Outdoor education is a type of education that focuses on learning and experiencing things in the natural world. This type of education is usually used in conjunction with traditional education, but it is also used as an alternative for students who have difficulty in traditional academic settings or who have the option of choosing an educational setting that best suits their learning habits. Outdoor learning, adventure education, and challenge education are some of the other terms that have been used to describe this type of education. However, there is some debate among educators about the similarities between these terms and the specific types of education that they define.
When used as a kind of complementary or supplementary education, outdoor education also extends to adult education. Outdoor education programs are frequently used in conjunction with or as an alternative to team building activities. Outdoor education is sometimes used for therapeutic purposes as well.
Environmental education and experiential education are two educational theories that are used to inform outdoor education. Environmental education aims to educate people about the environment as a whole and how humans can make lifestyle changes to protect the environment. These concepts are mixed with those of experiential education, which is based on theories that assert that experiences can be useful learning tools.
On the surface, many of the experiences used in outdoor education appear to be recreational activities such as kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, and participating in outdoor games and activities. These encounters, on the other hand, are used as a form of structured learning. Educators can use outdoor education to help students improve their problem-solving skills or develop their leadership abilities, for example. Outdoor education can also aid in the development of a student’s teamwork abilities.
In addition to the purely educational purposes of this type of education, it has been discovered that these methods can assist students in achieving significant personal growth. It is frequently used to assist students in developing personal confidence and social skills. These types of program benefits are frequently used in therapeutic outdoor education applications. In some cases, this type of education is used to assist students who have gotten themselves into trouble in the hopes of reducing recidivism among certain groups.