Issue 86 Summer 2019
HOprofessionalRIZ development in outdoorO learningNS
In this issue...
GET UP TO DATE TRY SOMETHING PLAN FOR Read safety, award NEW TOMORROW and good practice Explore session ideas Get involved in sector information and get advice planning
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p1 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Don’t miss
Top tips for good practice in safety on page 24
Horizons is here to question, inform, reassure,
editorial inspire and call Carmen Byrne you to action. Summer is here!
I have particularly enjoyed preparing this issue for you: I’m always keen to explore new approaches and perspectives, and so I hope the combination of articles here will give you plenty to think about over the next few months. It’s easy to get caught up in our own hectic little bubbles, so a reminder to slow things down is well worth taking on board. In Earthwise Geoff writes about the Slow movement (page 36), whilst Richard shares his canoe commute with pointers for group practice on page 33. That said, slowing down isn’t for everyone… seeing as we all experience and connect with our environments in different ways. Thinking about different types of sessions (see ‘How to street paddle’ on page 13), as well as sharing ideas, for example on how we can use technology (page 26) or storytelling effectively (page 29), is uber useful. But more than this, it’s important as a sector to ask ourselves tough questions, like “are there enough career pathway opportunities for individuals with visual impairment?”. Jess does exactly this on page 12, as an extension of the celebratory article about GB Archery instructor Rachel Hanks, who is visually impaired (page 10). Discussing accessibility and opportunity is part of identifying what the future looks like for Outdoor Learning, but there are of course many facets. So, it’s worth reading ‘This is a holiday for you too, right?’ (page 17) about the stigma attached to Outdoor professionals, before you book your ticket to attend the Strategic Forum (page 23): the place to have these conversations. Please also join us in paying respect to the inspirational and influential Barbara Roscoe (née Spark), whose legacy lives on through her many students (page 8). n
Editor Carmen Byrne [email protected] Review Board Daniel Towers Richard Ensoll Jason King Graham French Liam Scott Bob Larcher Sam Lee Lizzie Harrington Colin Wood Geoff Cooper Marcus Bailie
Horizons Office IOL, Warwick Mill Business Centre Warwick Bridge, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA4 8RR T: 01228 564580 F: 01228 564581 E: [email protected] W: www.outdoor-learning.org PRINTER: Fingerprints, Barrow-in-Furness
p2 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) contents 26 10 Featuring Horizons 86
17 38 13
Contribute Features Material for publication is welcome. 08 In memory. Barbara Roscoe, 1936–2019 Articles, press releases, photographs – Graham French, with others, remembers a leading light in outdoor learning. etc., should be sent to the Editor. The Editor will try to return all 10 “I won’t let blindness stop me.” Rachel Hanks gains Archery GB Instructor Award unsolicited material but cannot accept – Jane Percival, editor of Archery UK tells us about a remarkable young responsibility for it. woman. Contributor guidelines: www.outdoor-learning.org/Help/How- 12 Leaders with visual impairment – are there enough opportunities? Do-I – Dr Jess Macbeth shares her thoughts. 13 How to… Street paddle. A gateway to new adventures. The opinions expressed in this – Jason Wragg shares his interest in this gateway activity to other board sports. magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of 17 This is a holiday for you too, right? Social stigma surrounding a career in the the Editor, the Editorial Board, or IOL. outdoors – Tom Kilpatrick reflects on the perceptions. COPYRIGHT of the magazine as a publication is vested in the Editor. 22 The Celebrating Outdoor Learning Awards 2019 – the last chance to enter. Copyright of articles remains with the individual authors who will receive a 23 “Continuing Conversations” Sector Strategic Forum. copy of the issue in which their article – Join us on October 3rd to influence the outdoor learning sector. appears. Reproduction in whole AIMing for good practice in safety or in part is forbidden without the 24 express permission of the Editor who – Sophia Reed of AIM on accident prevention and claims defensibility. is normally happy to grant requests for 26 Digital technology and outdoor learning educational purposes. – David Hills on a framework for decision-making. 29 The magic of story-telling in outdoor learning – Danny English answers questions on The Happiness Tree.
DESIGN & PRODUCTION: 32 Reader’s review – Dinah Johnson on The Happiness Tree. Fiona Exon 33 Canoe commute ADVERTISING: on an everyday adventure through time and space. Contact Fiona Exon at IOL – Richard Ensoll [email protected] IOL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: Where possible IOL uses Regulars environmentally-friendly printing 02 Editorial – Carmen Byrne processes. Horizons is printed using a waterless printing process and where 04 Scanning the horizon – Resource recommendations. possible uses recycled paper. It is mailed to members and subscribers 07 IOL insights – Updates on IOL activities for members and the sector. in 100% compostable potato starch wrapping. 20 Professional matters – What makes Outdoor Learning, Outdoor Learning? – Neal Anderson, IOL Professional Standards Manager, asks. Cover photo: © Thomas B. via Pixabay 36 Earthwise – Taking it slowly. Slow Outdoors: bringing us to our senses. – Geoff Cooper. ©2019 Carmen Byrne 38 Love our outdoors – Catch up with sector news, latest research and resources. ISSN 1462 - 0677 40 Perspectives – Andy Robinson, IOL CEO looks at ‘Life after Licensing’. p3 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Who says faster is better?
RESOURCE: In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore (published by Orion in 2005) WHY IT’S USEFUL: Who says faster is always better? Who decided that as full members of society our function is to consume more and more? This book explains some of the consequences of accelerated living and offers a clarion call for all those who feel there must other speeds and other resources approaches to living. WHERE TO FIND IT: More information about Carl Honore and In Meaningful Praise of Slow can be found at http://www. carlhonore.com/book/in-praise-of-slowness/ inspiration There are also links to retailers. RESOURCES: The book Soil, Soul, RECOMMENDED BY: Society by Satish Kumar Rich Ensoll works at the University of and his Small School Cumbria where he lectures on the suite WHY THESE ARE USEFUL: of Outdoor Studies degree programmes delivered there. He has worked as a I have been inspired by the life and writing freelancer, primary teacher and centre of Satish Kumar, especially his endeavour manager and enjoys mountaineering, to begin the Small School and this book orienteering and canoeing. He has worked Soil, Soul, Society. Along with other writers in the sector for over 15 years, is on the and speakers, Kumar has helped me committee of the IOL Field Studies SIG and understand the fundamental requirements relishes working on diverse projects. for creating a meaningful and purposeful project in CommuniTree. WHERE TO FIND IT: More information about the Small School and Kumar’s ideas around education and Get ideas for low nature can be found here: carbon adventures http://bit.ly/Alternative-Education-Kumar by reading about http://bit.ly/TEDtalk-Kumar-Nature
Scanning the horizon Rich’s canoe Soil, Soul, Society is available to order from commute on online retailers. page 33. RECOMMENDED BY: Danny English is a first-class Outdoor Education graduate, child and adolescent counsellor, Forest School Level 3 Leader, Forest School Trainer, Storyteller and Children’s Author. Want to Read how Danny uses storytelling as part of Outdoor Learning on work on app page 29. technique?
