANNING THE HORIZON
Find out what’s happening around the Institute for Outdoor Learning.
PAGE 4-8
DO I NEED A DEGREE?
Colin Wood explores the UK higher education landscape for outdoor learning. PAGE 15-17
SPOTLIGHT
This issue, we’re putting a spotlight on the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association. PAGE 9-10
OUTDOOR LEARNING SPECIALIST
Jim Whittaker talks to Sam Glencross, the first person to achieve the Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist Apprenticeship.
PAGE 18-19
DO YOU KNOW YOUR APPLES?
In the latest article of her series, Stephanie Bale explores the wonderful world of apples - and offers some top tips for identifying them!
PAGE 22-25
LEADERSHIP FOR LIFE
Steve MacKenzie discusses the ongoing benefits of the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award with the Outward Bound Trust. PAGE 11-14
IOL ROLL OF HONOUR
Celebrate the IOL’s award holders! PAGE 20-21
CAPTURING THE SPARK
Matthew Harrington-Keeton uses the metaphor of fire building as a frame for incremental improvements in outdoor learning.
PAGE 26-27
MAKE IT TANGIBLE!
How do you successfully implement sustainability principles in a tertiary outdoor education curriculum? Find out how the team from the certificate and bachelor’s degree friluftsliv programmes at the Norway School of Sports Sciences in Oslo made it tangible. PAGE 28-31 SERIES
STUDENT PERSPECTIVES
Dr Roger Scrutton explores student perceptions of their personal effectiveness.
PAGE 32-33
SERIES
SEASONAL FORAGING
Lizzy Maskey continues her foraging series and in this issue explores what to look out for as the weather gets colder.
PAGE 37-39
LIFELONG LEARNING
Roger Hopper walks us through the latest government initiatives on lifelong learning and what benefits they may hold for outdoor learning practitioners who are at the beginning, middle or end of their careers.
PAGE 34-36
SERIES
IN PROFILE
In this issue, Horizons spoke to Dr Jack Reed to learn all about his career-to-date in outdoor learning.
PAGE 40-41
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Photo Courtesy of Hangloose Adventure Ltd
SCANNING THE HORIZON
The latest news from around the Institute for Outdoor Learning
A word from Jo
By Jo Barnett - IOL CEO
For the IOL, October is when the Trustees gather and we review the year just gone and plan for the year ahead. During the last year we have welcomed many new members and supported the community groups as they offer networking, events and innovate in their areas of expertise. Thank you to everyone who is responding to the quick surveys in the weekly newsletter. We are collecting the responses and will publish the full survey for #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay. We can reveal that, out of the responses, 70% of you were ready to champion outdoor learning with the IOL and many of you were looking for ways to help, although 25% of you were flat out with the day job and other commitments. Please do have a look at the community groups, whether geographical or sector specialist – it may be that this is a way to help and get help. If you do not see a group for you, then maybe you might want to start one... one member has done just that and is establishing an ‘Arts, Creativity & Culture: in Outdoor and Residential Education Settings’ Group. Other new groups this year have been: CBOL and Field Studies Group; Outdoor Learning and Youth Work; Alternative Provision; the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association; and the Association for Outdoor therapy.
The IOL is also constantly collaborating with others in outdoor learning and we are proud to announce that we are now supporting the Climate Ambassadors scheme. This Department for Education initiative mobilises and supports educational settings in England to act on climate change with the help of skilled volunteers. The climate does not respect any human borders, so if you would like to get involved from other countries or in other ways the IOL is developing an Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice and Future Footprints.
Climate and Biodiversity are topics at the Outdoor Learning Strategic Thinking Workshop on #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay24. We are inviting you to join us in planning for the future of outdoor learning. If you accept, you will be joining others in thinking hard about the next five years or so and how outdoor learning can make its full contribution to UK society p
Global Outdoor Learning Day
By Jo Barnett - IOL CEO
Global Outdoor Learning Day takes place on the 21st of November every year and celebrates the powerful impact of the outdoors on education and personal development. Organised by the Institute for Outdoor Learning, Global Outdoor Learning Day promotes the belief that learning in natural environments contributes significantly to physical wellbeing, mental health, and a deeper understanding of the world around us. Global Outdoor Learning Day is an opportunity to showcase diverse outdoor learning activities, share best practices, and inspire a love for the natural world in learners of all ages. Here are some content ideas for your digital channels this #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay:
• Showcase outdoor activities: Share a variety of outdoor learning activities and programmes, highlighting how they contribute to educational and personal growth.
• Benefits of outdoor learning: Post about the physical, mental and educational benefits of learning in natural settings.
• Educator stories and tips: Feature stories from outdoor educators about their experiences, challenges and the joys of teaching in nature.
• Interactive outdoor challenges: Encourage your audience to participate in outdoor learning challenges or activities, fostering engagement with nature.
• Resource sharing: Provide resources, lesson plans, and tools for educators looking to incorporate more outdoor learning into their teaching.
We are very excited to reveal our #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay video made with some of our global members – why not give outdoor learning a ‘shout out’ and show its value in bringing people together wherever they are! The Institute for Outdoor Learning will also be publishing ‘High Quality Outdoor Learning 2024’ on the 21st November via the IOL website. This will be available as a free download. Over a year in the making, we send our thanks to Dr Dave Harvey (LPIOL) and all those who have contributed over the last year.
The IOL is also hosting an Outdoor Learning Strategic Thinking Workshop to mark the day. Guest speakers will challenge our thinking and the day will pick up on the following workshop themes: proactive safety management; working with governments together; talent attraction, development and retention; climate and biodiversity; and equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. Book you spot and join us here!
For more information, check out Global Outdoor Learning Day here or search #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay on LinkedIn p
Barbara Humberstone Reviewer of the Year Award
The inaugural Barbara Humberstone Reviewer of the Year Award, which reflects outstanding reviewer contribution to the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, was awarded in September to Vinicius Zeilmann Brasil.
The award recognises both the quantity and quality of the reviews provided by Vinicius to the journal in 2023. Named after Professor Barbara Humberstone, the award is designed to celebrate the unsung work that reviewers undertake for the JAEOL. Without reviewers offering their time and critical perspectives to the manuscript review process, the journal would not be able to contribute the excellent scholarly work it has showcased for nearly twenty-five years; eighteen of which having been under Barbara Humberstone’s watchful eye as Editor-in-Chief. The award recipient is determined by the editorial team, who work with Taylor and Francis (JAEOL’s publishers) to collate the number of reviews completed in a given year. The timeline and relevance scores, which are given to each reviewers’ feedback, were then examined by the editorial team to determine the recipient of the inaugural award.
Upon receipt of the award, Vinicius said:
I am very happy to be part of this brilliant team and the first ever recipient of the Barbara Humberstone Reviewer of the Year Award. It is very meaningful for me to receive this award, representing South America actively
Vinicius continued: “It is an honour for me to receive the award named after Professor Barbara Humberstone, knowing her brilliant contribution to JAEOL and our area of research”.
Professor Barbara Humberstone said of the award:
It is a great honour to have this award in my name. I am delighted that JAEOL is celebrating the hard work of its reviewers - without whose in-depth and insightful reviews, the journal and its high quality could not be maintained. JAEOL is going from strength to strength, not least because of the dedication of its editors and reviewers. Congratulations to Vinicius, the first recipient of the award.
As the current Editor-in-Chief of JAEOL, Professor Patrick Maher sees this as an exciting opportunity: “Without reviewers, our ability to provide the value of peer-reviewed research would be lost. They are the ‘life-blood’ of academic publishing, providing their expertise and time (free of charge) to the journal, and we need to celebrate them wherever we can”. He continued:
We hope to announce a 2024 recipient of the award early in 2025 and every year thereafter. The next 25 years of the JAEOL look incredibly bright because of the contributions of people such as Barbara and Vinicius.
The Journal can be fully accessed by choosing that option as part of your IOL membership, or through the Taylor and Francis website Many articles are available open access, which means you can share them widely with your students or staff p
INSPIRING STRUCTURES FOR OUTDOOR LEARNING
Designed and made in Sweden since 1989, Tentipi tents take inspiration from the kåta, the traditional home of the Sami people. Tentipi has combined this traditional design with innovative new features and premium materials to create extremely robust and long-lasting structures. The timber and canvas construction of Tentipi’s tents creates atmospheric and inviting spaces which complement natural surroundings and allow groups to be amongst nature while sheltered from the elements. Tentipi has a growing number of educational organisations using their tents, including both primary and secondary schools, forest schools, museums, scout groups and activity centres.
“ “
There is a growing body of research that shows outdoor education has a positive effect on knowledge attainment and health, and this is reflected in the feedback that we receive from customers who use their tents for outdoor learning. Our structures provide students and teachers with inspiring outdoor classrooms to enhance learning
- Ed Wright, Managing Director of Tentipi Event Tents UK & Ireland.
” ”
Designed to withstand Scandinavian winters, Tentipi tents are extremely robust structures that can be used all year round. Their canvas has the highest level of water-repellent properties available, and their timber poles are rigorously lab-tested to ensure their strength. Tentipi tents are available in a range of sizes, with capacities from 16 to many hundreds in linked tents. Some tents can have sides opened or closed depending on the weather. The time required to pitch them varies from 30 minutes to a few hours, depending on the model. They can be easily moved or packed away and stored. Tentipi provides all customers with detailed training documents and videos and offers an on-site training and installation service. Their customers receive Safety Manuals and have access to draft method statements, risk assessments and after-sales support for the life of their tents.
” ” “ “
To say we’re loving the tipi would be an understatement. The children absolutely love it too, of course. They have performed in it for an evening musical event, used it for silent discos, completed art projects, had lunch when the weather is bad, had lunch when the weather is good, enjoyed assemblies, reading opportunities, science investigations and more...we also have big plans for Santa’s Grotto in December. The list goes on and, just to emphasise - we love it!
- Dan Vidler, Deputy Headteacher at Coxley Primary School, UK.
For more information about using Tentipi Event Tents for outdoor learning, please call 01769 615044, or email event.tipis.uk@tentipi.com
LOWLAND Leadership
Support your delegates to build leadership skills to use in the great outdoors and transfer to other areas of life.
Our Lowland Leadership programmes are perfect for outdoor learning centres, colleges and schools looking to help their delegates develop essential leadership skills.
Using our programmes, centres also upskill their staff and volunteers, providing them with formal training and recognition for the work they do.
Choose from the following programmes:
Level 2 Qualification in Assisting Lowland
Expedition Leadership
Level 3 Qualification in Lowland Walk
Leadership
Level 3 Qualification in Lowland
Expedition Leadership
To find out more about our Lowland Leadership programmes, scan this QR code or email devteam@leadershipskillsfoundation.org
SPOTLIGHT
This issue, the spotlight is on the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association
Author profile
Mike Thomas, originally from the UK, has been based in Hong Kong for over 13 years. He is currently a Technical Expert for companies and schools, offering training and guidance on their operations. He specialises in incorporating emotional intelligence into experiential programmes. As well as his work with the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association, Mike holds directorial positions at Asia Adventure Sports and Outside-In.
All about Hong Kong
When people think of Hong Kong, most remember the iconic skyline that is seen in films and television shows – where there seems to be little space for trees, rocks and adventures. Hong Kong is also one of the most densely populated places in the world, with just over seven thousand people per square kilometre on average (London is just under 5600 per square kilometre), yet most residents live in just 15% of Hong Kong’s landmass! On the other side of this, 75% of Hong Kong is green space and 40% is designated Country Parks. Alongside Hong Kong’s relatively small landmass, this means escaping into nature is amazingly easy and can be achieved within fifteen minutes of the city – by foot, car or public transport.
