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    Navigating Outward Bound: a first-person exploration of situational exposure through an autistic lens
    (Springer Nature on behalf of Outdoor Education Australia, 2025-02-18) Newcombe N; Good GA
    This article explores the first author’s experience as an autistic woman attending a five-day Professional Leadership course at Outward Bound in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Through a first-person autoethnographic narrative, Nicolina shares why she chose Outward Bound and how she navigated the challenges of situational exposure in a physically and socially demanding outdoor education program, using accommodations to maximise time in the learning zone. She discusses the sensory sensitivities and need for routines that often accompany Autism Spectrum Disorder and demonstrates how she adapted and advocated for her needs while participating in a mainstream course. The barriers she encountered and the positive outcomes she achieved are described. Four themes emerged, these were motivation, challenges, coping and thriving through adaptations, and hope. By reflecting on the balance between growth and anxiety within the comfort zone model, this article offers insights for autistic people, outdoor educationalists, and practitioners. Recommendations call for increased awareness and flexibility in accommodating neurodivergent people in adventure education contexts.
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    Impressions from the wild : a thematic analysis of adolescents' experience on Project K's Wilderness Adventure : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Jones, Madeline Rose
    Positive youth development (PYD) programmes empower adolescents by developing youth resources and strengths in order to meet their significant potential. Project K is a PYD programme developed and implemented by the Graeme Dingle Foundation in participating high schools around Aotearoa New Zealand. Year 10 students (age 14-15 years) are selected based on low self-efficacy scores relative to their year group. Low self-efficacy indicates that these students will benefit from the PYD opportunities Project K provides. The first of the three phases of Project K is the Wilderness Adventure, a 17-day wilderness experience which provides participants with first-hand mastery experiences in a novel and challenging outdoor environment. In groups of 12, adolescents take an active role in leading the group to complete kayaking, mountain biking, and hiking expeditions. This research explored the perspectives of 23 Project K participants on their Wilderness Adventure experience. Thematic analysis of eight focus group discussions identified two superordinate themes of challenges and outcomes, with three subordinate themes pertaining to each. The three challenge themes were outside comfort zone, real consequences, and interpersonal challenges. The outcome themes were mastery, attitude, and interpersonal skills. This study informs PYD programmes, particularly involving wilderness interventions, by communicating the experience of adolescent participants, and the challenges and outcomes that were perceived to be meaningful for them.
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    Freedom of the hills : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Adult Education, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2004) Straker, Jo
    This thesis has two main parts; the first addresses the nature of freedom as it is experienced in outdoor environments. The second part explores some of the ways in which these experiences can inform learning and outdoor education. Recollections of freedom were gathered from people who have a professional involvement in the outdoors as writers, photographers, professional adventurers, instructors and teachers. They were chosen because of their deep commitment to sharing their ideas about the outdoors in a variety of ways. Further to that, stories of mountaineering from the New Zealand Alpine Club Journals were read to gather background material on the culture of mountaineering and how the meaning of 'freedom of the hills' has been constructed. The research is based on Peile's (1994) ecological paradigm which has five main themes; holism, complexity, participatory, being and creativity. These themes underpin the ontological and epistemological foundations of the research and also provide the framework for synthesising the experiences of freedom. The research explores the ways that freedom and learning are intertwined and concludes that there are structural difficulties in current outdoor education practices which limit freedom. The research suggests a more ecologically inclusive metaphor for learning based on the Nor 'west storm, as one small step to resolving this dilemma.
