Some things in life can’t be ‘Googled:’ A narrative synthesis of three key questions in outdoor education.

ABSTRACT

In countries worldwide, Outdoor Education (OE) offers rich possibilities for learning. OE has been researched for many decades; however the field lacks an integrating framework for its different historical, geographical and disciplinary conceptualisations. The outcomes of OE programmes are well documented and appear diverse, yet also have common attributes suggesting there is scope for unifying approaches. Although substantive barriers to the conduct of OE programmes have been identified, these have seldom been synthesised. This paper offers a narrative review of the literature addressing three key questions designed to look rearward at where OE has come from: (i) how is OE conceptualised, and what theoretical models have been used in OE? (ii) what evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of OE programmes? (iii) what are the barriers to conducting OE programmes? The paper then advances onward with an integrated framework for reconceptualising OE and providing insights into how the field may be strengthened and augmented.20124

KEYWORDS:

• Outdoor education
• experiential learning
• place based education
• positive youth development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Robert Andrew Leighton Smith http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1845-142X

Kerryann M. Walsh http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2672-2688

Notes

1 A somewhat neoliberal economic perspective, however, it allows for identification and description of this group.