Geologically, Hong Kong came to exist around 420 million years ago. One of the major influences which shaped Hong Kong’s dominant landscape was the frequent volcanic activity during the Jurassic period (145-201 million years ago), which created plenty of granite, breccia, rhyolite and tuffs! This gives Hong Kong a very distinctive and unique appearance, with Lion Rock (see right) rising 495 metres above the city. There’s plenty of climbing to be done on the granite faces of Tai Mo Shan (Hong Kong’s tallest peak at 956 metres), Temple Rock and Lingnan. Along the coast, you’ll find hexagonal rock columns sculpted from volcanic material. The texture and composition of these columns are unique to Hong Kong - unlike the high-temperature, low-silica basalt found in many other regions, Hong Kong’s columns are composed of low-temperature, silicarich rhyolitic volcanic rock.
Author profile
Dave Addis, a UK-born outdoor education expert, has led expeditions and organised programmes in countries like Kyrgyzstan, Guatemala, Mainland China and Hong Kong. He holds a master’s degree in outdoor education and is the Head of Outdoor and Experiential Learning at an innovative secondary school in Hong Kong, as well as a founding director of the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association. He specialises in integrating outdoor learning into the curriculum, fostering real-world connections and empowering students to care for their environment.
All of this makes Hong Kong an ideal location for people to explore, adventure and learn. There are crags to climb, canyons to delve into, coastlines to explore, seas and islands to kayak or stand-up-paddleboard, trails to hike and so much more!
What is outdoor learning in Hong Kong?
Outdoor learning has been practiced in Hong Kong since the early 1900s, with organisations such as the Scout Association (1909), the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (1961) and the Outward Bound Trust (1970) all having a large presence in the region and being a gateway for many of Hong Kong’s urban youth to access the outdoors for the first time. Over the decades, the sector has continued to grow and diversify, with many new providers starting up as well as schools incorporating the outdoors into their curriculum. This has led to a mixture of ideas, approaches and methodologies brought by the staff working at these organisations. Much like the schools themselves, the staffing teams are a smorgasbord of ages, experiences, nationalities, cultures and more.
Despite sharing a common origin and timescale, the development of outdoor learning in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong has diverged significantly in recent years. While other countries have shifted their focus from adventure-based activities to more education-oriented experiences, Hong Kong has often maintained a stronger emphasis on physically challenging activities with less structured facilitation. This disparity can be attributed to several factors.
One key reason is the limited integration of outdoor learning into Hong Kong’s school curricula and schedules. It is often viewed as a supplementary activity rather than a core component of education. Additionally, the lack of accessible professional qualifications for both hard and soft skills has hindered the development of qualified outdoor educators. Finally, Hong Kong has not experienced a catalyst for change akin to the Lyme Bay tragedy in the UK. This event prompted a significant overhaul of safety regulations and standards in the UK, driving a more structured and professional approach to outdoor education.
Many practitioners fly out to Hong Kong to experience something new and to work with one of the many organisations that partner with international schools here. These contracts vary, from seasonal (three months) to full-time (anything up to two years). Many of these explorers return year on year after their initial contracts having fallen in love with the diversity of Hong Kong’s people and environs. With more individuals looking for new ways to keep fit, explore Hong Kong and spend time with their friends and families, as well as more organisations realising the importance and significance of outdoor learning and environmental stewardship, the industry is growing and expanding.
What is happening now?
Despite the growth of outdoor education in Hong Kong there have been relatively few efforts to connect, unify, regulate or represent the outdoor sector and outdoor learning specifically. In 2016, amidst ongoing discussions about the need for stronger collaboration within Hong Kong's outdoor and experiential education community, a small group of passionate individuals decided to take action. The Hong Kong Experiential Education Network (HKEEN) was born out of this initiative and brought together like-minded educators from across the region. HKEEN created a platform for sharing ideas and connecting different stakeholders.
The discussions were vibrant and filled with enthusiasm and a shared a vision for a brighter future for outdoor education in South-East Asia. However, the momentum generated by these gatherings often dwindled as people returned to their busy schedules and, without an official body to push the ideas and initiatives, the implementation of change and innovations often fell by the wayside. This changed in 2023 with the formation of the Hong Kong Outdoor Learning Association (HKOLA). Following the pandemic, the founders of HKOLA - a mix of providers and schools - banded together with a shared mission: to create a resilient sector that is dedicated to promoting safe, high-quality outdoor education for all of Hong Kong and to promote outdoor learning as a viable and rewarding career path.
Ambitious goals and plans were conceived during these initial meetings, such as: drawing together experienced and qualified individuals from different backgrounds; showcasing the outdoors as a professional and viable career; promoting outdoor learning as a valuable approach to education and development; helping organisations (both clients and providers) commit to safety and ensure industry best practices are followed; and minimising environmental impact and advocating for sustainable practices.
It is still early days, but the movement and response from the outdoor learning community has been positive with membership growing and partnerships being developed, including with the Institute for Outdoor Learning! There is still much to do, as the Chinese philosopher, Laozi, said over 1,600 years ago, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. HKOLA has taken that first step and is ready to take a lot more! In the next issue of Horizons, we’ll discuss next steps for HKOLA and ambitions for the future p Large image on page 10 sourced from Unsplash. All other images provided by author. Author retains copyright.
LEADERSHIP FOR
LIFE
Steve MacKenzie, Head of the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award with the Outward Bound Trust, discusses the ongoing benefits of the Award for young people across Scotland’s Central Belt.
Author profile
Steve MacKenzie is the Head of the Mark Scott Award for the Outward Bound Trust, and is based in Glasgow. He brings qualifications in the outdoors together with teaching and youthwork experience and community development to provide the Award with his small specialist team working across the central belt of Scotland. He has worked on the project for 25 years, whilst running a variety of other projects including coaching and guiding mountain biking, lecturing for the UHI in safe practice in the outdoors, and alpine expeditions by bike for fun. Steve is an APIOL.
A little background
The Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award came about as a cooperative project between two charities with similar aims. Both wanted to help young people about to transition from school to the next chapter in their lives and both recognised that this meant developing their ability to work cooperatively with others, while unlocking everyone’s potential.
The two organisations are the Outward Bound Trust, a large UK-wide (and worldwide) educational charity specialising in personal development through adventure, and the Mark Scott Foundation, a small charity set up by the family of teenager Mark Scott following his tragic murder in an unprovoked sectarian attack. The Mark Scott Foundation has set out to heal rifts in communities, such as the one that contributed to Mark’s murder, and to provide the support to help young people of Mark’s age recognise and make the most of the opportunities available to them as they leave school. These two organisations met 27 years ago and joined forces, with the Outward Bound Trust (OBT) fully responsible for the Mark Scott Award (as it is more commonly referred to) since 2012.
The Mark Scott Award takes a ‘traditional’ developmental adventurous outdoor residential training programme and effectively asks the question “so what?”. To answer this question, the Mark Scott Award provides a coached and guided experience after the residential component of the course that is as close to real life as possible. It functions
as a ‘next step’ from the ‘traditional’ residential course and not only provides a real team and project environment, but also gives participants the opportunity to make positive change in their community and demonstrate what they are capable of.
The Mark Scott Award, now in its 27th year, is run by four dedicated members of the OBT team who have the specialist skills to apply both youthwork and outdoor education practice in the delivery of the Award. The Award is delivered to just over 150 young people every year from selected schools in the Central Belt of Scotland.
Overview
When working with young people on the Award, we find it easier to maintain a working relationship that mirrors a detached youthwork model – this means we have developed a style of working as outdoor instructors that pieces together at-home community youthwork with residential outdoor education. In this way, the whole experience is consultative, adult-to-adult and young person centred. While most outdoor educators would say they are student-centred, we found that using a youthwork methodology challenged the norms we had established in centre work. In our experience, this is a consistent coaching style that respects the participant’s right to walk away at any time, supports individuals, doesn’t sugar coat feedback, and encourages participants to do things they are capable of/push their perceived boundaries.
One of the distinct features of OBT’s approach to the Mark Scott Award is to encourage our young people to find out information before making decisions - this includes managing interpersonal conflict and promoting positive approaches to understanding others before engaging in potentially challenging conversations. In addition, the OBT team also promotes the notion of controlling the controllables, while not worrying about that which we cannot control. These approaches are intentionally modelled and we have found them beneficial for young people as they navigate some of the more stressful areas of their lives outside the Mark Scott Award.
During the Mark Scott Award, we keep the same staff throughout - this means that the relationships and understanding between staff and young people (and this definitely works both ways!) built during the intensive residential course can then benefit the work done on the Award’s community project phase further down the line. In this way, the residential course has a very intentional social component to it as well as the usual activities found on an adventurous residential programme.
The residential course
The residential course is tough. Days are long, with a lot of learning around theoretical models to help participants understand themselves and their teammates better. These models are also used to help them understand and forgive both themselves and others when they fall short of perfection. We also use a range of models to help them understand the formation of high-performance teams and the importance of giving and receiving developmental feedback to one another.
During the residential course, participants will learn to use a number of theoretical models taught in and outside the classroom, and by the end of the week can expect to have: swum in at least one loch; been on a challenging overnight expedition; built and sailed a raft (whether it was ready on time or not); climbed a 14 foot wall; climbed ‘Jacob’s Ladder’; and probably engaged in some basic mountaineering, climbing or gorge scrambling on the way.
One theoretical model that is commonly used during this phase is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which helps young people identify their motivations for behaviours based on their comfort level - the comfort zones model of course helps here too. We also use Kolb’s Learning Cycle to emphasise that learning is a process in fostering a growth mindset and one which embraces failure as a fundamental component. We also use Johari’s Window model to help young people understand the importance of sharing and feeding back to each other. This also supports our use of Tuckman’s theory around High Performance Teams and our use of Choice Theory during the delivery phase of our residential course. Finally, we use Meredith Belbin’s team roles to illustrate that different people have different skillsets which are useful at different times, something that becomes very apparent during the community project.
One of the main areas of work that we target through the Mark Scott Award is the fear of being judged – especially when we consider the judgement and expectations imposed on young people on social media during the Covid lockdown. Our initial exercises aim to encourage the participants to lose their fear of failure in front of others and embrace the principles of growth mindset in so far as finding the positive in any endeavour, whether it be successful or not. If we are able to help a young person on day one to do something that they are anxious about, to accept the challenge in a way that allows them to prepare for it and therefore feel in control and supported by their teammates, then we are able to set the scene for a week of them trying things they didn’t think they were able to do. In essence, by broadening young peoples’ understandings of healthy and functional working relationships, we enable participants to demonstrate to themselves that they can do more than they realised both individually and with the support of people they trust – this is the purpose of the residential course.
Embedded in the residential course is our youthwork approach, which involves supporting and encouraging participants and helping them be better team members and more self-reliant. For instance, on expedition they will be taught how to put their tents up, how to cook their food safely, how to navigate, where to wash and where to get water from –after which, they will be faced with the realisation that they don’t need us, as instructors, anymore. So, all we do is drop them off, pick them up and accompany them, because they have the ability and knowledge to do the rest on their own. This in itself can be tough – choosing the number of tents they’ll need and making sure they take all the kit they’ll need on expedition can be harder than it sounds. We make this consequential as well: once they have chosen (unless the weather is awful) they will do this themselves and suffer the consequences if they have not taken responsibility and packed properly.
We also use themes for each day, which starts with a communal reading. This forms part of our overt work on community – by creating a mini-community of Mark Scott Award participants they feel part of something bigger. To emphasise this, we include a challenge at the end of the week that all participants in all groups will take part in together. This highlights the importance of community on the day they leave to go back to their broader communities to look for a project.
Coming home – the answer to “so what?”
The participants are drawn from fifty schools, apply, and are selected by their project coordinator (OBT team member) in groups of twelve. These twelve will usually come from different schools within a similar catchment area. This is where the covert community building starts as we gather young people from schools who may not normally mix and put them together. This training group of twelve will have split itself into two groups of six who will become community project groups by the end of the residential course.
The same personal approach that is taken with the maturity and ability of the young people during the residential course is taken in the second phase of the Mark Scott Award. Information is given (occasionally incorporating theoretical models for understanding) to help the young people understand how to organise their community project, but the young people are encouraged to run their project as independently as possible beyond this initial guidance.