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    A case study of children's and adults' perceptions of 'being outside' in one early childhood centre : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2007) Greenfield, Cheryl Faye
    This research was a qualitative semi-participatory case study carried out over 14 weeks, in one early childhood centre. Increasingly many young children in this country only get outside on adult terms and these terms stem from the values, beliefs and attitudes of the teachers as well as centre management practices. Therefore this study explored: (1) fourteen young children's views on their outdoor experiences in an early childhood education setting; (2) parents', teachers' and the centre owner's views on the value and role of the outdoors in young children's lives; (3) participants' views on the role of the teacher in the outdoor environment. Procedures used included cameras, photo elicitation, drawing, touring, observations, and focus groups. The discussion centres on the importance of 'playing', the 'elements of opportunity' that being outside at the centre offered and the teacher's role. An interesting outcome was that the views and feelings of the participants overwhelmingly demonstrated what a significant role the outdoors had in all their lives and how much they valued an outdoor environment at their centre. Parents and teachers indicated that the outdoors offers more for children than the indoors - more health and holistic development, exploration, active movement, hiding, imaginative, learning, risk taking and problem solving opportunities. It is argued that there was a strong interrelationship between the adults' beliefs and values, in particular the centre Owner's, and the provision for outdoor play. It is also argued that young children do notice, appreciate and value the natural world if they are given the opportunity to experience it everyday for long periods of time, with adults who share in the joy, wonder and awe of it. This study argues that children need to be in optimal outdoor spaces that contain as many rich sensory experiences and natural elements as possible. The central claim of this thesis is that children are motivated to be outside so they can play. For the children in this study 'play' included: being physically active and moving in increasingly complex ways; exploring their place, their world; and engaging with nature, humans and non-humans, and the natural world. It is argued that when the adults in the child's life know this and value these elements of the outdoors, and hold a 'critical pedagogy of place', then comes mutuality, joint participation, shared wonder, holistic growth, and learning environments are developed that mirror the learning they are to support; a sense of harmony is created. It is about all interrelationships between people, places, thing and events.
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    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder : student perceptions of transfer in experiential education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Durkin, Greg P
    Underpinning the notions of experiential learning and transfer are a complex series of assumptions about the way people relate and use understandings across a broad range of life settings. This thesis presents a study into student perceptions of the nature and transferability of understandings developed through their involvement in an outdoor education programme. The thesis describes the approach and techniques used to collect data about participant's perceptions prior, during and after participation in the programme. The thesis considers the advantages of planning for transfer before a programme begins to assist students to buy into the goals of the programme and also contribute to the learning objectives. The use of metaphor as a cognitive link to transfer understanding within the programme found some acceptance with students, however, the use of metaphor to assist transfer of learning beyond the programme was limited. As such, the research clearly showed that transfer is much more likely to occur when students create the cognitive frameworks and reasons why learning might transfer from one domain to another. Transfer that did occur within and beyond the programme was interwoven with, and somewhat dependent upon emotional responses and personal relationships. The strong personal bonds that developed between participants through the focus group research approach resulted in a feeling of trust and sharing of understandings. As such, the thesis considers the Focus group approach as a useful educative tool to focus student learning and transfer prior, during activities, and after experiential programmes. Emotional terms of reference used by participants to accord meaning to experiences provided significant insight to the ways people transferred learning. In addition, transfer of understandings beyond adventuresome activities is more likely when the experience is shared and discussed with others, and may be highly dependent on personal relationships. Replication and modelling of personal relationships beyond the immediacy of experiential learning settings may contribute much to the ways people successfully identify common factors when participating and using existing understandings in new domains.
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    Adventure social work : evaluation of a New Zealand therapeutic outdoor adventure programme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masterate of Social Work at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Burne, Julie Ann
    This thesis evaluates a New Zealand pilot programme, Women's Adventure Initiatives (WAI), designed to offer a therapeutic outdoor adventure experience for young women aged 12 to 16 years. The research design and the WAI pilot programme were informed by an eco-feminist approach which is the most common feminist approach applied in the outdoor adventure field. The programme was based on the 'Personal Growth through Adventure' model developed by Jackie Kiewa (1994). The objectives of this research were to acknowledge and validate the participants' experiences of the programme by documenting their personal and collective accounts and to make recommendations based on the findings for the development and implementation of further programmes for young women. The method used in this research was that of a naturalistic inquiry using a qualitative research design based on eco-feminist methodology. The data was collected through the use of summative and formative written questionnaires, tape recordings and written/art material. The data was analysed using content analysis to code and then categorise the responses into themes. For this research I decided to test the hypothesis that a therapeutic adventure approach is a beneficial alternative to traditional counselling methods through the use of activities and group therapy incorporated into the experience of an outdoor journey (Jennifer Davis-Berman & Dene Berman, 1994, USA). This thesis describes the responses of the participants and facilitators who attended the WAI pilot programme. The research findings support the use of eco feminism, and the 'Personal Growth through Adventure' model, indicating that overall the programme was a positive experience for each of the participants and the general consensus was that further programmes would be beneficial.