RESOURCE: Coach’s Eye App • In the news WHY IT’S USEFUL: • Snippets It allows you to film a participant, use slow-mo, • Links measure angles, draw lines on the screen and to split-screen and compare videos. • Sector news WHERE TO FIND IT: • Research https://www.coachseye.com • Tools RECOMMENDED BY: Jane Percival, editor of Archery UK. • Blogs Read Jane’s article on page 10. • Apps
p4 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Unpicking our article decision-making app
RESOURCE: Metacognition and professional judgement and decision-making in coaching: importance, application and evaluation, by Collins, L; Howie, J and Collins, D. Published 2016 in the International Sport Coaching Journal. 3[3], pp. 355 - 361.
WHY IT’S USEFUL: This article, above all others which I have read, gives in-depth analysis of the role and cognitive processes of the adventure sport professional. It offers us some Get a bird’s eye view answers to explain our decision-making and, in turn, a cultivable set of skills to use on our chosen career RESOURCE: An app called ‘Relive’. Relive is a path. smartphone app that converts GPS WHERE TO FIND IT: data and media from your phone into http://bit.ly/Professional-Judgement a stunning aerial movie. RECOMMENDED BY: WHY IT’S USEFUL: Tom Kilpatrick has spent the majority of his life The video can enhance any outdoor journey review exploring the outdoors, working extensively by breaking up the classic slide show with stunning throughout the UK and abroad. A slow burn academic bird’s eye view imagery. The 3D view also helps with an interest in contemporary issues, he believes learners interpret 2D maps and contour lines into 3D each new exploration opens avenues of interest. visualisations. Tom writes about social stigma surrounding a WHERE TO FIND IT: career in the Outdoors on page 17. Check it out at https://www.relive.cc and download it on the app store or Google Play. RECOMMENDED BY: David Hills is a full-time teacher of Outdoor Education at Brisbane Grammar School, Australia. Dave writes about technology in Outdoor Learning on page 26.
An urban book GET INVOLVED
phenomenon Scanning the horizon is the place where we, as a community, can share RESOURCE: Skateboarding, Space and the City by useful resources or information which Iain Borden supports good practice in our Outdoor Learning Community. If you have a go- WHY IT’S USEFUL: to resource or have found some useful I use this book when working with degree students research we want to hear about it. in exploring contemporary issues in outdoor and
adventure education. This book is the first detailed study of the urban phenomenon of skateboarding. It Email: horizonseditor@outdoor- provides a different prospective, and a way to use a learning.org HANDY HINT: place-based learning philosophy to explore issues of Keep it short and gender, race, class, sexuality and the family. Although we welcome ‘Scanning snappy. Send us WHERE TO FIND IT: the horizon’ content all year round, a relevant photo to Available to order from online retailers. Horizons is published quarterly so use alongside the there should be no date limit to RECOMMENDED BY: resource or research Jason Wragg is a Lecturer on the what you share, provided it is with Find Jason’s you mention. BA Outdoor Adventure Leadership us early enough to be relevant. ‘How to street at the University of Central For our submission dates read our paddle’ on Lancashire (UCLan). contributors guidelines here: page 13. https://www.outdoor-learning.org/Good-Practice/ Research-Publications/Horizons p5 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) National Conference 2019 Beyond the Classroom Bringing an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum to life
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p6 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Institute for Outdoor Learning Update on recent activities
Outdoor Learning Children’s Services research hubs and web l IOL has responded to the recent report, l ! ‘Building a workforce that works for resources all children’, by the Association of l Co-ordinators or representatives Directors of Children’s Services. This from seven regional research report, which made clear the pressure hubs recently attended the first that Children’s Services are under hub co-ordinators’ meeting. This and the need for investment, also important work, to improve the positions ‘Outdoor Education/Recreation interface between research and Providers’ as primarily deliverers of practice, support better co- Sports & Culture services. IOL will ordination of research activity and continue to work with ADCS to ensure better inform policy development, a developed understanding of Outdoor continues to grow. The Learning provision. development of online resources at www.outdoor-learning-research. org supports this work: here IOL Working together l IOL continues to work closely with
IOL insights provides a collection of research AHOEC, BAPA, CLOtC, Outdoor Council reports, guidance and plans. IOL and OEAP/SAPOE to build a more has directly funded the initial ' cohesive, better understood and valued co-ordination of this work. Outdoor Learning sector. All bodies are committed to working together more NCS Trust effectively and aim to bring proposals to l IOL has continued to steer the engage with their membership and wider NCS Trust, by helping the Trust stakeholders in the coming months. q understand the range of Outdoor Learning practices utilised during Phase 1 of its provision and Institute for providing advice on what good Apprenticeships impactful practice looks like. IOL d l Dialogue continues with The Institute has also guided the Trust in its for Apprenticeships towards IOL work to move its procurement being recognised as the External of Phases 1 and 2 to a central Quality Assurance body for the function. Although at the time of recently approved Outdoor Instructor writing the final approach is to be Apprenticeship. The Institute continues confirmed, IOL will continue to to support the sector’s employers in their seek to ensure the contributions efforts to develop a new higher-level of the Outdoor Learning sector apprenticeship. are appropriately understood and valued. Outdoor Council l IOL works through the Outdoor Council Post AALA to ensure a joined-up and consistent l IOL is playing a key role in the ` voice from the sector is heard by policy development of ‘Option 3’ to makers and wider stakeholders. The 8 meet the HSE request for a most recent key input has been into detailed scheme to replace the the OFSTED consultation on Education current AALA. This work is being Inspection Framework. Generally, the undertaken through UKAIG and OFSTED proposals were well received should see the development of and in particular the sector welcomed a new inspection regime with a the commitments to quality of education, sustainable business model models of progression and personal for 2020. It is anticipated development. that the current AALA The recent call for evidence by Damian Read and the resultant need for Hinds, Minster for Education, to Perspectives on members to hold licences, help schools develop character and page 40 for a will continue for the next resilience amongst pupils, will also result wider context. three years. in a co-ordinated response from the
sector. p7 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) In memory Barbara Roscoe (née Spark) 1936 to 2019
he field of Outdoor Learning has often expressed a slight discomfort with numerical measurement, and in Tparticular the use of numbers to demonstrate impact. Sometimes, however, it is perhaps pertinent to consider impact not only in terms of numbers, but what those numbers mean. What am I talking about? Well, is it possible to measure the impact of one person on an area of learning during their lifetime? This article briefly looks back at the life of someone whose influence on Outdoor Education is difficult to measure, precisely because of the number of people she interacted with and what they have done since that first meeting.