During the residential course, conversations around values are encouraged. So, when the young people are back home, we try to help the groups identify common values that they can weave into a potential community project. They will then have to research opportunities in their community, draw up an informal viability study and present their basic plan to a board of our staff in a semi-formal public meeting around five to six weeks after they return home. From here on, assuming their project is approved, they will then take six to eight weeks to put their plans in place and deliver a three-day project that benefits their community in a predetermined way.
The community project is where individuals drop their guard. They may have been an ideal student on the residential, but when they get home the Mark Scott Award work is now competing with social time, studying, family and any or all of the other issues facing young people these days – and some of these ideal students become considerably less reliable as team members. In this real-world environment, other team members have to give honest feedback in a way that builds rather than destroys relationships. They must consider the desired outcomes of difficult conversations, support and challenge each other and be understanding and respectful of each other's varying needs. These things are impossible to fully replicate in the residential setting, but are daily issues we coach them through during the at-home phase of the Mark Scott Award.
On top of their teammates becoming more genuine, the projects also interact with real people, and so participants learn about the needs of regular and clear communication, about influencing others to help, and fundamentally about how unreliable people can be in real life and how to manage people to be more reliable. On the way, they will learn skills specific to their chosen project, which over the years have ranged from digital mapping, social media campaigning and even becoming certified to teach others to inject Naloxone, an anti-overdose drug (yes, try putting ‘teenagers teaching other teenagers how to give an injection with a real needle’ into your dynamic risk assessment system and you’ll see how on the ball the delivery team needs to be!).
The project coordinator will be by their side all the way through this process, often seeing them weekly with two review periods to help them formalise their learning. Numerous ‘teaching moments’ occur throughout this process and while developing a relationship with the young people the project coordinator will get to know the participants very well. This allows them to help participants understand themselves even better with very specific and individualised feedback throughout.
Completion of the Mark Scott Award then culminates in the fanciest award ceremony we can provide, where we bring all the groups together to celebrate the totality of what they have achieved as individuals and as teams. It is a wonderful celebration of a year group who will have delivered twenty-six projects in communities across the Scottish Central Belt which have positively affected many other people.
With twenty-seven years of the Mark Scott Award and each year bringing up to twenty-six community projects, we have seen a vast array of projects delivered over the years. From the aforementioned Naloxone training, to running pop-up soup kitchens, community clear-up campaigns, teaching basic life-saving skills to primary school pupils, redecorating run-down community centres, introducing asylum seeking families to Scottish culture, tackling social issues and painting underpasses. The added bonus for the OBT team is the good work done by the pupils in their communities, often improving lives and occasionally potentially saving them, fundamentally following their values and acting on them whilst proving what they are capable of.
Outcomes
The Mark Scott Award is one of the Outward Bound Trust’s most evaluated programmes and we take a lot of care to demonstrate that we deliver what we set out to do. Through this we have been able to show rising positivity, acceptance of others, better planning and organisational skill development and improved resilience in our young people. We’ve also been able to demonstrate that participants become more likely to go on to volunteer in the future as well and we have good evidence that participants are often asked about their award experience at interviews - it helps them stand out as young people who can get things done. Importantly for our funders, we can also show a greater tolerance of and trust in others and a higher likelihood of volunteering in the future.
The future
This year, we have been able to gain Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) accreditation for the work we have done without changing the programme significantly, funded by the Learning for Sustainability fund. Participants from this year will be able to opt in to a SCQF Level 7 in Community Leadership which we hope will further aid participants in reaching the futures they choose.
In addition, we are looking at delivery and funding models for the future which will enable us to expand the scope of the Award beyond its fifty schools, and potentially beyond Scotland and into the rest of the UK.
DO I NEED A DEGREE? DO I NEED A DEGREE?
Thinking of embarking on a degree in outdoor learning? Colin Wood explores the UK’s higher education landscape
Dr
outdoor education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is involved in research about outdoor learning and runs a master’s programme which supports outdoor professionals wishing to study in their workplace. Previously, Colin taught at the Herefordshire College of Technology and has had a long career in outdoor education working in senior posts around the world for a variety of outdoor education organisations.
Degrees in outdoor learning are available across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are delivered by universities and accredited providers (mostly further education colleges) and most can be studied full-time or part-time. They provide a structured learning opportunity that leads to an academic qualification that is widely recognised across all fields and around the world. There are two levels of degree – undergraduate and postgraduate – and within each level there are a range of awards, that differ in length, academic level and complexity of study (see sidebar).
In this article, I will explore the world of outdoor learning degrees, whether a degree might work for you and how to find the right one for your career.
What are undergraduate degrees in outdoor learning?
Most undergraduate degrees are generally two or three years long. An undergraduate degree in outdoor learning will include learning and assessment about the theory and practice of outdoor learning. In all courses, the first year will include foundational knowledge about the outdoors, teaching, learning, safety etc., along with the development of basic skills and good practice in the outdoors. Students then progress to more specific areas of knowledge and more advanced skills in their second and third year and are expected to develop their own ideas and specialties. This progression is key to undergraduate study and helps students to become independent learners.
Undergraduate and postgraduate awards - UK
Level 8*
Doctoral degrees (PhD, DPhil, EdD)
Level 7
Master’s degrees (MPhil, MRes, MA, MSc)
Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip)
Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)**
Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)***
Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert)
Level 6
Bachelor’s degrees with honours (BA / BSc Hons)
Bachelor’s degrees (BA, BSc)
Professional Certificate in Education** (PGCE)
Graduate Diploma
Graduate Certificate
Level 5
Foundation degrees (eg, FdA, FdSc) Diplomas of Higher Education (DipHE)
Higher National Diploma (HND)
Level 4
Higher National Certificate (HNC) Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE)
* - Levels used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has a different framework
** - In England, Wales and Northern Ireland only *** - In Scotland only
What about a postgraduate degree in outdoor learning?
Postgraduate degrees are available to people who have completed an undergraduate degree, although some providers will also accept applications from people with a depth of professional experience. There are two main levels of postgraduate study – master’s and doctoral level. In both, there are opportunities to engage with advanced knowledge and skills, but also opportunities to develop areas of specialism. Students are expected to be able to study independently and to produce innovative work. Many people study part-time alongside their careers at this level.
Author profile
Colin Wood teaches
What are the benefits of studying for a degree in outdoor learning?
The principal benefit is in the development of new skills, knowledge and understanding that support advanced professional practice and a deeper understanding of outdoor learning. Degree courses provide structured progression under expert guidance and include opportunities to interact with a range of activities, with underpinning theory from experts (lecturers and practitioners) and other learners. Achieving a degree shows intellectual skills and practical ability, a depth of understanding of outdoor learning and a proven ability to work independently over a sustained period. This can be useful for gaining employment, but may also be a requirement for promotion or for later career changes. Undergraduate degrees in the UK are estimated to boost lifetime earnings by 57% on average relative to nongraduates and provide a boost to life satisfaction equivalent to £5000 per annum (1).
Can I have a career in the outdoor sector without an outdoor degree?
Yes, many employers will take on staff without any qualifications and sometimes without any experience. Most of these initial posts will be short-term and low-paid, but most employers will provide some on-the-job training and accreditation. In these early stages of your career, you may be promoted for working well under supervision. Thus, if you are good at your job, you can move on to posts that have more responsibility, better terms and conditions and higher pay. However, as you move up in an organisation, your promotion will become more about your knowledge and understanding, and your employer (or prospective employers) will be looking for your ability to make carefully considered judgements. It is at this stage that your career may falter without a degree, as you find yourself passed by people who have degrees that serve as demonstrable evidence of underpinning knowledge, the skills to analyse complex situations and an ability to develop evidence-based approaches. This does not mean that people without degrees do not have these skills, but that they may lack the qualification that proves it in the eyes of an employer.
Will an outdoor degree guarantee me a career in the outdoor sector?
No. Like everyone else, your career will depend on your skills and abilities (and a little luck). However, a degree may give you some advantages. The experiences, knowledge and understanding that gain through a degree should mean that you have a deeper understanding of the field. This understanding should be apparent to your colleagues and employers and may mean that they see potential in you. However, like everyone else, a successful career will depend on being good at your job.
Where is the best place to study an outdoor learning degree?
There are currently around twenty providers of undergraduate degrees in outdoor learning (and related titles), and six providers of master’s level degrees in outdoor learning (and related titles) in the UK. All degrees should be recognised by the Office for Students, so qualifications with the same award name should be at the same level. However, the content of courses will differ according to the award title, the history of the course, and the specialisms of the teaching staff. For undergraduate courses, this information is available through UCAS and on the providers’ course pages. For postgraduate courses, some courses are listed on UCAS, but more courses are listed on online master’s finders. Again, it is important to check the exact content of the course on the providers’ course pages.
Choosing an outdoor degree
For undergraduate courses, the best place to start looking is on the UCAS website This will allow you to browse through courses and follow links to course pagesremember to look beyond the pictures and look at the content of the course, the type of studying and assessments, and the range of staff that might be teaching you. You should ask yourself: Am I interested in the course aims? Is it at the right level for me? And do I want to study there? Once you have reduced the list, the best way to choose an outdoor degree is to arrange a visit or an opportunity to speak to the course team. Most providers have open days, and these are a good opportunity to look around and ask questions. Finally, if you want to compare courses at different providers you can use the government website Discover Uni to compare the data on how students rate the course, how many students drop out, graduate salaries etc. Some small courses don’t provide data, but this will give you some idea of how the courses compare.
Are National Governing Body awards a good alternative to an outdoor degree?
This is a trick question. With or without a degree, your career is likely to be dependent on gaining National Governing Body (NGB) awards. Over time, you will need to develop your personal skills and your teaching ability in your chosen area. NGB awards provide good evidence of this and are prerequisites for many roles. The career benefits of NGB awards are greatest if you want to specialise in a highly technical field. Here, your career will depend on rapid progression to higher level qualifications to gain professional standing and to earn a sustainable income (probably through self-employment). A degree might be of some help when you are established but is unlikely to have a huge impact.
However, most people with long-term careers in the outdoor sector are not highly specialised and have patchwork careers. Their career development depends on a breadth of knowledge and skills that is not available from doing NGB awards alone. This is because most NGB training, except at the very highest levels, is usually based on a one-way transfer of knowledge and skills, followed by a period of consolidation and then a test of the learner’s ability to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have been trained in. Even the best NGB courses are very dependent on the application of simplified schema, rather than a depth of knowledge or an understanding of the complexity of teaching outdoors. Thus, whilst the possession of NGB awards will support early career development in the outdoor sector, the courses themselves tend to develop specific skills rather than holistic understanding and will probably provide less support for your progression to more senior roles than a degree.
Will I earn enough money in the outdoor sector to pay back the cost of an outdoor degree?
Here is the conundrum. If you don’t have a degree, it is harder to develop and sustain a career in the outdoor sector, but you don’t have debt repayments. If you do have a degree, career progression (once you are established) is more likely to bring you to better paid jobs, but you will have to pay back your student loan. So, the answer is simple. As a graduate of an outdoor degree, you will only pay back the cost of your degree if your career progresses beyond short-term, low paid jobs. However, you can expect your lifetime earnings to be 57% higher than non-graduates, and your degree should also provide a boost to life satisfaction equivalent to £5000 per annum (1).
If you think about work as a transaction, at the most basic level how much you earn depends on your value to an employer or to your own clients. This is not simply about working hard, but about your work generating an income that exceeds the costs of employing you. If you want higher income, then you must have skills, abilities or experience that come with a premium. Higher qualifications have a premium, but there are also premiums for people who have the skills to work within schools, who can work with people with complex needs, who can operate in remote areas, as well as for people with their own specialisms such as environmental knowledge, language skills, etc. And of course, there is also a premium for people who are prepared to take the risk of running their own businesses. Thus, despite the outdoor sector being a fairly low paid sector, the progression into specialist and managerial roles will allow most graduates the opportunity to pay back their student loans over time.
