Jonathan Blake Rawlings

Jonathan Blake Rawlings

Foreign Systems of Outdoor Education

Ludìk Šebek

Outdoor Education, Team Building, and Recreation in the US

Outdoor Education and recreation, in the last 50 years, has taken a large upturn. Most people, when asked about outdoor education in the US, would tell you about group building programs like, persay, Outward Bound, which promotes unity and teamwork, but also teaches people about the outdoors and how to live in harmony with nature. All of these groups promote all teambuilding attributes, with the main one being cohesion. What is cohesion within a group really? Cohesion within a group can be described in terms like a well oiled machine. If a machine is not oiled properly, then the rotors or pistons start to grind down, leading ultimately to the destruction of the machine, making even the simplest task seem impossible. But, if a machine is well oiled, then it can be a beautiful thing, just the way everything works the way it is supposed to and everything happens just the way it should. Groups and teams work the exact same way as machines do. Every gear in a machine has to do its own part and not fail to perform its duty properly, bad things start to happen. Out of this comes the need to further develop the skills of the team to work together. This is what a well formed group is like.

First I am going to start with describing to you the three kinds of group and team building programs available to the public. There are skills development programs, social development programs, and therapeutic programs. Skills development programs are programs that can be up to a whole semester long, which are geared towards building a strong understanding of some skill or skills related to the outdoors or outdoor living. There are companies the world over which promote this type of skill learning, with the most prominent being Outward Bound or NOLS. The next type of program that i am going to discuss is the social development programs. The social development programs do not focus as specifically on developing strong technical skills, but to focus primarily on the individual’s or couple‘s or group’s inner growth toward realization of their place in the world. These groups or programs are mainly utilized by companies, schools, churches, or married couples. The last and final type of team and group building program is therapeutic programs. These therapeutic programs are aimed at altering an individual’s or group of individual’s behavior or habits. This can range anywhere from people with drug habits to juvenile delinquents or anyone with any kind of social dysfunction. Now I will exlain more about these three types and more of what differentiates one from the other.

All types of group development programs have phases that the whole group goes through and ultimately strengthens the bonds of the group. The names of the phases are the same for every type of program, they are: pre-affiliation, power and control, intimacy, differentiation, and separation. First of all, I will tell what happens in the stages in one of the skill development programs. In the Pre-affiliation stage - the leader outlines the course goals and gives the participants a chance to offer thoughts on what they are expecting out of the course, power and control stage - the leader remains in control of the group, but relinquishes most of the authority of decision making to the group, intimacy - the group learns the abilities of the group members and the leader strives to entwine the abilities of the group in order to further the cohesiveness, differentiation - the individuals within the group také on more and more responsibilities and the leader relinquishes most control to the independent group, and separation - the course is over and the members of the group disperse into society and také what they have learned from the course and think of how to put it to use in their goals and future.

The next group phases I will talk about is the phases of the social developmental programs. The names are the same, in the pre-affiliation stage – the leader encourages exploration, and should be clear about the expectations he has of the entire group, power and control – individual power struggles are expected, but must not harm the cohesion and teamwork of the group, intimacy – more responsibility is accepted, and more dependency is seen throughout the group, differentiation – here is where the leader encourages the group to assume total independence and to join other subgroups without feeling threatened, and separation – this is called, „debriefing,“ where the leader instructs the members of the group to think and reflect on what they have learned and to apply that to other situations in their lives.

The last of the teambuilding phases that I will discuss are the phases of the therapeutic programs. Now the therapeutic programs can range anywhere from drug rehab programs, self help programs, or juvenile delinquent rehabilitation programs. They are pre-affiliation – the leader discusses the expectation of the group, the leader, and what the organization expects they represent, power and control – this is where the leader outlines the rules and regulations of the group and what will not be tolerated of the members, not just for moral sake, but for safety sake, intimacy – in this stage the leader tries to define the problem area and figure out some type of cure or explanation that will help or change the habits, differentiation – the leader clarifies what has been achieved through the course, and how their progress can be transferred to daily life, separation – the leader issues a debriefing period when the members can think about the changes made during the course and perhaps some alternatives to the bonds with the group that has formed, like perhaps a local help group or meetings. I realize that the sentences in the last paragraphs have been very long, but in order not to ramble on and on about nothing and try to add un-needed words, I turned the sentences to one large one.