The person in question is Barbara Roscoe, who sadly passed away recently. Below is a brief outline of Barbara’s The story of Barbara’s year-long trip (1961 life, followed by some tributes and memories by those on to 1962) to the Himalayas with Jo Scarr is whom she had an impact through her work on the Bangor soon to be reissued by the Pinnacle Club. course, for which she is perhaps most known.
Barbara was born Barbara Mary Spark on April 11th 1936, 1965, Barbara was invited by Sir Charles Evans to start in Birkenhead. Soon after the war, the family settled in a PGCE teacher training course in Outdoor Activities at Bagillt, a small village between Flint and Holywell. Bangor University, the first in the UK, where she continued Both Barbara and her elder sister Jean went to Merllyn her respected work in Outdoor Education until her Junior School, and later to Holywell Grammar School. It retirement in 1983. Barbara first met her beloved Don at “was here that Barbara’s sporting prowess became obvious Plas-y-Brenin, and later worked with him at Bangor. They and she made the first teams in both tennis and hockey at married in 1975 and Barbara remained devoted to Don a much younger age than was normal and subsequently throughout over 40 years of marriage. represented Flintshire Schools at hockey. Exploiting a creative talent which probably came from Barbara trained as a PE teacher at I.M. Marsh College her mother, Barbara took up art after her retirement, of Physical Education in Liverpool, and then taught at a completing a Foundation course and the first year of a Fine secondary girls’ school in Liverpool for four years. During Art degree. Art became a passion of Barbara’s; she was a this time, she rock climbed while on courses at Plas-y- prolific painter and had a number of successful exhibitions. Brenin, where she first met Jo Scarr, who has remained a lifelong friend. Jo was planning a trip to the Himalayas and Barbara remained physically active well into her retirement. invited a restless Barbara to be her companion. The story She and Don cycled around the world in 1988/89, following of their year-long trip in 1961 to 1962 is told in the book the summer through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and ‘Four Miles High’ by Josephine Scarr, which is soon to America. Together they fished, walked, climbed, cycled be re-issued by the Pinnacle Club. Their trip was a great and canoed regularly until a series of knee and ankle success, involving driving a Land Rover to India and back operations in the early 2000s restricted her adventurous and climbing two unclimbed peaks of 20,000 feet in the activity. Kulu Himalaya. They taught in a pre-school in Delhi over the winter and then joined the women’s Jagdula expedition Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005. to the unexplored Kanjiroba Himal in north western Nepal, Despite the limitations and challenges of her final years, making first ascents of six unclimbed peaks. She remained her positive and enthusiastic self, enjoying support from a host of friends, neighbours, family and When they returned to Wales in mid-1962, Barbara ex-students. She was able to remain in her much-loved became an instructor at Plas-y-Brenin. Bwlch-y-Fron home throughout her illness, thanks to the help of her devoted, full-time carers from 2016. In 1964, Barbara had a climbing accident on Pillar Rock in the Lake District when a belay gave way. The significant Tim Jepson (PGCE course 1974/75 and injuries she suffered plagued her for the rest of her life. In course tutor 1984–2013)
p8 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Barbara was a prolific painter and had a number “ of successful exhibitions.
Painting by Barbara, ‘Aberdaron’.
Being late for Barbara was seldom a good idea. I had to re- schedule my interview for the course and sensed a degree of irritation down the phone. Then I got hopelessly lost getting from Bangor Station to St Mary’s College, arriving DOWN Lon Pobty via Minfordd Hospital (don’t ask – it’s a long story). I “arrived just on time, but in a lather and not the state of calm composure I had planned. Barbara couldn’t find me on her interview schedule so I volunteered, “Oh, I should have been here yesterday.” “SO WHY WEREN’T YOU?” Once I had I joined Barbara Spark’s Outdoor Activities course at explained that she had agreed to reschedule my interview UCNW, Bangor [now Bangor University] in 1970. Although things went much better. However, I had definitely gotten the it was only part of the teacher training year for our group message about punctuality. it quickly took over our lives through its excitement and intensity. Barbara had selected a mixed bunch, including And then I was late again. By a year. There was a four- “a few mature students. Some of the group were already month open canoe expedition to Africa that I was really experienced climbers and kayakers but others enthusiastic keen to join but it would mean postponing the course for a beginners. She excelled in bringing out the skills in the year. After the near disaster of our first meeting I felt sure group, developing a strong ethos and encouraging support Barbara would turn me down flat. “Of course you must go, for each other. There was enormous respect for her as a Marcus. I’ll take you next year.” So provided your motivation result of her experience, personality and clear beliefs in was sound, Barbara could forgive any misdemeanour. Even the value of outdoor learning. being late!
We were challenged in different ways. We all had to make Marcus Bailie (PGCE 1980–81 eventually!) our own waterproofs; there were real adventures; many skied for the first time and on one occasion Barbara So how to close these tributes and memories? Perhaps led a kayaking group (not her favourite activity) around with the news that the Outdoor Activities PGCE course that Puffin Island in an ever-increasing swell. On a winter Barbara initiated at Bangor all that time ago continues to train teachers and has not only survived a recent Welsh mountaineering course in the Cairngorms she showed Government review of Initial Teacher Education, but came great trust in the group when one night we helped with a out with a clear mandate to increase the number of teachers mountain rescue in a high gully on Creag Meagaidh. trained to teach outdoor activities. It is my privilege to be Barbara held a broad view of Outdoor Learning and the current custodian of a course with so rich a tradition and her teaching encompassed environmental awareness, history group. n landscape and cultural heritage. She inspired many of her course members,’Sparklets’, to become Outdoor Leaders and they have continued her influence on the development AUTHOR of Outdoor Education. Graham French Graham is Director of the PGCE Secondary Geoff Cooper (PGCE course 1970) course at Bangor University, and tutor to the Outdoor Activities PGCE group.
p9 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) hen Rachel Hanks decides Wto do something, nothing I won’t let gets in her way. The 20-year- old recently gained an Archery blindness stop GB Instructor licence. That’s impressive – but when you realise she is blind, impressive becomes me” remarkable.