Conclusion
I am passionate about outdoor learning. I started working in this field when few people could sustain a career in the outdoors. It was fun to be teaching outdoors, but the work was often mind-numbingly repetitive and I got paid a pittance. My employers expected me to do little more than follow the operating procedures. Thankfully, my eyes were opened when I worked overseas. Overnight, I was expected to design and run bespoke courses in remote areas while being paid a teacher’s salary. Most of my colleagues had degrees and they talked knowledgeably about learning theories, the environment, sociology, etc. More importantly, they brought their knowledge and skills into their work. But most exciting was that they considered themselves to be outdoor professionals and they had careers, rather than short-term contracts. This was what I wanted – to do meaningful work in the outdoors and be paid a decent salary. Twenty years later, that insight finally led me to teaching in higher education where I found that I could help the next generation to develop the knowledge, skills and experiences that allowed them to deliver meaningful outdoor experiences and gave them control over their careers. I believe that studying for a degree equips outdoor professionals for sustainable careers and that having a degree provides graduates with options for career development and career change p
References
1. PWC (2024) - https://www.pwc.co.uk/press-room/press-releases/ukeo-education-article-2023.html
NEXT LEVEL
LEVEL 5 OUTDOOR LEARNING SPECIALIST APPRENTICESHIP
Jim Whittaker spoke to Sam Glencross, the first person to complete the new standard
Author profile
Jim Whittaker is the Founder and Managing Director of Channel Training. Driven by an absolute belief in the value of outdoor learning and the people who deliver it, he has dedicated his career to workforce development in the sector. Jim is well known throughout the outdoor industry and is involved in projects across the sector. He was Chair for the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres 2019-2022 and is a Trustee for the Institute for Outdoor Learning. He is a keen sailor, professional Yachtmaster with the Tall Ships Youth Trust and RNLI Commander and LTC for Minehead Lifeboat.
Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist Apprenticeship
I caught up with Sam Glencross, the very first person to complete the Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist Apprenticeship. Sam works for Inside Out Bushcraft and in this article we’ll hear about how he came to do the programme (and achieve a distinction), what benefits it had for him and how it supported Inside Out Bushcraft in progressing their business.
Inside Out is a bushcraft and outdoor learning organisation based in Norfolk that was established in 2014. Check out Inside Out’s story on their website for more information. Predominantly working with children aged eight to fifteen years old, Inside Out delivers a range of outdoor learning activities and programmes in a stunning woodland and lakeside setting. Through traditional bushcraft skills, innovative adventurous learning programmes and the Outcrafters Club, they have supported the learning and development of thousands of young people.
Sam started to work for Inside Out Bushcraft in 2020 as a volunteer. By 2022 he had completed the Level 3 Outdoor Activity Instructor apprenticeship, was instructing sessions independently and looking for the next development opportunity. The then new Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist standard was available and Sam took the opportunity for fully funded professional development to support his next steps.
I spoke to Sam about his experience of the Level 5 standard and what he has gained from the process.
Sam, why did you choose the Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist route?
Being honest – it seemed really cool to be the first ever Level 5 apprentice in outdoor learning! But on a serious note, it fitted perfectly with my progression and having had such a positive experience with the Level 3 Outdoor Activity Instructor standard I wanted to continue learning.
What specialisms did you work on?
I specialised in bushcraft and more specifically developed the foraging side of our provision. I produced new sessions and programmes of study to ensure that the children that came to us had a structured learning experience and left understanding a whole lot more about their natural environment and where their food comes from. It’s allowed me to truly explore an area that I’m passionate about and develop what the company does. We also launched the Outcrafters adventure clubs and expanded our offer. I did my Archery GB Instructor course too, which enabled us to bring archery into our work and this was hugely exciting. It’s a perfect fit with bushcraft and allowed me to develop the context of what we do as well as a whole range of related skills progression. From my professional perspective, this also gave the opportunity for me to work on the sports coaching side of outdoor learning as well as the bushcraft practitioner side.
What are the benefits of the progression to Outdoor Learning Specialist?
It’s the fluffy skills! What I mean by that is the under-pinning reason why we do all of this. It gives you the insight into why and how somebody wants to learn
and how you can make that learning happen. It’s the bit behind the hard skills that many instructors stop at. The Level 5 has also given me the confidence in my own mind to say to myself ‘I do know what I’m doing, I do know why I’m doing it’. And in those challenging moments, I can be confident that I am an outdoor learning professional and I can deal with those things. I’m more flexible and adaptable as a professional now. I can move between activities and between delivery and programming. If I had only done the Level 3, I don’t think I would have developed the ability to switch hats as easily.
What are you doing now?
Enjoying my role! Consolidation and development. The Level 5 programme has stimulated in me a greater understanding of where bushcraft sits in our modern world, and I’m absorbed with the idea of how that can help us navigate complex modern life. I’m not suggesting we all dress in bear skins and throw spears, but there is something essentially human in bushcraft and I believe that the learning in it can benefit us all. I’m enjoying spending some time thinking about that!
What are your aspirations?
That’s difficult to explain, but I just want to get more into outdoor learning. I want to get deeper beneath the surface. I want to be one of the people that explores the value of what we do further. I’m keen to develop my new role as manager and continue to see Inside Out grow and serve our community.
Would you recommend the Level 5 to others and why?
Yes - to those who have done Level 3 and are hungry for more! The Level 3 will teach you how to be a good instructor, but the Level 5 will teach you how and why that is so important.
Sam’s boss, Nathan – Director of Inside Out – also answered a few of my questions on the Level 5 standard. Nathan, what are the benefits of the Level 5 standard for employers?
From an employer’s perspective I can see the massive value in those that come to our organisation seeing that the staff are also learners. They see that the staff are also engaged in personal development and are motivated and excited to find out more about outdoor learning and the benefits it has. It’s infectious. We have children coming back to our centre who are teaching others about the structure of plants and Latin terminology - they would never have been doing that had it not been for the development of their instructor, Sam. Those children saw Sam being observed, they saw him being assessed and challenged by his apprenticeship tutor and there’s a level of understanding and respect there which has been invaluable in terms of showcasing the integrity of our organisation. You’re not born an outdoor instructor or an outdoor learning specialist, you have to develop to get there, and the children see that and are inspired by it.
Is it valuable to have an external training provider supporting your staff development, Nathan?
Yes, absolutely and the greatest strength is having a specialist tutor who knows what they’re doing and is happy to get involved. She knew the centre, she knew us. She knew where everything was and she just fitted in. She helped and encouraged Sam to be stronger every time. If the only voices Sam had were ours, I don’t think he would have done anywhere near as well. The apprenticeship tutor is someone who isn’t preoccupied with the business, but is 100% invested in the staff. We are currently recruiting for more apprentices and guess who their mentor is going to be! Yep – it’s going to be Sam! If you are interested in finding out more, check out the IOL website by following this link
IOL Awards Roll of Honour
Total of awardees since each was opened Opening the horizon for outdoor professionals
Registered Practitioners of IOL (RPIOL)
Registered Practitioners plan, prepare and lead safe and engaging outdoor learning sessions to achieve intended outcomes
Fast track recognition as an Associate Professional in Outdoor Learning
Coaching, guidance and advice for developing your practice
Reflection on your strengths, interests and future aspirations
Accreditation of your approach, understanding and experience
Accredited Practitioners of IOL (APIOL)
Accredited Practitioners have a passion for outdoor learning and have experience planning, leading and evaluating programmes for individuals and groups The APIOL Award recognises the holistic skills and knowledge of professionals who deliver outdoor learning programmes.
Leading Practitioners of IOL (LPIOL)
Leading Practitioners are champions of outdoor learning and have a depth of experience and evidence of influencing the wider sector beyond their workplace or specialist interest area
RPIOL Holders
Andrew Lister
Ben Cowans
Caroline Price
Carolyn McFarlane
Chloe Bren
Christopher Martlew
Claire Studman
Dan Heaton
Dan March
Dan Thistlethwaite
David Woolley
Dominic Bingham
Edward Kemp
Emma Marlow
Ian Doctor
James Margeson
Jane Stephens
Jenny Allen
Jo Darlington
Katie Culshaw
Kryse Mills
Lauren Wigham
Matthew Cox
Matthew Gault
Meg Dunster
Morvern Todd
Nathan Hill
Neil Franklin
Richard Taylor
Rob Webster
Robert Blackburn
Rohan Dodhia
Rowan Bonney
Rowan Davies
Sam Brown
Scott McNab
Scott O'Driscoll
Serena Neale
Simon Percy
Stan Batstone
Tamar Kelsey
Tash Guineay
Teresa Murdoch
Zara Lovelock
APIOL Holders
Alan Braybrooke
Albert Hinton
Aled Edwards
Alex Hudson
Alistair Hodgson
Allan Myatt
Allison Inkster
Alyn Griffiths
Amy Exeter
Andrew Barclay
Andrew Cash
Andy Simms
Anthony Keech
Andrew Cash
Andy Simms
Anthony Keech
Antony Ford Parker
Arron Cox
Bethan Heyward
IOL Champions 2024
APIOL Holders
Brian Kitson
Bryn Beach
Bug Wrightson
Chris Hughes
Chris McClellan
Christopher Lundregan
Christy Miles
Clair Giles
Claire Taylor
Clare Sell
Clive Atkins
Craig Armiger
David Addis
David Roberts
Dawn Scott
Debbie Williams
Dene Ellis
Drew Pilley
Edward Kinnear
Elizabeth Davies
Elizabeth Farthing
Gareth Preece
Gary Blumsum
Geoff Mason
George Casley
Glenn Lane
Graeme Wardle
Graham Couling
Graham French
Graham Watson
Heather Brown
Helen Payne
Ian Cresswell
Jacqui Young
James Walsh
Jane Ashford
Jane Curtis
Jeff Handley
Jenny Dickinson
Jenny Wilson
Jo Blackshaw
Joanna Barnett
Jon Cree
Jonathan Earle
Julia Sands
Julian Pierce
Justin Featherstone
Keith Davis
Kelda Hodge s Kelly-Sue Axford
Kevin O'Callaghan
Kieran Thompson
Laurence Colyer
Lee Pritchard
Mark Reeves
Mark Roe
Mark Williams
Martin Davidson
Martin Robinson
Mathew Mitcheson
Matt Ostler
Mick Collins
Mike King
Mladenka Hooper
APIOL Holders
Morgan Lax
Naomi Holmes
Nathan Moore
Neal Anderson
Neale Connolly
Neil Baird
Neville Holmes
Niall Leyden
Nick O'Loughlin
Nicky Fryer
Nigel Flude
Nigel Horne
Nina Saunders
Oliver Marner
Paul Moseley
Paul Smart
Paul Smith
Pete Bush
Peter Braidwood
Peter Dennett
Peter Knight
Rachel Luxton
Richard Godfrey
Richard Hunt
Richard Irvine
Richard Retallick
Richard Smith
Richard Tarran
Rob Lloyd
Rob Saint - Humphries
Robert Larcher
Rod Steele
Roger Sell
Rupert Ashcroft
Russell Tong
Sam Moore
Sam Pa talong
Samantha McElligott
Sara Collins
Sarah Deane
Sarah Wilks
Scott Murray
Sean Day
Sian Brewer
Simon Hunt
Simon Mee
Simon Verspeak
Simon Willis
Stephen Bird
Stephen Brown
Stephen Mackenzie
Stephen Parkin
Steve Farthing
Steve Harris
Steve Layt
Stuart Cousens
Suzie Dick
Timothy Bosley
Tom Partridge
Tom Wigston
Vicki Wood
Vicky Binks
Victoria Armitage
Will Manners
LPIOL Holders
Alan Smith
Alison Steele
Andy Hardie
Barbara Humberstone
Bill Taylor (Fellow)
Dan Cook
Dan Riley
Dan Whittaker
Dave Watson
Diane Collins
Edward Sibson
Elspeth Mason
Eluned Roberts
Giles Smith
Glen Probert
Heather Crawford
John Crosbie
Karen Wheeler
Lawrence Chapman
Martin Smith
Matt Healey
Mike Strang
Myles Farnbank
Neil Wilson
Nick Austin
Nick Winder
Orlando Rutter
Paul Airey (Fellow)
Paul Donovan
Randal Williams (Fellow)
Raymond Finlay
Roger Hiley
Roger Hopper
Stephan Natynczuk
Steve Randles
Stuart Meese
Stuart Smith
Timothy Taylor
Trevor Clarke
here: https://www outdoor-learning org/ community/ recognised-professionalsdirectory html
If you are a current individual IOL member holding one of the awards and are not on this list please let us know: institutue@ outdoor-learning.org
Author profile
Stephanie Bale is the founder of the Ethical Living Group CIC, which teaches a range of outdoor skills, and is a board member for the Sustainable Life Voluntary Organisation and Friends of Rea Valley Stirchley in her local community. She has been teaching woodland management, basketry and outdoor cooking for at least 8 years and more recently game preparation for 3 years. She has over 10 years of foraging and plant ID experience and today works freelance with a variety of conservation organisations. Her voluntary work includes managing the local woodland and rivers, recording local biodiversity and invasive plant removal.
