Outdoor Activities: a present challenge in our new experiential education
Elena Moldovan PhD
enior lecturer
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport
Transilvania University,Brasov,Romania
Abstract
The new vision concerning this type of education defines it below psychosocial bearing, axiological but also practical, as a way of unrolling. Our study outlines elements that atomize the whole idea which involves principally ethic values as an expression of responsibility, respect, honesty, freedom, self-control and courage in the interpersonal youth relations. This analysis adopts the point of view according to which education involves the promotion of personal and social benefits of various kinds and in particular the idea of personal well being. It is argued that the promotion of this idea provides the most appropriate focus for the investigation of educational values of outdoor activities. There are a new valence of cognition and agreement in the authentic relation man-nature like the new values of health correlates more efficiently a physical and psychic valence of outdoor education. Finally, outdoor education and free spirit education atomize post-modernly the potentate find again of harmonious life with nature and society.
Keywords: outdoor activities, challenge, experiential education
Outdoor education is a logical response to the present widespread societal disconnection from immediate experience with nature-based living. Since industrialization created material wealth and humans have largely lost the simple cultural living skills, they now largely either fear returning to nature at all, or return scared and ill-prepared, thus feeling the need to drag along excessive amounts of equipment. In European countries, outdoor education programs are symptomatic of post-industrial societies suffering from prolonged and institutionalized disconnection from the natural environment. Outdoor education programs can be very valuable in helping individuals or groups to develop higher levels of functionality and consciousness, but unless longer-term, nature-based living systems are the real purpose, then the value resources and efforts used for a foray into the woods remain somewhat questionable. Outdoor activities are a real challenge in our experiential education because we try to discover their impact on all young people personality.The development of a balanced personality, both physically and spiritually, maintaining a proper health state as well as creating independent leisure activities The desire to fight against passive leisure, trying to find a lot of attractive solutions for spending leisure time, including sports activities
Outdoor activities supports: enjoying physical activities in a natural scenery; a large number of morally focused activities; active leisure , thus reaching a physical and spiritual balance that is reflected by the individual’s personality; young people also learn to better understand themselves; Better knowledge of the world;
Issues concerning the meaning of education values and training aspects of OUTDOOR EDUCATION: adequate use of teaching strategies according to the various learning stages; selection of outdoor education activities that apply to particular education goals;
The ideal and the reason for outdoor education activities
IDEAL
The development of a balanced personality, both physically and spiritually, maintaining a proper health state as well as creating independent leisure activities.
REASON
The desire to fight against passive leisure, trying to find a lot of attractive solutions for spending leisure time, including sports activities.
Outdoor activities supports:
- enjoying physical activities in a natural scenery;
- a large number of morally focused activities;
- active leisure , thus reaching a physical and spiritual balance that is reflected by the individual’s personality;
- young people also learn to better understand themselves;
- better knowledge of the world;
The goals of outdoor education activities are:
- personal and social education;
- allowing activities to take place in nature;
- matching young people’s knowledge and skills so as to obtain a balance between the physical and the spiritual;
Complex goals:
- a way of developing relationships;
- help for solving conflicts that take place between individuals or groops;
- outdoor education, the emphasis for the subject of learning is placed on relationships;
- a way of making individuals responsible;
- a way of continuous learning out of multiple experiences ;
Issues concerning the meaning of education values and training aspects of OUTDOOR EDUCATION: adequate use of teaching strategies according to the various learning stages; selection of outdoor education activities that apply to particular education goals;
Educational programs function as:
- a basis in the education process
- a form of pedagogy
- a learning process of constant and progressive experiencing
A way of including changes in the following fields:
- Perception of own personality;
- Relationships involving other individuals;
- The relationship with the environment;
- A way for young people to use their skills;
- An activity with a large educational impact;
Expected educational results
- testing the physical and mental endurance of the body ;
- developing new skills and techniques for rock climbing and survival in the mountainside;
- developing the personality and the self confidence
- developing creativity, a sense of responsibility and positive thinking;
- developing leader skills;
- team work and the possibility to bond new friendships;
- developing the ability to take very important decisions and manage the most important issues:
- deploying tasks;
The extent to which knowledge of social and ethical nature, acquired in educational institutions is implemented into practice is influenced by a complex of situational factors and difficult to assess. Important for educational activities is to transmit a social knowledge and encourage the implementation of social behaviour. Outdoor adventure education seems to be an appropriate setting in which such of the following processes can take place.