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    Women's experiences in the gendered environment of outdoor education in Aotearoa New Zealand : "I felt a need to prove my right to be there" : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Adult Education, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Jones, Anna
    This study researches women’s experiences working in the gendered environment of Outdoor Education within the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Outdoor Education in Aotearoa New Zealand has been strongly influenced by both British and American interpretations and has evolved as a traditionally male gendered environment with normative measures of competence based on physical strength, speed and technical ability. Most women choosing to work in this environment have internalised the gender neutral discourse of outdoor education, accepting the measures of competence and entering as ‘conceptual males’. This approach has costs, not only for the women but also for their families and students. Insights gained from listening to the voices of women sharing their lived experiences highlight costs and issues that must be addressed to create change for the future. This research was undertaken using a feminist narrative perspective. Purposive sampling was used to identify women who had worked in outdoor education for a significant length of time. Semi-structured interviews were held with each woman to gather their experiences told through their own voices. The author’s own voice narrating her own lived experiences working in outdoor education is woven through the study. The experiences of the four respondents are presented in the form of mini case studies and interpreted through narrative enquiry. The respondent’s stories suggest that they had entered outdoor education as conceptual males and had proven their right to be there against the male gendered measures of competence. Impacts resulting from doing this included doubting their competence, lack of confidence and constant feelings of pressure to improve and achieve more. All respondents followed an age related ‘career’ path showing a shift with focus on self being displaced by increased relational influences as they aged. Crossing the watershed to motherhood caused the women to address the competing discourses of good mothering and ideal worker and reassess their priorities.
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    Illuminating the assessment practices of teachers in NZ outdoor education tertiary programmes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Adult Education) at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Chapman, Stephen Raymond
    The purpose of this research study was to illuminate the assessment practices of tertiary outdoor education teachers in the polytechnic sector. Outdoor education as a theoretical model and practice was quickly revealed as a contested space. One of the main issues in contention was the place of outdoor recreation, adventure and risk within outdoor education. There appeared a strong move by academics (M. Brown & Fraser, 2009; Irwin, 2010; Martin, 2005a) to reposition outdoor education as environmental and sustainability education. The data was gathered through a questionnaire, observation of teachers as they assessed students, and from interviews with teachers. Using an illuminative evaluation approach, three themes were identified: teacher perceptions of assessment, the focus of assessment, and the practices used to make assessment decisions. Teachers were generally highly skilled outdoor education practitioners, however, there were indications that there were gaps of understanding of theoretical assessment concepts. Teachers seemed to find summative assessment challenging but they routinely used formative assessment to promote learning and worked hard at providing quality opportunities for learning. Outdoor recreation in outdoor education was not contested by these teachers, although there was an over-emphasis on assessing technical outdoor pursuit skills, which resulted in a lack of assessment of other less tangible aspects of outdoor education. The use of assessment criteria was common practice although there were questions about how clearly these described the standard. The role of professional judgement in assessment decisions were treated with suspicion because it was seen as too subjective. However, it became clear that professional judgement was an essential aspect of their assessment practices. Criteria and professional judgement revealed themselves as mutually inclusive. In conclusion, while teachers seem very skilled at providing quality-learning experiences, there appear to be opportunities to further develop teacher assessment practices, for example, through exploring approaches that assess less tangible aspects of practice such as leadership, judgement and decision-making.