Autumn is the time for apples in abundance. Apples can be used for all sorts of great activities from baking a crumble, to brewing cider, to stamp-painting. The Romans are suspected to have had a big hand in spreading apple trees along the Silk Road. The first reference of apples having made it to England was by King Alfred in 885AD in his translation of “Gregory’s Pastoral Care”. From here, different varieties were imported from France in the 11th century and monasteries started cultivating apple orchards and dabbling in cross cultivation.
Today, there are around 2170 different English varieties of apples – but don’t worry, you don’t need to know them all! In this issue, I am going to talk about eating apples (Malus domestica), crab apples (Malus sylvestris), quince (Cydonia oblonga) and Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica), and how to tell these basic groups apart.
Plant family characteristics
Apples, crab apples, quince and Japanese quince are all members of the Malinae plant family, which also includes pears. Malinae essentially is the name for all the plants in the rose family that produce a “pome”. A pome is a fruit that has a tougher outer layer of ‘skin’ around the edible flesh and has a central core with multiple seeds inside. They are typically shrubs or trees and can be wild, cultivated, or ornamental.
Do you know apples? your
In her latest article, Stephanie Bale explores the wonderful world of apples, how to identify them and what different varieties can be used for
Apples
Botanical name: Malus domestica
Common name/s: apple
Edible parts: fruits
Location: gardens, parks, hedgerows
Lookalike/s: crab apples, quinces
Family: Malinae (Rose)
Identifying an apple fruit
Apples are generally divided into three main categories for the consumer: eating apples, cooking apples and crab apples (which are widely regarded as inedible - though the author considers this to be an unfair opinion!).
Eating apples are pleasant to eat when ripe from the tree and are the size you might expect to see in the supermarket. Eating apples can be ready as early as late August and persist right through autumn. If the apple is tasty and palatable as it is, it is an eating apple. It is important to note that any apple, even eating apples, can taste sour and unpleasant if picked too early, so a fair assessment of an eating apple needs to be made in autumnsometimes the exact time they are ready must be discovered through simple trial and error!
Cooking apples remain sour even when ripe and, thus, are more suited to cooking which reduces the sour taste. They also tend to be a bit bigger than an eating apple. An unripe eating apple can easily fall into this category too, so if you do not want to waste an eating apple picked too early you can always throw it into a crumble.
Cross-section of a crab apple
Cross-section of an eating apple
know apples?
Crab apples are not only sour, but also dry - the kind of dry that sucks the moisture from your mouth when you try to eat it! This astringency and slight bitterness is caused by tannins and a high concentration of malic acid, which is why they don’t make good eating apples. They are, however, still perfectly edible if you just think creatively. For instance, they are a vital component of traditional cider, which utilises three different varieties of apples; one for flavour, one for sugar and one for tannins. Crab apples tend to be smaller than eating apples. The crab apple family also loves to mix it up so you might find an apple that has features of a few different varieties. Put simply, it is the taste and sourness of the apple that will determine what you decide to do with it.
Identifying an apple tree
The wild apple tree itself is usually a medium sized tree up to 10 metres high when mature. Some cultivated apple trees can be smaller than this due to a dwarf root stock. The leaves are oval shaped (elliptic), they have a network of veins (reticulate) and have serrated edges. Apple leaves are also slightly woolly on the top and more densely woolly underneath.
The blossom of an apple tree consists of five-petalled white and light pink flowers growing in clusters and will bloom around May to June. The fruit is hard with a skin that is usually green, yellow, brown or red. Some red apples also have a red or pinkish flesh to them, but the flesh is usually off-white. If you slice the apple horizontally through the core, the seed chambers inside the fruit will form a star shape. This is very distinctive of the apple family. One final thing to note it the trunk of an apple tree – it is typically grey in colour and often has bumps, scales, ridges, or small fissures, especially when mature.
Eating apple tree
Eating apple leaves
Crab apple leaf
Red crab apples
Crab apple bark
Eating apple tree bark
Crab apples
Eating apples
Quince
Botanical name: Cydonia oblonga
Common name/s: Quince, true quince
Edible parts: fruits
Location: gardens, parks, hedgerows
Lookalike/s: apples, Japanese quince
Family: Malinae (Rose)
Quince is a rarer find in the UK. You are much more likely to come across a Japanese quince than a true quince in the UK, but they do still exist. Quince was introduced to Britain in 1275 when four of them were planted at the Tower of London by King Edward I.
Quince has a distinctive pear-like shape, but unlike pear it will be rock solid even when ripe, when the skin will turn a bright yellow colour. Quince fruits will be ready from October to November, long after pears.
It is a fruit that has fallen out of favour recently, probably because, like the crab apple, it cannot be eaten straight from the tree and requires some cooking to get the best out of it. The traditional use for quince was quince cheese, which wasn’t really a cheese at all but more like a firm paste or spread that could be cut into bite size pieces and goes particularly well with cheese and crackers.
Identifying a quince
Leaves of a quince tree can be up to 11cm long, are oblong and have an entire margin. Much like apple leaves they tend to be downy and soft on the underside. The flowers have five petals that are white with a pink tinge to them and tend to bloom in early April. The fruit is pear shaped and remains hard even when ripe. It starts off green and ripens to a bright yellow around September to October. The tree itself grows to a maximum height of around 5-8 meters, so is typically smaller than a mature apple tree. The bark of this tree is smooth and grey with rufous (rusty brown) patches.
True quince leaf (photo from Helen Bennett and Chrissy Wickins)
True quince fruit cross-section (photo from Helen Bennett and Chrissy Wickins)
Japanese Quince
Botanical name: Chaenomeles japonica
Common name/s: Japanese quince, flowering quince
Edible parts: fruits
Location: gardens, parks, hedgerows
Lookalike/s: apples, quince
Family: Malinae (Rose)
Unlike Cydonia oblonga, Japanese quince was introduced to the UK much later, around the 18th Century. There is some dispute over whether this shrub is from Japan or whether it was introduced from southern China, Tibet of even somewhere within Myanmar. It has been suggested that there are three different, but very closely related species; one Chinese, one Tibetan, and one Japanese.
Japanese quince is typically a low spreading shrub or bush as opposed to traditional quince which has a small, but definite tree shape. Japanese quince has fruits that are a bit smaller and rounder than quince, but they too are extremely hard and sour with a skin that turns yellow when ripe.
Identifying a Japanese quince
Japanese quince leaves are lanceolate, glossy, and serrated. They are a deep green colour, glossy and can be up to 8cm long. The flowers have five petals which are typically a blush peach pink or orange in colour but can also be quite red, and they appear from February through to May.
The fruits are round like an apple, start off green and are often speckled. As they ripen, they change to a bright yellow colour but retain their hardness. The fruits will ripen around September to October.
Japanese quince is a thorny shrub and often used as a bush in garden plantings. It reaches heights of about 2 meters tall and has a sprawling nature. Some mature specimens may develop a corky bark which is a highly desirable, but this is a rare cultivator that you are unlikely to find.
Comparing Japanese
Keywords to remember
Malus – Botanical name for apples
Malinae – The apple family
Pome – Accessory fruit - a fruit that contains, in addition to a mature ovary and seeds, a significant amount of other tissue
Elliptic – Oval shaped leaves with a small or no point to the tip
Reticulate – Veins that form a network like a web
Serrated – Teeth along the edge of the leaf that are forward pointing
Lanceolate – Long and pointed at both ends
Oblong – Long oval with a point. Uniform on both sides
Entire margins – Entire whole edges on leaves with no serrations/forms
Rufous – Reddish brown patches similar Fun fact
Japanese Quince is called Kusa-boke in Japan. The word “boke” was originally Chinese and means “tree melon” referring to the fruits (like the word pome) on the tree.
quince (Oblonga) to quince (Japonica)
1. Japonica has vibrantly coloured peach pink or red flowers, whereas Oblonga has white flowers with a hint of pale pink.
2. Japonica has round fruits that are hard and yellow when ripe, no visible star in the cross section and the seed chamber is often exceptionally large, leaving little flesh. Oblonga has pear shaped fruits that are also hard and yellow when ripe, but often have clearly defined separate seed chambers that can sometimes look like a star.
3. Japonica is a shrub-like, sprawling thorny bush. Oblonga is a small tree.
4. Japonica leaves are glossy, lanceolate, and serrated. Oblonga leaves are oblong (long oval with point), typically have entire margins and have a woolly texture like apple leaves.
Have fun identifying apples and their respective plants this autumn! p
Japanese quince flowers
Japanese quince leaf
capturing the spark
In this opinion piece, Matthew Harrington-Keeton explores how the metaphor of starting a fire might prove useful when making incremental improvements to an outdoor learning programme
Matthew Harrington-Keeton, MSc, ProfGCE, QTLS, MSET, APOL, is a Lead Instructor at Essex Outdoors; previously working in adult education, he consistently advocates for developing the quality of outdoor learning experiences through diffractive practice and holistic development of practitioners.
Working in a busy outdoor education centre can sometimes mean it is easy to forget the true purpose of outdoor learning – to develop and inspire a new generation of people with a passion for and enjoyment of the outdoors. To achieve this, it is important to consider the fundamental building blocks of an outdoor education experience. In my role as a Lead Instructor for a large outdoor centre in Essex, I am always looking for ways to improve the service we provide. For this, I like to adapt the metaphor of lighting a fire - we need to create a safe and welcoming space to allow learning (finding a space), adopt an activity which engages and affects participants (gathering sticks for fuel) and set the fire in motion (creating a spark to ignite the fire).
While not all-encompassing, each element provides a clear structure for thinking about what might develop and improve outdoor learning. Although each component can be considered separately, the interactions between them can also be useful when planning and delivering outdoor learning. This article will consider each element and identify opportunities for developing learning outcomes and improvement within outdoor learning.
Finding a space
A safe fire can be built in the smallest corner of a much bigger, messier and expansive environment. Outdoor learning spaces are inherently messy, but we too can find that corner of ground which is safe, stable and ripe for learning. As practitioners, we should consider the value of debris, unstable spaces and lessthan-perfect weather conditions; these elements can be key in developing spaces where learning can happen and curiosity can be piqued.
Outdoor learning happens in a physical space, preferably outdoors and likely somewhere green, blue or in urban greenspace. However, as we know, the most significant aspect of a physical space is the meaning that practitioners and participants attribute to it – be it land, water or sky. In my experience, I have seen a growing trend to disconnect outdoor learning from the uniqueness and nuance of physical spaces –activities are often used which are disconnected from the place they’re undertaken.
However, I strongly believe that good quality outdoor learning is firmly connected to its location (1). As practitioners, we should consider how to embed physical space into our practice – the way we use learning theories. For practitioners, I feel it is essential to consider how social, physical, geological and environmental histories coalesce to create our participants’ environment. For example, when operating in a woodland,
Author profile
consider what trees are around you and how they got to being there, where the watercourses come from in the woods and how they have affected the biome of that woodland, what the soil is like and why it is like that - these are all crucial factors that can be infused into outdoor learning. Identifying notable features in the physical space and the impact that humans have had on them allows outdoor learning to connect with sustainable development – by demonstrating the human impact on outdoor spaces, learners can begin to understand alternative ways of being in physical spaces.