1. Establising the social category and the educational factor
1.The educational factor
2. Leisure time education
3. Motivational strategies:- Generating new opportunities and crossing barriers;
- Avoiding anxiety ;
- Developing a group belonging;
2. Establishing the general educational objectives for the outdoor activities reasons involving affection
- Knowing and learning various ways of practicing outdoor education activities in order to have a better health.
- Developing new skills for orientation and cooperation
3. Establishing the particular education objectives belonging to the outdoor education activity
- Developing the will and knowledge
- The capacity to adjust their tendencies
- Stimulating creativity
- Encouraging group involvement
- A better social atmosphere within the group
4. Establishing rules and statuses within the group
With its experience as a mountain guide, the group leader ensures:
Other social and educational factors :
Ensuring a better confidence between the group members, suggestions from the Faculty Professors, suggestions from other persons that have been accompanied by the same group leader in the same trip, observing, discussing and asking the group.
Participants are required to attend a decisive meeting a month before the activity takes place. They will be informed about the trip, the location and the way it is supposed to take place. The required equipment will also be established as well as the financial resources. Attendants will be asked about their practicing sports and if they like doing outdoor activities.
The leader will observe the group features:
Educational interventions while the outdoor activity takes place, using signs for direction, knowledge about the rock aspect focusing on group discussing.
The skills of the leader:
Compulsory skills:
1. Basic skills
Physical skills like the ability to climb mountains;
2. Mental skills: establishing direction using: signs, maps, compass, environment protection and knowledge about health risks.
3. Complex skills: recognizing the route; stimulating creativity by proposing several contests: “Who has the best knowledge about trees?”, “What do natural phenomena resemble with?” etc.
4. Major skills :
The leader's teaching skills, the power to properly communicate with the group members; coherent expression; the ability to react rapidly in the case of time and resources risks; full confidence in the leader’s ability; respecting ethical standards
Knowledge about several fields of science, focusing on mountain tourism, information about routes, mountain chalets health risks, and other relevant information about the group features.
Example of different outdoor activities:
- Rope garden activities
- Acid lake
- Socialization games
The present study is focused on the effects in the outdoor activities plan results, as well as on the inherent challenges of these activities. The present study evaluates the outdoor education activities’ efficiency developed at the Specialized Center in Sovata over the personality features of the students’ group. The present analysis sets a sight on self-knowledge and stimulation of observation over the others. It followed up the influence and modifications determined by the outdoor education activities over the personality features of the students.
The successes obtained within some human activity domains suppose the existence of some psychic assets. These represent individual characteristics of people, which constitute themselves as a condition of accomplishing some activities at superior levels.
In the present essay, we present results of a study regarding the knowledge of personality features, in order to understand the dynamics of retracing outdoor education activities. Those personality traces were highlighted, which can contribute to the success of retracing outdoor education activities.
Therefore, we have to keep in mind the fact that the subjects who retrace the programs of outdoor education activities, are demanded twice, on one hand by the activity conditions and on the other hand, from social and psychological point of view, due to their interactions with other participants. Knowing the personality traces of the subjects, contributes to the concrete settlement of the educational objectives of a activity program in open air which has as purpose the build-up of some attitudes, like self-respect and respect towards others, development of some personality traces, of some healthy life habits and customs, these constituting the expectations of the educational act of the outdoor education activities. (Moldovan, E., 2007, pag 294).
Determination and improvement of psychic assets of the human personality, through appreciation, play an important role in people’s every-day life, which have to realize both the other’s possibilities and their own possibilities as well. (Zapan, Gh.,1984,pag 112).
The outdoor education activities have implications in: physical, psychic and emotional plan. As a result of involvement in these types of activities, the participants appropriate themselves a series of abilities and competencies which contribute to the betterment of their personal performances, and acknowledgment by the group members of the obstacles which aggravate the course of activities in open air contribute to the development of personalities, within the programs as well as in the “real life” (Humberstone, B.J., 1997,pag 11.).
The main objective of the open-air activities is to encourage the development of some personality traces with large social acceptance: initiative, perseverance, optimism, will, organizational aptitudes, courage, organizational and special aptitudes (Feşteu, D., 1999, pag 20). Also, in the personality features analysis, the dynamics, which characterizes them, has to be taken into consideration, the sudden or gradual changes which take place at their level. Also, the conditions in which these changes happen and the psychological and social factors, which contribute to their change, have to be set. The dynamical character of the open-air activities determines differentially attitudes as well, towards the developed activity and differentially relations between the group members. With other words, an individual doesn’t show the exact same type of behavior or attitude in relation with the developed activity and every other members.
There are also situations, when one and the same subject can show different aptitudes and behaviors towards the developed activity and the same person. Starting from these premises, we ask ourselves, which personality features predispose to a bigger dynamic of motivating the subjects to develop activities and interpersonal relations set with other?