“ Rachel shoots and teaches at the Mixenden Activity Centre in Halifax, where she volunteers most days of Rachel Hanks gains the week. And if you met her on home turf, you would find it hard to believe she faces any challenges at her Archery GB all. In fact, many of her students do not realise and Instructor licence have to be convinced. Rachel, of Brighouse, was born with cataracts and a genetic condition – a mutation of gene GJA8 – which JaneAUTHOR: Percival is the Jane editor of PercivalArchery UK. meant that her optical nerve kept deteriorating. She She was one of the UK’s first female sports had to have one eye removed when she was 17 and editors, was deputy chief sub-editor on an evening newspaper and co-authored her other eye failed soon after. But she is determined the best-selling Archery for Beginners’ that it is not going to get in her way. Guidebook. “Every day I find something that I can do,” she said. “I intend to live my life to the full, I won’t let blindness Photos from the author. stop me.”
p10 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Rachel completed a sports leader course at Calderdale College and is now studying an outdoor activities course. She is a black belt in taekwando, takes part in Visit https:// water activities at the centre’s reservoir, was the first in britishblindsport.org.uk/ Britain to ride a 30-mile bike trail on her own following for education, training and an unconnected guide – youth worker Marcus Irving - research resources which help and leads rock climbing activities on the centre’s indoor build knowledge about creating walls. an inclusive and accessible environment for people So why archery – and how does she do it? with sight loss. “Well I like it – a lot,” she said. “I love shooting. I know my way around the centre and the range really well, so I count my steps. There are 13 steps from the boss to the line and 16 to the waiting line. And reaching the arrows… well, I’m not sure how I do it but I just do it. I just know. I can sense it.
“I first had a go at archery here and I wanted to learn more. I was volunteering at the outdoor centre and wanted to have a go at becoming an instructor, so I asked. I like teaching and helping people, so it just seemed like a good opportunity. I wanted to learn a new skill – and I would love to take it further.”
The instructor course was set up by Grahame Cotterill. He said: “Marcus approached me and, after discussions with Archery GB, we agreed to give it a go. Rachel coped with the course extremely well and impressed her assessor so much that he thought we were fibbing about her impairment.”
By working closely with British Blind Sport, we made sure we had thought of everything we could to give Rachel and other participants a fantastic “ learning experience. As part of this we provided Rachel with one-to-one support throughout the course.”
Archery GB has given Rachel a restricted instructor’s licence – she has to have another instructor present – on the basis of this and she is now working with young people at the centre. n
As a sector let’s ask ourselves whether there are enough opportunities for leaders with visual impairment. Turn the page to read more.
p11 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Leaders with visual impairment Are there enough opportunities?
Dr Jess Macbeth shares her thoughts: As part of this we can ask ndividuals with visual impairment (VI) are one of the most inactive ourselves some key questions: Igroups in the UK and key stakeholders work hard to make sport and outdoor education accessible and inclusive to people with visual impairment (1, 2). l Are current coaching /
Though there are a few examples of coaching and leadership leadership awards accessible opportunities specifically for individuals with VI, it appears there is to people with VI? still work to be done to have more role models like Rachel Hanks and Rosie Pybus. l Is the advertising of coaching Rosie Pybus began playing tennis in 2009 / leadership awards reaching and now it plays a leading role in her life. people with VI? Alongside her job as a Sports Development Officer, Rosie has gained her level two LTA l Are there preconceptions coaching qualification and works as a self- about the ability of people employed coach and consultant. with VI becoming coaches / leaders in sport and the Read more here: http://bit.ly/Rosies-story outdoors?
Existing coaching and leadership courses or programmes specifically connected to visual impairment include: l What barriers might people • The British Blind Sport sports leadership programme, See with VI face along coaching / My Voice (https://britishblindsport.org.uk/see-my-voice/), provides 10 to 20 year olds with the opportunity to leadership pathways? become Young Leaders and apply their skills in a range of contexts. Exploring what is already available and asking • UK Coaching’s online e-learning course, ‘Coaching ourselves pertinent questions is a great but limited People with a Visual Impairment’, has been produced in start. Whilst any sports coaching / leadership conjunction with BBS and is screen reader-friendly for VI courses should be accessible to people with VI, users. there is currently no research investigating the • Goalball UK, governing body for the only sport designed reality of this or potential barriers faced for people specifically for people with VI, runs both a Club Leaders with VI along coaching / leadership pathways – so and School Leaders Award (http://goalballuk.com/the- this is also something we should look in to. sport/coaching/) which are likely to attract interest from those with VI. Overall, as opportunities in disability sport and This doesn’t mean, as with GB Archery, that there aren’t other outdoor education We can ask opportunities available, just that perhaps we could promote these develop, I hope ourselves questions about opportunities more effectively. we will see more accessibility and inclusivity individuals with visual as part of the Sector impairment pursuing Strategic Forum, which looks coaching or leadership to shape the future of our Outdoor Learning sector. qualifications. n Go to page 23 to find out more. AUTHOR: References Dr Jess Jess Macbeth Macbeth is a Senior Lecturer in Sports (1) https://britishblindsport.org.uk/wp-content/ Studies at the University of Central Lancashire. Her uploads/2018/10/VIFriendlySport-1-1-1.pdf teaching and research focuses on equality and (2) BBS have guides for specific sports including archery, equity issues in sport, with a particular focus on shooting, equestrian, football, judo, swimming, tennis and visual impairment, disability and gender. walking, available here: https://britishblindsport.org.uk/ educationandresearch/education/
p12 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) HOW TO
Street paddle A gateway to new adventures!
tand Up Paddle boarding (SUP) Shas been growing in popularity in recent years, to the point where British Canoeing now offer structured training around the sport. However, the relatively high cost of bulky and heavy equipment, along with the need for access to water, has prevented it from being accessible to everyone and the perception that it is an offshoot of surfing also doesn’t appeal to some.
Street Paddling (or Land Paddling) was inspired by Stand Up Paddling and is a fun and inclusive outdoor Street Paddling is a great gateway activity that can be done on any activity to other board sports, including smooth surface by most people with water-based activities. little or no experience.
