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First published in Polish by Agnieszka LEŚNY

For some, the term 'outdoor education' may nominally be associated with forest kindergartens and environmental education. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! It is actually a great approach when it comes to adult education.

Outdoor education is a popular trend, designed mainly for working with youth and adults. The term first began to appear in specialist literature in the 1940s.

In Poland, outdoor education has developed in various forms since the 1960s ^[1] and has been present in educational discourse in its contemporary format since the first decade of the 21st century. Although there are numerous publications, articles, courses and even degree programmes in this field, there is no unified definition of outdoor education that can be agreed upon by the educational community in Poland – and, indeed, in other countries.

I touch more upon the components of outdoor education and how it can be applied in the below video ^[2]:

The definition of outdoor education closest to my heart is cited in the book Adventure Education^[3], which states that outdoor education is the process of designing, transferral and implementing a process of development within a natural environment. This approach assumes that the use of the natural environment is purposeful (instead of, for example, 'simply' taking a trip to the forest) and that the process itself is guided by a trainer/leader/facilitator who uses contemporary knowledge of leading the development processes (usually in the methodology of experiential education, i.e., learning through experience).

The methods most often used in outdoor education are excursions (less often, expeditions), camping trips, outdoor games and activities (including using a low rope course), and elements of climbing and water sports. Activities are carried out in a group, though the purpose is most often the development of individuals through group activity and team building. In other approaches, for example, in adventure education, the developmental process is reinforced using more intensive, sometimes extreme forms of recreation (for example, rafting, high rope parks, expeditions), while in wilderness/adventure therapy, the emphasis is on a longer group process, often of a socio-therapeutic nature. 

The complicated relationship between outdoor activities aimed at interpersonal growth and development vs environmental education is illustrated by one of the accepted models of outdoor education components ^[4]:

It is worth noting, however, that this is not the only approach, and there is an ongoing definitional debate over the components and interrelationships of 'adventure', 'outdoor', and 'experiential education'.

Why not for children?

As the interest in forms of education for children set in the natural environment has grown, the term 'outdoor education' has come to be understood in Poland literally as "education conducted outdoors" and merged with outdoor learning. This is a gross oversimplification. Although outdoor education can be understood as many developmental forms (used mainly in informal education) - from local environmental education projects through sightseeing trips to developmental excursions^[5], the European pedagogy has adopted a distinction between two specific approaches. The first being' learning outside the classroom' or 'environmental education' (understood as a supplement to education in the formal system, for example, outdoor teaching aimed at a better understanding of the natural environment). The second – 'outdoor education' –is understood as programmes for developing soft skills through being active and taking risks outdoors, in the natural setting.

To maintain this differentiation, I use the terminological distinction of environmental education and adventure pedagogy (the equivalent of outdoor/adventure education).

The outdoor education approach understood in the above terms is not recommended for younger children because the key elements of this approach are analysis, reflection, and transfer of experiences from outdoor 'adventure' to everyday life (according to Kolb's Learning Cycle and the Knowledge Transfer theory). This, of course, does not imply the assumption that younger children cannot learn and reflect on their experiences. However, in their case, by using outdoor education methods, we can work on their emotions, their interpretation of events and, to a lesser extent, on reflection and analysis - this is a direct consequence of developmental psychology. Working on the group process, an important part of outdoor education activities is also very different for children. Therefore, for younger children, outdoor activities are, to a greater extent, valuable fun rather than a developmental or training process, and this approach itself is recommended in adult education.

Would you like to find out more?

The contemporary discussion on outdoor education in Poland was initiated in 2011 at the conference "Edukacja Przygodą" (Education Through Adventure), which has had further editions in subsequent years. Post-conference publications included three publications exploring this topic in Polish:

• Leśny, Agnieszka;  Palamer-Kabacińska, Ewa. (red.) (2012 ) Edukacja Przygodą. Outdoor i Adventure Education w Polsce: teoria, przykłady, konteksty, Pracownia Nauki i Przygody, Warszawa

• Bąk, Agnieszka; Leśny, Agnieszka;  Palamer-Kabacińska, Ewa. (red.) (2014): Przygoda w edukacji i edukacja w przygodzie. Outdoor i adventure education w Polsce. Warszawa: Fundacja Pracownia Nauki i Przygody

• Dudek, Mateusz; Kida, Paulina (red.) (2016), Przewodnik po edukacji przygodą w Polsce, Pracownia Nauki i Przygody, Warszawa

• Michl W., Pedagogika przeżyć, Wydawnictwo WAM, Kraków 2011

• Ryszka R. (2016), Pedagogika przeżyć praktycznie, Wydawnictwo IMPULS

wilderness therapy:

• Magdalena Szeniawska; Michal Vičar Jak prowadzić proces wilderness therapy

In the comments below, I encourage you to discuss outdoor education as a method of adult education and development.