Motivation, which was at the base of choosing the theme for the present study, derives exactly from the need of knowing those psychic features and particularities of personality, which influence the motivation of participation at outdoor activities in order to intervene in case of some disordered happenings at the level of appreciation of these kinds of activities.
Experimental hypothesis of this examination was to suppose that the open air activities will influence significantly the student group’s personality features that run the activities according to the analytical program of the course „Outdoor education”.
The most common and natural path for determining personality features is appreciation, the examination materializing in the qualitative evaluation on the basis of a appreciation scale of personality features at the students group.
The investigation was done in the 2007-2008 session at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Braşov by applying to a number of 33 students in the 3rd year, a questionnaire in two phases, at the first course and at the end of the practical essay within the “Outdoor education” course.
Research methods. In this research, we used the documentation method, the observation method, the investigation method in the questionnaire form, the statistical-mathematical method and graphical method.
Evaluation of the personality features search for their objective and realistic identification. We asked the students to organize in importance order and in their share in the tourism activities, by marking on an appreciation scale from 1 to 10 the following personality features: initiative, optimism, perseverance, organizational aptitudes, will, courage, special aptitudes, responsibility, correctness and critical spirit.
The questionnaire model for appreciating personality features:
„Answer by marking from 1 to10 which of the personality features from the chart below you consider important and influenced you the most in the outdoor activities.
Centralization, systematization and processing the obtained data: according to the student’s answers in the questionnaires, we centralized the data according to the appreciation scale of the personality features expressed by them, to get to a differential image of the personality features.
In this sense the picked data from the student’s questionnaires were centralized, systematized and processed in a chart, as if follows: the sum was calculated, which in this experiment represented the sum of the products between the number of observations and the position on the appreciation scale and the average which represents the sum divided to the number of subjects in the group (33 subjects).
The results of the ranks given to the values of the average personality features at the group of students (initial testing)
Calculationa example:
-courage:
8 students appreciate courage by number 1 on appreciation scale ; 8 x 1 = 8
6 students appreciate courage by number 2 on appreciation scale; 6 x 2 = 12
7 students appreciate courage by number 3 on appreciation scale; 7 x 3 = 21
9 students appreciate courage by number 4 on appreciation scale; 9 x 4 = 36
3 students appreciate courage by number 5 on appreciation scale; 3 x 5 = 15
Total = 92
Average: 92 : 33(number of students) = 2,78
The results of the ranks given to the values of the average personality features at the group of students (final testing)
We present you the results of the personality feature’s appreciation according to the average obtained at the initial and final testing at the student group (4th year) who went through the analytical program within the „Outdoor education” program.
The results of the ranks given to the values of the average personality features at the group of students (initial and final testing)
After the calculation of the average, they moved to setting the ranges for each personality trace, ordering the average values in decreasing order: the average with the highest values is given the average 1 and then gradually in decreasing order, the ranges 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 are given.
On the basis of the obtained ranges at both tests, the chart with the average values and the given range for each personality trace was formed, and then the difference was calculated between the given ranges and the two experimental phases.
After the statistical calculations we made the correlative comparison between the tests to deduce the significant objective-mathematical connection between them, which gave us a scientific base for the selection of the most efficient forms of activity which can influence positively the youth’s personality features.
Fig.1 The diagram of the comparative results of the student group regarding the qualitative evaluation of personality feature at the initial and final test
From the diagram presented above we can notice the largish difference between the two appreciations regarding the personality traces influenced by the open-air activities. The students acknowledged the importance of the studied personality features and gave higher averages after their practical experience within the various activity forms. They appreciated with a higher average towards the first evaluation those features which were implied in the quality of adapting to actions which they went through, like: the initiative to which they gave the average of 4,51 at the first test and after going through the program they considered this feature as very important and placed the first with the average of 9. Courage was appreciated by the students at the final test with the average of 6,84 towards the initial test when it was appreciated with the average of 2,78, the comparative analysis of the index’s modification on the personality feature’s appreciation scale shows a series of differences which proved significant in both test’s cases.
Conclusions:
Retrace of outdoor education by the students and the obtained results, allow us with certainty to get to the conclusion that the activities from within the program influenced positively and significantly those personality features which require in a special way the student’s qualities in the importance order, like: initiative, perseverance, optimism, will, organizational aptitudes.
The results prove the extremely different appreciation levels after going through the analytical program of the „Outdoor education” discipline, the results to which we got prove the hypothesis of some genius of personality features according to the activity carried out.
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