AUTHOR: Jason Wragg Jason Wragg is a Lecturer on the BA Outdoor Adventure Leadership at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). He has an MA in Outdoor and Adventure Education and has been a leader on a number of international youth expeditions. He is also currently working with the British Exploring Society as
Photos are from the author. their Volunteer Education Advisor. s s s p13 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Starting street paddling is a beginner-friendly The position of the rider’s hands undertaking, even if you have never stood up on the paddle can make a on any board before. When starting to learn difference to paddling efficiently. any new activity that requires balance, it’s this The most effective grip on the or the fear of falling off that can be intimidating. paddle is based on shoulder The use of the paddle allows for three points of width, placing one hand on contact, making it easy to pick up, and it doesn’t the top of the paddle while the take long for muscles (especially core strength) rider holds it horizontally in to build up and balance to greatly improve. This front, then place the other hand makes street paddling a great gateway activity approximately one shoulder to other board sports, including water-based width length down the shaft. activities.
While there are specific boards made for street paddling, any longboard style skateboard is sufficient to start out. The rider uses a street paddle, which can be bought as a specifically made piece of equipment or, made with the addition of a road grip to a suitable paddle or pole. Even with the added cost of a helmet, the Using the stick across the board total package is affordable... which is another for balance the rider can step appealing part of street paddling. onto the board with their feet shoulder width apart and knees Starting out can be daunting but it doesn’t bent. The dominant foot should take long to get to grips with the basics. Using be at the front, but whatever a smooth flat area is best for those first few feels comfortable will help with runs. First the paddle needs to be suitable for balance. As the rider gains the height of the rider: resting the stick on the in confidence and becomes pavement, the handle needs to be anywhere comfortable they will be able to between the rider’s forehead and chin. adjust their stance and ride more creatively.
The basic stroke 1. Keeping arms straight, the rider should reach out as far as they can with their street paddle. 2. Keeping their eyes forward the rider should place the paddle into the ground firmly.
3. By putting some weight into it the rider can pull themselves forward and once they have passed the paddle transfer to pushing into the paddle.
p14 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019)
While in motion the rider should maintain pressure on the grip with both hands for added balance. Street Paddling Additional resources is an experiential process and once a rider has completed a few full strokes they will start to find what works best for For inspiration and information visit: them and soon be able to build up some speed and find www.landpaddleuk.co.uk/ their own rhythm.
It is important to keep the stick a safe distance from the board to prevent making contact with the wheels.
Stopping
Use of the paddle provides the easiest and safest way to weight is applied correctly the board will turn in the desired come to a stop: direction and the more weight is applied the sharper the board will turn. When turning, the paddle provides an 1. The rider should smoothly place the grip on the extension to the arms and helps to maintain the rider’s surface behind the board. balance.
2. Holding the paddle, they should slowly add The use of wide turns will greatly reduce the speed of pressure, maintaining a firm grip until the board the rider and by making regular turns they can keep their comes to a stop. speed at a manageable level.
Again, it is important to ensure that the paddle is kept away After a few short sessions the rider should be self- from the wheels and to start with a little pressure and build propelling and have enough control of the board to from there, rather than trying to stop abruptly. undertake short trips or move on to further skills. n Turning
Of course, now that the rider can go and stop, they will need to be able to turn: this is done through the distribution of their weight either through the toes or heels. To turn towards the direction the toes are facing the weight is transferred over the toes, whereas to turn the other way the weight should be transferred or over the heels, Send us your ‘How to…’ articles remembering to keep the knees bent at all times. When the Have you got any practical tips which will help others develop their practice? We are looking for ‘step- by-step’ information on all sorts of activities which
If you enjoyed thinking about different support outdoor learning – everything from pond opportunities for outdoor learning, go to dipping to outdoor art, bushcraft and canoeing. page 26 to consider how to use technology Email [email protected] in your practice.
p15 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) IOL STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP Step back and plan for future challenges
3-4 December, Chorley, Lancs
A premier CPD event for leaders, managers and decision makers in the outdoor learning sector.
Discounts for IOL, AHOEC, OEAP and BAPA members. Book now - places are limited. Download the brochure here: https://bit.ly/2ETe61I
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p16 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) This is a holiday for you too, right?
Social stigma surrounding a career in the outdoors
question most irksome, but to which a frivolous response is Auttered, and the conversation moved hastily on. The outdoors is often viewed as the domain of the young, carefree and single. Those aspiring to forge a lifelong career in this industry may be bombarded with questions about their long-term aspirations, realistic longevity and their family aspirations.
These questions encourage not only the feeling that others view the outdoors, our chosen pathway through life, as inferior or of little or no worth, but might also ingrain these ideas in ourselves. In favour, of not ending up deprecating not only ourselves but our career, we should consider the following:
Historically, westernised notions of careers have definable characteristics; a sequence of work life activities with a vertical sequence of upward development (1; 5; 17). More recently, however, we are no longer necessarily restricted to a vertical plane. Protean careers, centred on the individual rather than the Protean careers are driven by an individual’s organisation, are becoming increasingly prevalent (12). Where core values and beliefs, rather than by an work and lifestyle merge, leisure time and work activities often organisation’s structure or ideas of success. overlap. Self, rather than occupation, is considered of utmost importance and as such one pursues a multi-faceted career, More about protean careers can be read exploring different aspects either consecutively or simultaneously, here: http://bit.ly/Protean-career in order to fulfil desires, wants, needs and passions (2; 3; 11; 14).
AUTHOR: Tom Kilpatrick Tom Kilpatrick has spent the majority of his life exploring the outdoors, working extensively throughout the UK and abroad. A slow burn academic with an interest in contemporary issues, each new Photos: Title photo from the author. Rope exploration opens avenues of interest. walk and running photos by Geoff Cooper.
p17 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) This unique selling point of the outdoors, the basis of A successful career? attraction for most who work and play here, is also the It appears to be universally agreed that academic reason we are sometimes seen as superfluous. Once success has a direct correlation to a successful career. rapport grows close enough, interpersonal closeness Success, on the other hand, is more difficult to quantify. and shared ideology develops new meaning to outdoor Gratification, whether financial or intrinsic enjoyment from experiences, without the necessity of a formal plan. In the role, is balanced against altruistic rewards such as these instances, the student or client may go one of two social status or meaning, as well as ‘marketability’ (4; 6; directions; either they will feel part of the organism, or they 7; 8; 11; 15; 16; 18). will feel they have outgrown paid experiences.