The physical spaces we work with in outdoor learning need not look tidy and managed. We can build safe and inclusive outdoor learning spaces where we might build a fire - in one corner of a much messier and more expansive environmentwhich is ready to explore and ripe for learning.
Gathering sticks for fuel
Finding sticks is a necessary endeavour when building a fire, as is moderating how and when you use them – add too many too quickly and the fire will die out, add too few too slowly and there is nothing to carry the flame. As outdoor learning practitioners, we can view our activities as the fuel for our fire. Developing progressive challenges which are suited to the needs of the group and deploying them at the correct time are fundamental requirements in a positive outdoor learning environment.
When fuelling a fire, the intended outcome is a stable and consistent flame. In outdoor learning, we too start with the end in mind – learning outcomes allow us to progress with stability and consistency towards desired targets. I believe that such consistency can come from practitioners aligning their own values with desired learning outcomes. Understanding the value that underpins practice is an important first step to this process – trying asking, ‘what is the guiding belief that can be felt through your practice?’. From here, build an incisive question (2) that gets to the heart of your activities‘what would (activity) look like as a product of (value?)’. For example, if we ask ‘what would walking look like as a product of empowerment?’ we can gain greater clarity on what actions and activities might enable us to work within our values. We may, for example, encourage people to take an active role in planning the walk, get them to decide when and for how long we should take a break, encourage them to practice various navigational techniques etc.
Through this mode of practice, I feel it is easier to gain the consistency and clarity needed to fuel the fire of outdoor learning appropriately – maintaining the flame by keeping the end goal(s) in mind.
Creating the spark to ignite the fire
It’s easy to underestimate the impact of good instruction on how well a session goes. The spark which truly lights the fire can often be found in positive connection between the practitioner and participants. I believe that learning names and knowing who participants are as people is a vitally important step in this process. Fostering a connection between individuals allows us to build relationships that encourage participation, starting from the moment an instructor meets their participants. Distilling what makes a great instructor is a challenging task; no one thing makes an instructor great, all outdoor professionals bring something unique to their work. These unique qualities are integral to finding the spark.
A spark does not necessarily rely on the technical skills or qualifications of an outdoor instructor, but often on the human skills. How to listen, engage, present, speak, act, collaborate and think are fundamentally important to outdoor learning and are skills which can be learned and trained. However, for
new people coming into the industry, these human skills are often not taught or discussed in the same way as technical skills. Arguably, these skills are those that people innately possess and should pick up throughout their lives, but this isn’t true of everyone. Teaching these skills is essential in developing an inclusive workforce, so even people without the opportunity to develop these skills in earlier life can succeed in an outdoor learning career.
All it takes is a moment of positive connection to ignite the spark!
Conclusion
Finding a space, gathering sticks and creating the spark – as a framework, I am using this to consider the parts that make up the activity sessions we offer across our outdoor centre and how we might make incremental improvements to our practice in each of those three areas. How can a connection to physical spaces be encouraged? How can the activity be more aligned with our values? How can we develop the human skills of our instructors? Importantly, I don't think these need to be dramatic, revolutionary changes. The theory of marginal gains – which is the idea that lots of little changes can add up to significant change – inspires me. Thinking about outdoor education sessions through the lens of this fire model and identifying minor changes that can be made in each of the areas outlined within this article may be helpful in a range of contexts. I’m curious to know how this model applies to other settings, so if you do try using this model to develop your practice, please reach out to start the conversation p
References
1. Mannion, G. & Lynch, J., 2016. The Primacy of place in education in outdoor settings. In: B. Humberstone, H. Prince & K. Henderson, eds. International Handbook of Outdoor Studies. s.l.:Routledge, pp. 85-94.
2. Kline, N., 2019. Advisor Blog Central. [Online]. Available at: https://www. timetothink.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/incisive-questions.pdf. [Accessed 20 July 2024].
MAKE IT TANGIBLE!
Incorporating sustainability into a tertiary outdoor education curriculum
By Simon Beames, Ella Kjeldahl Nilsson, Kristian Abelsen, Elisabeth Enoksen, Jørgen Eriksen, Jannicke Høyem, Axel Rosenberg, and Thomas Vold
The term ‘sustainability’ is rather slippery. Most of us in education know that it is something that needs to be integrated into our teaching yet find it challenging to do in practice: we can’t grasp the concept firmly and put it to meaningful use. This has been our experience over the last few years of working on certificate and bachelor’s degree friluftsliv programmes in Norway. Even though some of our team of eight research and write about sustainability, and all of us try to ‘live it’ – to an admittedly flawed extent – in our personal lives, it was obvious that we needed to be more deliberate about how we incorporated themes of sustainability into our indoor and outdoor teaching. The question was ‘how?’.
We eight authors work at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo. At NIH (the Norwegian acronym for the institution), everything from a one-year certificate to a PhD in friluftsliv - roughly translated to ‘outdoor life’ - is on offer. Sustainability features in NIH’s strategic plan, in our friluftsliv programme plans, and (supposedly) in each of our courses. This short article recounts our journey thus far of incorporating sustainability into our teaching and offers insights into what has worked and what has not, so that those working in universities, outdoor centres, schools, and outdoor organisations might find an idea or two that can be adapted to their own contexts.
A
‘joined
up’ approach to sustainability
We’ll start by saying that we have tried to work with the topic of sustainability over the last few years. Some actions that we took include: writing a sustainability manifesto for our programme (1); moving many of the locations for our multi-day trips much closer to campus and having fewer but longer-lasting trips to reduce carbon emissions per days out; making many of the starts and finishes of these trips accessible by public transport; organising an international online debate on the ethics of outdoor education programmes running trips in faraway places (2); incorporating a sustainability assessment in all outdoor teaching planning documents; and undertaking a deep inquiry into how one could take a step-by-step, highly considered approach to buying the most sustainable shell jacket (3). These examples are listed to show that we have been working on bringing sustainability into our professional practice. The trouble was that, despite our best intentions, it all felt a little ad-hoc. How could we make our efforts to bring sustainability into our teaching more ‘joined up’?
To do this, we decided to adopt the same approach that we took for the ‘most sustainable shell jacket’ initiative: we used a practitioner inquiry (PI) approach which involved us doing research on ourselves. PI involves educators becoming the agents of their own learning by systematically and intentionally investigating practice within their institutions (4). Central to PI is the ‘inquiry community’, which takes on the role of researchers who ‘interrogate the assumptions and values that underlie their practices’ (4).
As with the shell jacket inquiry, our first main source of data was our own audio recordings of our meetings, where we debated and discussed the key themes that had been extracted from the previous one. It was important to have a starting point and it was decided that a logical place to begin would be to hear from our students and gain an understanding of the ways in which they thought we incorporated sustainability into our teaching, the ways which we did not, and the ways that we could do in the future. Here we were handed a gift, in that one of our team members was completing her master’s dissertation on that very topic. Thank-you Ella!
TANGIBLE!
The student perspective
The first stage of our inquiry thus revolved around Ella presenting her findings to us. Were our students experiencing sustainability in our teaching in ways that were different from that which we had intended? Ella’s data revealed five principal themes: carbon emissions, knowledge sharing, finances as driver, influences and role models, and ideas for integrating sustainability into our teaching (5).
First, in terms of associated carbon emissions, the students noted that we staff chose how to travel and where to travel to, while they chose their personal clothing and equipment. Second, the students wanted to have someone with expertise to tell them how to make their outdoor activities more sustainability conscious – something akin to a recipe book. They felt that every course should have more sustainability-focused literature on the reading list, and they wanted more knowledge and experience shared by the older students – something Bester and colleagues (6) refer to as ‘near peer teaching’. The third finding was that, despite what students may feel is the most ethically supportable course of action, it is their individual financial states that have the greatest influence on what kind of clothing, equipment and food is bought – not what item has been produced with the smallest or gentlest ecological footprint. Fourth, students highlighted how they are highly influenced by what staff and their fellow students do. Any sociological textbook will explain how we are all shaped by our social surroundings and outdoor communities are no different. Are staff wearing a different, shiny new GoreTex jacket on each trip, or are they wearing a functional and well-maintained garment that has seen a lot of time in the field? The final theme captured students’ ideas on how we could better integrate sustainability into our teaching. They wanted more information on the carbon emissions associated with travelling to the various trip locations, workshops on how to repair gear, and sessions about how technical clothing and equipment is manufactured. In a nutshell, they wanted sustainability to be less abstract and more concrete. For them and for us, sustainability was so important, yet almost too enormous and overwhelming to be worked with. Their central message was, make it tangible!
Right. How do we make sustainability tangible?!
The question of how to make such a large and abstract subject tangible took us to the next stage in our practitioner inquiry. We continued to meet, discuss and debate. We recorded our conversations and analysed them afterwards to take away key points for action. After four rounds of this process, we arrived at two main conclusions. The first was that we are actually doing some things well. For example: we now bring-in the ‘Sewing Tour’ team from the manufacturer Bergans to run workshops on how to patch clothing and repair zippers; we bought wool, thread, assorted textiles, and a range of zippers, and created a repair zone in our equipment room; we started a ‘buy, sell, trade’ area in the equipment room, where students and staff can pass on gear not being used and get a deal on something they might need. Good things were happening, but we staff wanted more and we wanted this done in a more organised manner.
This led us to the second conclusion, which was that we would create a checklist for a ‘sustainability driven’ course. This list would apply to all of the courses in our catalogue, with particular emphasis on those courses that have historically not been overtly focused on learning for sustainability. Check out our course checklist below.
1. Sustainability must feature in at least one of the course’s learning outcomes (typically there are three to five per course).
2. Identify two or three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are directly related to the course content and address these with the students.
3. Have at least two sustainability readings on the course reading list. Bonus points if one of these readings is related to indigenous knowledge and practices.
4. Involve students in decisions about where overnight trips take place. This gives students greater agency regarding how a trip’s intended learning outcomes can be achieved.
5. For trips off-campus, estimate the travel-based carbon emissions per person, per day. How does this compare between the different locations and modes of transport?
6. For multi-day trips off-campus, teach skills and knowledge that are relevant to, and ‘demanded’, by that place.
7. Have students maintain and repair damaged equipment on campus and on trips.
8. Facilitate sessions where students can critically reflect on their own relationships with nature and discuss how this may equip them to live in a more pro-sustainability manner.
Conclusions
Our efforts to integrate the vast topic of sustainability into our teaching are part of an ongoing, never-ending journey. We have learned a lot through this process, despite its initial (though very necessary) messiness and we continue to learn constantly. We would love to learn from readers about the concrete ways in which they have incorporated learning for sustainability into their own teaching. Please contact Simon (details below) if you would like to share what you do with us. Perhaps there is a more communal physical or online space where interested parties could exchange ideas; we eight are keen to learn from others.
Being an outdoor educator while living in an era of climate and ecological crisis is hard work. It feels to us that we are role models who have high standards for our students and members of the public, yet live with our own sustainability contradictions and imperfections on display. Our aim is to constantly improve the ways in which we weave sustainability into our personal and professional lives in a structured way. Despite the enormity of this task, in the teaching part of our lives, our students have given us a very clear message to be heeded: make it tangible! p
Get in touch at simonbe@nih.no
References
1. Eriksen, J.W. (2019). Urbanes Friluftsliv. Betrifft Sport: Praxis für den Schulsport (pp. 32- 33). Meyer & Meyer.
2. NIH. (2024). Sustainability and overnight trips in outdoor education. https://www.nih.no/ english/research/osf/content/sustainabilityand-overnight-trips.html
3. Beames, S., Høyem, J., van Kraalingen, I., Eriksen, J., Vold, T., Abelsen, K., Rosenberg, A. & Augestad, T. (2022). The jacket: Making sustainable clothing choices in outdoor education. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 26. https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/ article/view/1879
4. Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S.L. (Eds.). (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher research and knowledge. Teachers College Press.
5. Nilsson, E.K. (2023). “Make it tangible!”: Exploring university students’ perception of environmental sustainability in friluftsliv studies. Masters dissertation, University of South-Eastern Norway.
