Outdoor Environmental Education

Outdoor Environmental Education

Palmberg and Kuru found that participation in outdoor activities had a major impact on how students react and respond to their environment. Students acquired more awareness and had a greater respect for the environment and their surroundings. The results showed an increase in self-confidence and improved social behaviour. It also resulted in greater empathy for the environment and a desire to protect it. This approach has the students learning about the environment by participating in an outdoor activity. However, other educators believe that to instill responsible behaviour, it is important to teach students the necessary values and attitudes before engaging in outdoor activities. I prefer a combination of these two teaching styles, similar to that of John Charles Amesse. His approach is the “three-phase Brief/Activity/Debrief cycle” (Prouty & Radcliffe, 1988). Students are given an introduction to the activity and given any ...