Where the aforementioned lifestyle/occupation overlap We eventually sell ourselves out of a job. becomes so great that the two are indistinct, such as with the Outdoors, some of these indicators may be wayward It is imperative that clients see our worth. Our wealth of (5). For example, the industry as a whole is not high experiences comes into its own in difficult situations. paying, nor is it especially high status, therefore it must Reflection and discussion highlight the importance of our be the intrinsic benefits which draw so many. input in these instances as in the moment adrenaline blurs cognitive understanding. It is the case, however, that whilst those in the Outdoors are not unintelligent, they are often academically disenchanted. When a young person struggles to engage with academia, they can be labelled unintelligent, rather Does a stigma exist? than seeking their individual aptitudes (21). Stigma, the discreditation or discrimination of certain attributes or social dynamic is generally viewed as a negative concept. Membership of these stigmatised demographics, however, may give an individual a sense of Intelligence vs aptitude belonging and protect their self-concept (9; 13; 19). Mainstream education undoubtedly prepares students for certain careers. These are often the traditionally sought It has already been identified that an outdoor career is and top rated; historically those of the bourgeoisie rather detached from mainstream concepts and that the attributes than the proletariat (10; 20; 22). of an outdoor practitioner are not necessarily consistent with those of traditional success. What is not necessarily Often underpinning practical, rather than academically certain, however, is whether this is the cause of any based, vocations is the notion of phronesis; a form of particular social preconceptions. ‘practical wisdom’ which bases itself on experiential learning and requires critical reflection of one’s Personal experience suggests that those who pay for our performance and abilities (8). experience may still manage to belittle our career choice, as explored at the beginning of this article. Undoubtedly other practitioners will have encountered similar or identical situations. Stigma such as these are born often of Phronesis, as defined by www.oxford-review.com ignorance, rather than knowledge, coupled with previous is a Greek term which means ‘practical wisdom’. It can lead to breakthrough thinking and allows individuals to make good judgements about the right thing to do in a particular situation.
These two forms of intellect are not mutually exclusive, despite often being seen as such and being born of similar attributes: deliberation and evaluation. We, unfortunately, often go some way to perpetuating the propensity that our practical wisdom equates to a lack of intelligence.
A common response to the question “how did you end up working in the outdoors” revolves around not engaging, or not doing well in school. This answer, regardless of its intent, leads to the conclusion that we must be unintelligent. Already mentioned is the contrast of intellect and aptitude; however, we should build on strengths, rather than summarise our struggles.
The outdoor ‘unique selling point’ By design, the outdoor environment facilitates the experiences we design as practitioners. Despite or maybe because of this, we may be seen as part of the whole, rather than co-ordinator.
p18 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) encounters (23). Also previously was the idea that we perpetuate our own issues and this is often the form of ‘previous encounter’ that clients have had.
That in mind, it is unsurprising that a concept of unintelligence exists. We sell it or at least we do not alter it. Read Professional matters on page 20 Altering perceptions to keep updated with Evidently those who work in the outdoors have a host of the latest professional practical abilities born of a vast array of experiences and development alternative intelligence. The pathway through the outdoor opportunities. field is undoubtedly unusual. There is no clear avenue, no defined upward trajectory and an endless array of choice moments.
Personal values connect our previous encounters with scenarios and individuals to form the basis of practical References capacity and, in turn, progression. These abilities allow for 1. Aneshensel, C; Pearlin, L; Mulan, J; Zarit, S and Whitletch, C. split-second, life or death decisions, as well as long-term (1995). Profiles in caregiving; the unexpected career. Academic deliberation and practical reasoning. Press. 2. Betz, N and Vajten, K. (1997). Efficacy and outcome expectations influence career exploration and decidedness. The Career Despite the fact that these skills are all necessary for a Development Quarterly. 46 [2], pp. 22 - 37. career in the outdoors and inherent in practitioners at 3. Brown, S and Lent, R. (2005). Career development and all levels, in varying degrees, these are not always the counseling. Putting theory and research to work. John Wiley and attributes that are on show. Sons Inc. 4. Boehm, J and Lynbomirsky, S. (2008). Does happiness promote The outdoor industry appears to be a champion of the career success? Journal of Career Assessment. 16[1]. protean career; self-conceptualised, multi-faceted and 5. Clawson, M and Knetsch, J. (2013). Economics of outdoor research. RFM Press, US. lifestyle-based. 6. Cohen, J; Palumbo, M; Rambur, B and Mongeon, J. (2004). Middle school students’ perception of an ideal career and career in Elucidating the professional nature of the industry is not a nursing. Journal of Professional Nursing. 20[3] pp. 202 - 210. new concept. Processes to mediate exogenous stigma are 7. Collin, A and Young, R. (2000). The future of career. Cambridge in place and are undoubtedly altering attitudes. We can, and University Press. I believe, should, however, be individually at the forefront of 8. Collins, L; Howie, J and Collins, D. (2016). Metacognition this upheaval. Answering the questions posed at the start of and professional judgement and decision making in coaching: this article positively and confidently, to defend the nature of importance, application and evaluation. International Sport Coaching Journal. 3[3], pp. 355 - 361. an outdoor career should not only promote the knowledge 9. Crocker, J and Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: required to forestall the formation of stigma, but develop the the self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review. attribution of genuine value to a career in the outdoors. n 96[4], pp. 608 - 630. 10. Crompton, R. (2008). Class and stratification. Polity Press, Cambridge, UK. 11. Emmerling, R and Cherniss, C. (2003). Emotional intelligence and the career choice process. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, pp. 153. 12. Eby, L; Butts, M and Lockwood, A. (2003). Predictors of success in the era of the boundaryless career. Journal of Organizational Behaviour. 24[6], pp. 22 - 37. 13. Goffman, E. (2009). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Simon and Schuster Inc, NY, US. 14. Greenhaus, J; Callanan, G and Godshalk, V. (2010). Career Management. Sage Publishing. 15. Hall, D. (2003). The protean career: A quarter-century journey. Journal of Vocational Behaviour. 65[1], pp. 1 - 13. 16. Heslin, P. (2005). Conceptualizing and evaluating career success. Journal of Organizational Behaviour. 26[2] pp. 113 - 136. 17. London, M. (1983). Toward a theory of career motivation. Academy of Management Review. 8[4], pp. 620 - 630. 18. Kniveton, B. (2004). The influences and motivations on which students base their choice of careers. Research in Education. 72, pp. 47 - 57. 19. Major, B. and O’Brien, L. (2005). The social psychology of stigma. Annual Review of Psychology. 56, pp. 313 - 421. 20. Matsuyania, K. (2006). The 2005 Lawrence R Klein Lecture: Emergent class structure. International Economic Review. 47[2] pp. 327 - 360. 21. Patton W and McMahon, M. (2014). Career development and systems theory: connecting theory and practise. Sense Publishers. 22. Robinson, K. (N.D.) Changing Education Paradigms. TED Talks.
he Institute’s vision for Outdoor Learning to be a highly valued form of development, education and Temployment in UK society, is central to one of our charitable objects to increase participation in outdoor learning. Engaging in Outdoor Learning experiences offers potential for physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual development. But what makes Outdoor Learning, Outdoor Learning?