6. Bester, L., Muller, G., Munge, B., Morse, M., & Meyers, N. (2017). Those who teach learn: Near-peer teaching as outdoor environmental education curriculum and pedagogy. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 20, 35–46 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03401001
student perspectives
Roger Scrutton explores student perceptions of their personal effectiveness
Author profile
Roger Scrutton is an Honorary Research Fellow in Outdoor and Environmental Education at the University of Edinburgh, previously Reader in Geophysics at Edinburgh. He uses quantitative methodologies to evaluate outdoor education for the personal, social and academic benefits for young people. Amongst other things, he is Chair of Trustees of Friends of Benmore Outdoor Centre, a member of the Public Engagement Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and heavily involved in the delivery of orienteering in the UK.
Introduction
We are well aware of the large volume of quantitative and qualitative research that demonstrates the value of residential outdoor learning (OL) for young people. The ‘residential’ is a different and exciting learning environment where well-planned activities deliver affective, cognitive and interdisciplinary learning opportunities. The benefits that accrue from these experiences feed back into participants’ perceptions of their own personal, social and academic effectiveness (perceived abilities). This article discusses one way in which these benefits manifest themselves in quantitative research data and what this tells us about young peoples’ self-perceptions, with the intention of developing a more informed understanding of the context under which residential OL takes place.
Working with the quantitative research data
Quantitative research on the impact of residential OL typically takes an experimental approach, measuring the change between participants’ self-report scores (usually through a questionnaire) in tests before and after the residential course (pre-test and post-test). Respondents’ scores from each aspect of the questionnaire (usually called dimensions, e.g. self-confidence, self-efficacy, stress management – see Table 1) are then used to calculate a mean average, which becomes the reported statistic. However, very rarely published is the order of these mean scores from highest to lowest in each of the tests - that is, their rank order from highest scoring dimension at the top to lowest scoring dimension at the bottom. Using the Review of Personal Effectiveness (ROPE) questionnaire (1) with students on residentials I became aware that the rank orders of mean scores are remarkably similar from test to test. By way of an example, Table 2 shows the rank order of dimensions from tests conducted by Loynes et al. (2) with students from schools in England.
Checking the validity of the pattern
A next step was to find out if this rank order, which seems to be much the same from test to test, is more widespread in the quantitative research literature than just a few instances. Although the rank order of mean scores is rarely published, a literature search yielded another fifty sets of mean scores using the
ROPE questionnaire from which rank orders could be established. Source material related to students ranging in age from ten to twenty years, males and females, several residential course types and in different countries - well in excess of 1000 students altogether. The rank orders were all more-or-less the same. The averaged results are presented in Table 3.
It should be noted that these are average ranking positions for the dimensions across many tests: moreover, it is to be expected that individual student rankings would deviate from this average, but clearly not so different as to break down the overall pattern. To be confident that the rank order is meaningful and to make sure after averaging that, for example, active involvement really is above self-confidence in the rankings, it was necessary to conduct some statistical tests. Tests found that any dimensions more than two or more rank positions apart are indeed in the right rank order. Further, it is seen that the rank orders do not change very much from pretest scores to post-test scores, indicating that despite residentials delivering positive benefit (as reflected in higher questionnaire scores in the post-test) this benefit is sufficiently positive across all dimensions so as not to create large changes in rank order. And, finally, the rank order where a control group was used in the experiment is much the same as the order in the experimental group (see Table 2 for example). The picture really does seem to be universal.
What are the implications?
The following is a brief consideration of what the average rank order (Table 3) tells us about students’ self-perception of their abilities and personal/social/academic effectiveness, which is the aim of the ROPE questionnaire. There seems to be a high-ranking group comprising quality seeking, active involvement and open thinking, conveying a sense of motivation and determination, and a low-ranking group comprising more personal abilities, such as coping with change, self-efficacy, and stress management. Finally, in-between the high and low-ranking groups there are the more social abilities of cooperative teamwork, leadership ability and social efficacy. The high-ranking group is tentatively interpreted as students perceiving themselves as having greatest effectiveness in their abilities related to achievement, probably academic achievement, given that they are all young people in education. Although self-efficacy is considered to lie behind an individual’s perception of their ability to achieve (3), because it has a low rank position here it is possible that self-confidence, rather than perceived self-efficacy, is the more likely determinant of students’ selfperception as achievers.
Self-efficacy sits within the low-ranking group, where students appear to feel less confident of their abilities in areas related to the personal or affective dimensions of life, such as coping with change
and stress management. Given that the rationale behind so many residential OL courses is to foster self-efficacy, resilience and what is generally called personal and social development or even ‘character building’, it is surprising that these dimensions are not more highly ranked or move up the rankings from pre-test to post-test. However, rankings are relative, and while scores on these affective dimensions are, on average, rather low on the ROPE scale, they are in most instances seen to increase from pre-test to post-test, yet by no more than the scores given to other dimensions. It is also important to note that our years in education are the years of our greatest emotional development (4), which might lead students to be cautious in allocating high scores on the affective dimensions of life. Be that as it may, there is now a strong view that the greatest benefit from residential OL is realised when learning in both the affective and cognitive domains takes place and then interact in a mutually reinforcing way to produce a positive outcome (5).
The position of time efficiency, firmly anchored at the bottom of the rankings, is of particular interest. Even in surveys where time efficiency has delivered a large increase in scores between pre- and post-tests it remains very low in the rankings. This seems at odds with the high ranking of dimensions such as quality seeking and active involvement, areas in which time management is seen as desirable (6). A possible explanation in this case is that young people have very few opportunities to learn and practice time management, given that they have classes, work submissions and possibly social commitments at established times. This is an area that requires further research to establish why students feel so clearly that they are less effective at time efficiency than all other listed dimensions.
Conclusion
Despite all the caveats discussed here, it does seem that students perceive themselves as more effective in areas that might lead to achievement as opposed to personal abilities as a result of residential OL. Taken overall, this could be seen as a canvas upon which we plan and deliver effective residential OL courses. The rankings are relative, however, and there is plenty of research to show that personal and social abilities interact with cognitive abilities to underpin academic progress, achievement and effectiveness – it's important to remember that all dimensions are important p
References
1. Richards, G.E., Ellis, L.A. & Neill, J.T. (2002). The ROPELOC: Review of personal effectiveness and locus of control: A comprehensive instrument for reviewing life effectiveness. Paper presented at Self Concept Research: Driving international research agendas, 6-8 August 2002, Sydney.
2. Loynes, C., Dudman, J. & Hedges, C. (2021). The impact of residential experiences on pupils’ cognitive and non-cognitive development in year six (10 –11 year olds) in England. Education 3-13, 49(4), 398-411.
3. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Self-esteem. https://dictionary.apa.org/ self-esteem, accessed September, 2024.
4. Backes, E. P., Bonnie, R. J., & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). Adolescent Development. In The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. National Academies Press (US).
5. Scrutton, R.A. (2020). Investigating the process of learning for school pupils on residential outdoor education courses. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 23(1), 39-56
6. Adams, R. V., & Blair, E. (2019). Impact of Time Management Behaviours on Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Performance. SAGE Open, 9(1). https:// doi.org/10.1177/2158244018824506, accessed September, 2024
LIFELONG
Dr Roger Hopper walks us through the latest government initiatives on lifelong learning and what benefits they may hold for outdoor learning practitioners who are at the beginning, middle or end of their careers
Author profile
Dr Roger Hopper is an educational developer at University of Plymouth, where he supports the development of new courses, modules and programmes etc. Roger was involved in the development of the Level 3 Activity Instructor and Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist apprenticeship standards. He is the developer of the National Outdoor Learning Award and a Leading Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning. His passion is enabling personalised learning for all ages, needs and contexts.
Increasingly, there is a shortage of people with the skills that employers are seeking and a workforce who wish to work and train in a more flexible way (1). Over the past few years, in response to this and other trends, there have been several government initiatives associated with supporting lifelong learning. Some of these initiatives have become policy, most are evolving, and the landscape of lifelong learning is changing.
Summary of government initiatives
The ‘Review of Post-18 Education and Funding’ report (2) made many recommendations. Some of these related to addressing the training needs of the 50% of 18–30 year olds who do not go to university and older non-graduates. The report acknowledges that employment patterns are changing, with shorter job cycles and longer working lives requiring people to reskill and upskill. In 2023, the government passed the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act which will change the way higher education is funded. The act will bring significant changes to the student finance system. At present, student finance is allocated on the length of a full course or degree programme. The Act enables fee limits to be set for short courses, parts of a degree (i.e. modules), full courses and degree programmes - based not on the length of time, but on the number of academic credits. This reform to funding goes along-
-side the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) (3). From 2026, LLE will provide learners with a loan entitlement equivalent to four years of post-18 education that can be used over the course of their working lives until the age of 60. This tuition fee loan equates to £37,000 (at today’s fees). The LLE also provides a maintenance loan to cover living costs for courses and programmes with in-person attendance.
In the first instance, learners will be able to apply for funding in September 2025 for courses and modules commencing from January 2026. The LLE loan will fund:
• Most full courses from level 4 to 6 – this includes undergraduate degrees, and Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs).
• Individual or groups of modules from technical level 4 to 5 qualifications.
• Postgraduate certificates in education (PGCE).
• Postgraduate healthcare courses.
• Integrated master’s degrees (a 4 year programme which awards a master’s degree on top of a bachelor’s degree).
The expectation is that there will be a phased approach with an expansion of modular funding to more courses and subjects from the 2027-2028 academic year. In addition to the above changes, in July 2024 the government announced that they will transfer the functions of the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfATE) to a new Skills England (1). It is not yet certain when this transfer of functions will occur. Skills England will have an emphasis on devolution which is seen as a positive step towards tailoring training and funds towards local needs. This should enable co-creation between businesses, colleges and training providers at a local level, to create and implement training programmes directly aligned with local economic priorities.
LEARNING
Now, employers pay into a levy pot which is then used to fund the training of apprentices working towards completing an apprenticeship standard (e.g. Level 3 Activity Instructor and Level 5 Outdoor Learning Specialist). Presently, the levy money is only available to be used to fund apprenticeships. Skills England will place an emphasis on a more flexible approach to the apprenticeship levy parameters. A more flexible approach implies that the levy money could be used by employers to also fund other forms of training.
Possible opportunities for the outdoor sector
For all of us who operate as outdoor professionals there should be a growing array of opportunities for you to access training in a more flexible way. Examples include:
• The ability to access funding to study for a degree/qualification until you are aged 60.
• The ability to study just part of a degree/qualification - e.g. one module within a degree.
• The opportunity to start your degree with one training provider and then easily transfer to another.
• The opportunity to study on different courses/modules in different subject areas with different training providers.
• The ability to study enough individual courses/modules to accrue enough credits to equate to a whole qualification - such as a whole degree.
• The opportunity to study in a more flexible way that suits your lifestyle - work/home-life, carer/parent responsibilities etc.
One applied example might be a Centre Manager who already has a bachelors’ degree in outdoor education, but would like to upskill in a specific area. Their family/work life balance means that completing a master’s degree would be too time consuming and financially impactful. However, with their remaining LLE entitlement they could complete one module of a master’s degree in outdoor learning. To maintain their work/ family commitments and complete the learning in their own time (some evenings and weekend study), they choose to study the module as a distance learning course.
Another such example might be an outdoor instructor who left mainstream education when they were 18, has worked in the outdoor sector for five years and has a broad suite of National Governing Body qualifications. They have decided that they want to pursue a lifelong career in the outdoors and would like to get a degree level qualification. They use their LLE to start studying at a university. They complete two years of their three-year degree, but, because of financial pressures, must stop studying as a fulltime student and go back to work. The employer wants to support the instructor to complete their degree and so they use their levy fund to enable the instructor to complete their degree on a part-time basis over the next three years.
Conclusion
The permutations of the flexible options will evolve as training providers respond to the detail of the policies. However, there is also a shift in emphasis towards devolution of governance from central government to regional administrations. Regional administrations are influenced by local needs. They are therefore likely to direct funding for training towards what employers need. Therefore, the outdoor sector has an opportunity to influence where funding is directed and ultimately what training providers offer.