Ok, so now that the theoretics of group experiential education that I will talk about is out of the way, now lets talk about a factor that greatly determines the options for experiential learning in the United States, Environment. The environment of the United States is extremely different compared to the environments of Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Regardless of this, America is entirely fit to offer, I believe, the same opportunities for sports and other outdoor activities as the rest of the world. I used to believe that there are more options for outdoor sports in Scandinavia or Europe than in the United States, but after doing some lengthy investigating, I realized that my own country has worlds of opportunities that I have not been privied to yet. I think that I thought this way because I am from the south of America in a town called Valdosta. Here, in Valdosta, it is not even really an option for any winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, or cross country skiing. I know that there are places in America where these types of sports are accessible, but the travel to access these places is so distant, that it is almost not an option.

But is travel as great a determinant as it is made out to be? I don't think that it is. To experience something new and gain a new outdoor skill, is it necessary to travel great distances, perhaps not. For the longest time I, as a southerner, have overlooked what is accessible to me in the area around where I live. One could also say, that I have basically become like almost the majority of the population, and the option for rekreation and sport in some outdoor environments is too distant. Ok, we look at the south. In the south, we have almost every type of outdoor rekreation environment necessary for outdoor sports. It was right under my nose and I did not even truly realize it. The possibilities are so numerous, and the travel for these opportunites is minimal. Ok, we think about it, down in Florida, we have: Surfing, Windsurfing, Water Skiing, Kayaking, Scuba Diving, Bicycle Touring, Spelunking, Beach Volleyball, and Rafting. In Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, we have almost all of those sports, in addition to: Rock Climbing, Repelling, Hiking, Mountain Biking, White Water Rafting, Some Snow Skiing, Some Snow Boarding, and other snow sports in some of the northern parts of the south. These are not all of the sports available in the south, but a mere example of what can be found in this area of the country. I live in south Georgia, and directly around me, there are not many close environments for mountain or snow sports, but there are lakes, beaches, and rivers fit for many outdoor activities.

The next factor that we must take into account is the desire factor. After living in the United States for the past twenty-three years, and now traveling to Europe, one thing that I have noticed, is that many more people can be seen in Europe on trails, rivers, and mountains. In America, being someone who has seen and lived in the countryside, there are not as many people which can be seen outside, enjoying the thrill of just being outdoors, FRILUFTSLIV, as the Scandinavians call it. Friluftsliv is a remarkable term that recently learned about in our class and I thought was extremely intriguing. There is something that can be felt from just being in the outdoors, a freedom if you will. Not trying to conquer nature, or using and abusing it the way people of today's society have so freely raped our wilderness of nearly all it's purity, but enjoying the feeling of living along side nature, and the feeling of something more that the modernized world that we have all come to know. This is the Scandinavian way that we have learned about, that can be more so in European societies, than in the accomodated, luxurious world that Americans claim to live. I am not saying that it is a negative aspect of America, because, it is obvious to see that not citizens of America live this accomodated lifestyle, but I believe, that it is plain to see that not so many people in American society have the desire to spend their free time in the outdoors, just enjoying the festival of live that is apparent everytime one walks or hikes into the wilderness. I believe that this plays a large part in the developing of the American view of outdoor experiential education and even rekreation. Maybe it is just that many Americans believe the same as I USED to believe, in which the environment in which they live is not fit for proper outdoor experiential education and rekreation and the distance to travel is far too great. I think that this is a major belief of many Americans. When we think of rekreation and free time, we think of relaxation, not of travelling many many miles to arrive somewhere that we will just have to return from to the troubles we left at home. I think that this is true of some of American society because I have talked to friends who have uttered back to me those same words.

I think group and team building programs, outdoor experiential education, and rekreation can all be classified into the same category. Because all are dependent upon the same things. The group and team building programs help to promote working together to achieve a goal, and almost all group and team building programs in the United States can also be classified at experiential education courses. Whether it be for a corporation, school, church, or therapy, the skills learned in these courses will be applied to future endeavors most specifically in the outdoors. Outdoor Rekreation fits in to the category because the whole idea of rekreation is enjoying and respecting others and the world around you, while performing some activity or sport in the outdoors. America is a land of an enormous variety of opportunities for outdoor experiential education, rekreation, and team building. I think that once Americans open their eyes to what is accessible to them in the surrounding areas, that the value of life will be greater and we will have a greater understanding of what it means to be one with nature.

Words - 2075