Outdoor Learning is an inclusive approach open to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. It ranges between informal, recreational or self-led activities, and more formal, instructed, taught or guided adventures (Figure 1).
Recreation Education
Informal Non-formal Formal
Incidental Purposeful Designed
Range of Outdoor Learning Experiences
Figure 1: Range of Outdoor Learning experiences
This continuum is at the heart of the mapping of a range of Outdoor Learning interventions in the IOL paper ‘Describing a Childhood To read the IOL paper Progression in Outdoor Learning’ (2018). If young people are to about childhood form a healthy, developmental and sustainable self-led relationship progression in Outdoor with the natural environment they need a mix of Outdoor Learning Learning go to: http://bit. experiences. This is true for any age. Initial informal experiences ly/IOL-Childhood-Outdoor- made possible or supported by others can lead to self-led or
Professional matters Learning independent adventures. Instructed, taught or guided experiences can provide frontier adventure relying on others’ expert skills and knowledge.
Early encouragement can lead to a personal interest and a desire to learn from the skills and knowledge of experts.
Outdoor Learning experiences come in programmes appeared to work better than all shapes and sizes others, and it was the skilful combination of social, active, outdoor and adventurous Undoubtedly the outdoor location, facilities, elements that enabled a bit of Outdoor Learning equipment and people involved shape the magic to happen (Figure 2). starting point for any outdoor adventure or learning experience. Equally important though are the content, timing, sequencing and range The sector has a strong tradition and history of of activities involved. using outdoor locations, facilities, equipment, people and activities to deliver life-changing The Institute’s work with the NCS Trust over experiences for people. 2018 saw us look carefully at 26 programmes, all designed to deliver a common set of outcomes. The visits and interviews revealed What combinations of social, active, many combinations and approaches used outdoor and adventurous elements by providers. There wasn’t a right or a wrong way to design a programme, but there were are part of successful programmes four elements that appeared to be consistently for you or your organisation? incorporated in programme design. Some
p20 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) The Case for Outdoor Learning
The demand for Outdoor Learning programmes is Social: Active: on the up. There is a growing bank of research and Providing a safe and supporting A range of engaging activities environment to enhance social and sports that enhance health policy that supports the benefits of engagement in the skills. Encouraging people to and strengthen self-confidence. outdoors. For example, in 2018 Scottish Government appreciate and value differences. Instructing skills, teaching Minister for Childcare and Early Years, Maree Todd, Making time for the opportunity knowledge and providing space to meet and interact with peers for spontaneous, in the moment announced increased funding of Outdoor Learning in and role models from outside events that are driven by the early years (1), saying: the home, work, or school the needs and interests “Outdoor Learning not only improves mental environment. of people. wellbeing and health and fitness, it can make a huge difference to children’s confidence levels and their ability to risk assess while encouraging a lifelong love of the outdoors.”
In the same announcement, Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said: Outdoor: Adventurous: “There is also a growing body of research that Spending time in the natural Participating in challenges and shows children with higher levels of active outdoor world and giving people a chance activities that promote personal play have improved cognition, which can result in to ‘unplug’ and learn about the growth, managing risk, positivity environment. Inspiring connection, and resilience. Helping people better academic performance and contribute to understanding, respect and care learn through experiences closing the attainment gap.” for the environment, and involving physical, emotional ongoing engagement and social demands. with the outdoors. The 2018 government document “A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment” (2) includes the following: “Spending time in the natural environment – as a resident or a visitor – improves our mental health and feelings of wellbeing. It can reduce stress, Figure 2 fatigue, anxiety and depression. It can help boost immune systems, encourage physical activity and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as asthma.” (p71)
“Our aim is for more people, from all backgrounds, to Make sure you’re making engage with and spend time in green and blue spaces in their everyday lives.” (p72) a difference.
“In line with our ambition to reduce childhood obesity, Get involved in local regional activity, join the the Government supports programmes that encourage relevant professional groups and use the wealth
physical activity, including in outdoor settings.” (p74) of resources on the IOL website. For example, Similarly, the Education Secretary Damian Hines MP announced a Character Panel to explore best ways for young Delve deeper into the balance between risk and people to build character and resilience in May 2019 (3). benefit in the outdoors http://bit.ly/Risk-benefit-balance In the launch he said: “Having a go at new activities and learning from failure Go to http://bit.ly/High-quality-outdoor-learning will boost children’s character and resilience.” to evaluate and then set about improving, or further “Life lessons are learned by having a go. With all of us improving, the quality of outdoor learning. – but particularly young people – spending more and more time online, we should all put our phones down, look up and get involved in activities that stretch and References (1) https://www.gov.scot/news/learning-outdoors/ challenge us.” (2) HM Government (2018). A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment. There are strong cases being made for the value of Outdoor https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ Learning. The benefits of getting active, sharing an adventure, system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693158/25-year- and enjoying the outdoors are also being recognised and environment-plan.pdf supported by a growing bank of research evidence. (3) Hines, Damian MP (2018). Education Secretary: “Character and resilience are key to social mobility”. https://www.gov. It is now as important as ever for our sector to ensure we are uk/government/news/education-secretary-character-and- resilience-are-key-to-social-mobility responding positively. It is the time to ensure that you are clearly communicating how your practice meets needs and the time to consider how you might adapt your practice to be more impactful. In addition, as a part of the wider Outdoor Neal Anderson, Learning sector, now is also the time to be clear about how you contribute to shaping the role Outdoor Learning plays in IOL Professional Standards Manager UK society. n
p21 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) The Celebrating Outdoor Learning Awards 2019
The Outdoor Learning Awards are presented to Outdoor Learning professionals and organisations in recognition of their outstanding work, and to encourage excellence. Last chance to enter the awards! With the end of July deadline for award submissions rapidly approaching the award Judges will soon review entries and shortlist finalists.
Get ready to place your vote!
As public voting opens in mid-August, running through to mid-September, there are three things for you to do:
1. Follow IOL on social media to keep in the award news loop, or visit the awards web page for updates. 2. When the shortlist is live, grab a brew and have a read through the entries. 3. Get voting and encourage others in your network to vote for their winners too.
The winners will be announced at a celebratory evening on Thursday 3rd October.
The award categories are:
1. Community Development Award 5. Workforce Engagement Award Collaborative working projects where outdoor learning has Projects that have actively encouraged equality and been central to the development of young people or adults in a diversity, volunteers or older applicants to be part of the particular community group. sector workforce.