At present, much of the legislative policy implies funding will be directed towards what is currently understood to be fundable (e.g. qualifications, degrees etc.). However, this could change. For example, it’s not inconceivable to envision professional frameworks (e.g. LPIOL) and governing body technical qualifications being recognised as credit bearing. Ultimately, much of what the outdoor sector offers as outdoor learning could start to become fundable. This may of course mean aligning with some sort of qualifications framework, but the framework itself is also evolving. Therefore, if the outdoor sector has the desire, over the horizon there is the opportunity to influence and shape the new landscape of lifelong learning p
References
1. GOV.UK (2024) Skills England to transform opportunities and drive growth. Available at: gov.uk/government/news/ skills-england-to-transform-opportunities-and-drivegrowth (Accessed: 19 September 2024).
2. GOV.UK (2019). Post-18 review of education and funding: independent panel report. Available at: gov.uk/government/publications/ post-18-review-of-education-and-fundingindependent-panel-report. (Accessed: 19 September 2024).
3. GOV.UK (2024) Lifelong Learning Entitlement Overview. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/ lifelong-learning-entitlementlle-overview/lifelong-learningentitlement-overview (Accessed: 19 September 2024).
seasonal foraging
In this latest article of the series, Lizzy Maskey takes as through what you should be looking out for as the weather gets colder
Lizzy Maskey runs Pippin & Gile, a bushcraft school based in the South-East established in 2018. Lizzy has been teaching outdoor education since 2013 and moved to formalise and extend her bushcraft knowledge in 2016. Lizzy launched Pippin & Gile after returning from cycling 9000km to Kazakhstan unsupported. When not cycling or teaching, Lizzy is always looking to learn and develop and can be found exploring hedgerows and muddy puddles across the UK and around the world.
nettle tops (Urtica dioica) and herbs such as marjoram (Origanum vulgare), water mint Mentha aquatica) and wild thyme Thymus polytrichus). Sautéed wild winter greens with a little onion, lots of butter and a splash of water is a delicious and effortless way to enjoy these delights - either on their own or mixed together to liven up a winter kale.
Often foraging is associated with autumn and the time of harvest as this is when nature’s wild bounties are really on best display. However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t an incredible range of foraging opportunities throughout the year, you just have to think a little harder about where to look.
Winter foraging
Our foraging and preserving course looks at a wide range of unique styles of preservation to enable the gluts of autumn to be enjoyed throughout the coming months and years. This is achieved by adding acids, sugars, alcohol, drying and or heating, all of which make the food unsuitable for spoilage organisms to live on. Throughout the winter I am using my stores of nuts, seeds, and preserved berries, drinks, herbs and pickles to supplement what I can forage as the pickings get slimmer.
Until the first frosts there will still be numerous greens available, often getting a last gasp of light into their roots for overwintering. Keep an eye out for burdock (Arctium minus or Arctium lappa), dandelion (Taraxacum sp.), common sorrel (Rumex acetosa), young bramble shoots (Rubus fruticosus), ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria),
There are also some berries, fruits and seeds that will stay on the plant right up until the spring. It is still a good time to be collecting haws (Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata), rowan berries (Sorbus aucuparia), rose hips (Rosa sp.), hog weed seeds (Heracleum sphondylium), any of the wild mustard seeds (Brassicaceae), crab apples (Malus sylvestris) and, depending on your area, sloes (Prunus spinosa). All of these can be used to create tasty vitamin filled delights, that will move you closer to the currently lauded thirty different plants a week guide – which is recommended by research from the American Gut Project. The research found that eating over thirty different plant species or colours each week dramatically aids the biome of your gut, increasing overall health and wellbeing. These thirty can be made up from vegetables, fruit, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, as well as herbs and spices. Different colours of the same vegetable count towards the total too, due to the different polyphenols (a type of chemical) found in the different colours of plant. For more information, have a read of this article
Author profile
young
Hawthorn Haws
Burdock
Rose hips
Ground Elder
Winter activities
As well as foraging, the slower and often calmer wintertime is a great time to focus on identifying trees in their different stageslook at bud structures and growing patterns. Are the branches of the trees reaching for the sky, like an ash does? Are the branches growing in an opposite formation, alternate or spiralling? What shape is the overall tree? Tall and thin or wide and circular? Does the tree have a single trunk or multiple trunks? Draw yourself a map, either mentally or physically, especially noting the trees that you want to return to when they might have something you can forage from them. It's also worth noting any that you cannot identify to species level so you can return to them when they are in leaf – this is often very helpful for getting a correct identification.
Winter is colder and darker, encouraging me to spend longer inside, and what better way to do that than by cooking delicious dishes for myself and others that I love?
The winter is also the time when shooting tends to happen. Deer culls often take place in the autumn though to winter and many of the bird shoots restart in October, meaning that it is a good time of the year to fill up freezers and fridges with free ranging and often cheaper meat.
The recipe I’ll be focussing on for this issue is a hot oak smoked pigeon breast. We serve this with a foraged meal as part of our foraging and preserving course each September. Adapted from a recipe for farmed duck, it works well with a wide variety of dark meats.
Our hot oak smoked pigeon is delicious sliced thinly and served either as part of a charcuterie board or just as a pre-dinner nibble.
Smoked pigeon breast
If you don’t have a supply of pigeon and want one – Giving up the Game on Facebook is a very useful group. Alternatively, this works well with duck too, although it will be less dried due to the large size of the breast and the layer of fat on the meat, which means I tend to serve this hot as a whole duck breast rather than slicing it thinly with the pigeon.
Ingredients
• 2 pigeon breasts
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 100g salt
• 100g light brown sugar
• 2 bay leaves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons oak shavings
Method
1. Add all the dry ingredients (bar the oak shavings) into a bowl and mix well.
2. Pour half across the bottom of a shallow dish and place the breasts on top.
3. Cover the breasts with the second half.
4. Leave in the fridge for two hours.
5. Rinse off the cure and pat the pigeon breasts dry with kitchen towel.
6. Leave the pigeon breasts in a shallow bowl in the fridge for eight hours - they will have a tacky and leathery appearance at this point.
7. Spread the oak sawdust over the bottom of your smoking tin or Dutch oven. We use a fish kettle at home, but any dish with a tight-fitting lid will work.
8. Place a cake tray or similar rack on top and the pigeon breasts on top of this - making sure it doesn’t touch the sawdust. If they are at risk of touching the sawdust, place the rack on some small wooden blocks.
9. Cook on a reasonably high heat for fifteen minutes. Cut one of the breasts open at this point – you're aiming for the pigeon to be just pink still in the middle (or to taste). If it isn’t there yet, put back in for three minutes or so and check regularly. (This step can also be done inside an oven, on the hob or over a fire. A high temperature (about 190 degrees) with directional heat from the bottom ensures that smoking takes place and the pigeon is not just baked.)
10. Enjoy either hot or cold - it goes very well with spiced crab apple jelly.
Storage: It will last in the fridge for 2-3 days, if it isn’t all eaten before then! p
Pigeon and halloumi smoking
Cured pigeon before smoking
Cured pigeon before smoking
Hot oak smoked pigeon breast with bread and sauteed greens
Hot oak smoked pigeon breast with bread and sauteed greens
IN PROFILE
In this issue Horizons spoke to Dr Jack Reed, an outdoor learning educator, researcher and practitioner
Jo Barnett: Welcome to Horizons Jack! Can you tell us about your recent work in outdoor learning?
Dr Jack Reed: In 2023, I finished my PhD which considered how young people’s residential outdoor education in England, Wales and Scotland is affected by the use of mobile technologies and social media. Outdoor learning is such a unique space because often young people don’t have access to their phones, which they rely on for connection and friendship. I worked with the Outward Bound Trust on this piece of research and over three years I engaged with young people from three Outward Bound centres across the UK.
More recently, I’ve started a Postdoctoral position at the University of Exeter, working on a research programme called ‘Nature Recovery and Regional Development’. Here, I’m working with twelve rural local authorities in England and looking at how nature recovery ties into culture and the economy - both now and in the future.
Jo: Where did your interest in, and love for, the outdoors come from?
Jack: I was home educated by my parents from ten years old in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, right on the England-Wales border. You could open the back gate in the garden and be straight out into the woods. A lot of my early education wasn’t about textbooks or about learning in a kind of formal sense. It was more about going outside and playing or exploring. And that for me was such a formative experience in my life and has informed everything up to this point really in terms of my academic interests. My grandparents also had a really big impact on me. My grandfather was a freeminer in the Forest of Dean and his connection to place is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. He knows every single track. He knows almost every single tree. And the stories that he could tell about his experiences of being in that place and the way that he still connects to those environments is just so inspiring. So, for me there is a significant intergenerational element.
Jo: What’s been the thing that you are most proud of or pleased with in your career so far?
Jack: Receiving my PhD. That was a big moment for me, because I don’t have any GCSEs. I didn’t take any formal qualifications at the end of my home schooling, so achieving a doctoral qualification was a big thing for me. More specifically, I’m also really proud of the data collection I undertook for my PhD. I worked with young people aged twelve to seventeen who were from areas of multiple deprivation from three different UK cities. For all of those young people, it was their first experience of the outdoors beyond their home city. I saw the transformation of a young person arriving at the centre, fresh off the bus, and then getting back onto that bus seeing how much growth had come out of those five days and how their confidence and relationships had developed. It did give me a sense of, first of all, how important these spaces are for young people, but secondly, it also gave me a real sense of purpose and made me realise that I can make a difference through my research.
Jo: What do you think is the most important thing you have learned in your career to date?
Jack: The most important thing I’ve learned is to listen to what young people are telling you and to recognise that their voices are as important, if not more important, than the adult voices in the room – in the field of outdoor learning, we are undoubtedly in a data deficit in terms of young people’s voices. We don’t really know what young people think of how mobile
technologies affect their outdoor learning. If I could pass on one piece of advice to any centre manager, instructor, or policymaker considering mobile technologies and social media and their role within a programme, it would be: what do the young people say about it? I think that one of the big roles for us in outdoor learning is to help young people navigate their online spaces, recognise that they can put their phone down for a short period of time and that might be something that’s challenging, but also something that helps them disconnect in a safe and secure environment.
There’s a theory called ‘Networked Transfer’, which I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and working on. The power of having a piece of mobile technology with a group of young people so that they can create, say, a TikTok video that they can look back on for years to come – they can use it to remember that time they visited Scotland or visited the Lake District or, you know, whatever it might be, there is a power there. That adds a whole new layer to this idea of transfer.
Jo: What would be your top tip for someone starting a career in the outdoors?
Jack: I would say to always be curious, open minded, and to acknowledge that regardless of your stage of career there's always more to learn. This might mean learning practical skills –the way your pedagogy, your teaching works for participants, safety elements and technical skills. But this also means understanding the theory and some of the fantastic research work that's been put into outdoor learning over the last two decades or so. I think the combination of these two things is what makes a fantastic outdoor instructor or outdoor teacher; blending theory with practice and always remaining curious.
Jo: You have been really thinking about the future of outdoor learning in your work. So, what do you think is important going forwards?
Jack: I think there are three things that are really important. First of all, I think the place of outdoor learning in formal curricula is of the utmost importance. For me, it is critical that every single young person has access to an outdoor education experience – not an easy task, but I think that would be a really big win for young people. Secondly, I think how we communicate some of the benefits of outdoor education to policymakers and politicians is incredibly important. Can we measure these experiences in terms that better suit policy development – for example, what is the economic impact of outdoor education and what is the ‘value added’ from such experiences? And then thirdly, as we're in a climate and ecological crisis I think that exposing young people to the natural world and factoring in developing a sense of nature connection is important. Young people who are experiencing outdoor learning today are the leaders of the future – so encouraging them to cherish their natural environments is hugely important. Working with the leaders of tomorrow is one of the most important and most exciting things about the current and future role of outdoor learning p
All images provided by the author. Author retains copyright.