2. Participation and Active Sports Award 6. Outdoor Learning Research Award Projects that have driven new levels of participation in Research projects that have answered a relevant upcoming or established outdoor sports on land, water and in question, provided tangible results and made a positive the air. contribution to practice.
3. Environmental Awareness & Action Award 7. Student Dissertation Award Initiatives that have developed understanding and championed A well-structured undergraduate or masters thesis that sustainability at a local, regional, national or global level. follows a clear theme relevant to the field of Outdoor Learning.
4. Health and Wellbeing Award Outdoor learning based schemes that have made a real difference to areas such as mental health, resilience or social issues.
Want to enter or keep up-to-date with the awards? Want to read more about categories, judging and how the public vote works?
Go to: http://bit.ly/Outdoor-Learning_Awards2019
Follow IOL on:
www.facebook.com/Outdoor.Learning.Professionals/
twitter.com/IOLOutdoorProfs
p22 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) “Continuing Conversations” Sector Strategic Forum Working together to shape our future and continue conversations from the very successful 2018 UK Outdoor Learning Sector Conference
Join us on 3 October 2019 at IBIS Birmingham 10:00 – 16:00pm
The need for impactful and co-ordinated development of the Outdoor Learning sector has never been greater. Building on UK Outdoor Who’s the Forum for? We welcome all training Learning’s 2018 conference this forum will provide opportunities to and awarding organisations, update yourself and your organisation on the latest developments and educators, researchers, for you to influence the future shape of the sector and its services. We advisors, managers and will not promise a peaceful and reflective day as we need to challenge business owners. and inspire each other to continue the development of this sector!
Session spotlights
Safety, inspection and Changing the impact of Reinvigorating Youth Work in licensing post AALA Outdoor Learning through the Outdoors In November 2018 the Minister of The issues of health, wellbeing and State for disabled people, Sarah research Regional Outdoor Learning Research personal development amongst young Newton MP, confirmed her support for Hubs draw together past and present people remain key for UK society. In the HSE Board’s decision to pursue research, as well as identifying May 2019 the Education Secretary Option 3 – removal of the AALR current and future research needs Damian Hines MP announced a regulations and moving to an industry- of practitioners in Outdoor Learning. Character Panel (https://bit.ly/2Wcf7fF) led, non-statutory, not-for-profit They enable a more integrated to explore best ways for young people scheme underpinned by the Health approach to research and practice at to build character and resilience. In and Safety at work etc. Act 1974, to a local level. The Journal of Adventure 2018 the YMCA was quoted in the provide assurance to users of outdoor Education & Outdoor Learning is APPG Youthwork Enquiry report: activities. The session will follow on a peer reviewed journal, with an “Many young people are now missing from the presentation at the 2018 international review board, which out on opportunities outside the school Outdoor Learning Sector Conference aims to promote dialogue, research, setting to engage in positive activities and update on the sector response to thinking, teaching and practice from that support their learning and date and give an opportunity to input critical perspectives in the fields of development, opportunities previous into the evolving plans. Adventure Education and Outdoor generations took for granted.” It is Learning. The session will celebrate clear from Head Teacher and wider Career pathways, workforce the impact of JAEOL and Outdoor Children Services feedback that training and apprenticeships Learning Hubs on the research provision of health, wellbeing and The past 12 months has seen landscape and look forward to how personal development solutions some significant developments both can contribute to meeting current cannot be left to already overstretched for the outdoor workforce, and future demands and challenges. teachers. The session will look at the including publication of an outdoor challenge for the Outdoor Learning professional profile and approval of sector to reach young people of a NEW Outdoor Activity Instructor secondary school age and engage Apprenticeship. Current work includes with professionals and volunteers mapping outdoor career opportunities, in new and innovative models of developing occupational standards provision. for new job roles and establishing pathways for Chartered professional status. The session will share current Book now! work, invite comments and look for opportunities for join up in the skills, Go to http://bit.ly/Strategic-Forum knowledge requirements for awards for more information and to find out and accreditations. how to book your ticket. Tickets are £90pp (including buffet lunch).
Stay for the evening to enjoy the 2nd Celebrating Outdoor Learning Awards. p23 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) AIMing for good practice in safety Accident prevention and claims defensibility As activity providers, what are the · Risk assessments. · Maintenance and recommendations AIM has for best practice inspection procedures. and the defensibility of a claim, should the worst · Staff training and regular happen? updates. · Good record keeping. Adventurous activities are exciting! That’s their whole appeal! · Clear T&Cs. They take you out of your usual habitat and sometimes out of your · Good housekeeping. comfort zone. Some activities are designed to provide you with · Lessons learned. adrenalin-fueled fun, others provide a more leisurely pace, but all can offer an outdoor learning experience which will enhance the Documents such as risk assessments lives of the participants. are crucial The benefits are well known and though health and safety You need to look at each activity, identify the risks concerns are obviously important they should not dominate to and demonstrate what you have done to make prevent provision of these activities. the activity as safe as possible. This will include checking equipment, procedures for the activity Millions of people take part in these adventurous activities every and the instruction given to participants. year without incident. That’s because providers adhere to good · Eliminate the risks that you can. safety and best practice. We see that all the time with our AIM · Minimise the remainder to the lowest possible members. level. · Update the risk assessments annually and Prevention starts from good whenever there are any changes to the practice in-house with thorough activity. risk assessments, a regular · Keep the records! For more information inspection and maintenance visit the AIM procedure together with staff Good housekeeping, with regular inspection and website www. training and refreshers. activitiesindustrymutual. maintenance of equipment, is critical to ensure co.uk or go to the inside that any defects are picked up immediately. Keep back cover page. records of the checks as evidence of your system!
p24 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) AUTHOR: Sophia Reed Sophia Reed left private practice as a Partner at law firm BLM to join AIM in January 2018 as Mutual Manager. With 24 years’ experience in personal injury litigation, she regularly defended Members’ interests and provided legal advice and risk management. A regular speaker at our Member events, she has a good understanding of the issues facing Members and the industry as a whole and the importance of defending brand and reputation.
We also find it very useful to have the following: · A video of the activity showing the layout and equipment used. · Details of the weather at the time, if relevant. · Details of any previous similar incidents and near misses, and what action was taken as a result.
Why do we need to have these documents?
Unfortunately, we live in a litigious world where claims are increasingly frequent. However, the courts no longer simply accept that these activities must be dangerous and are willing to balance the provision of safe activities, with the massive social benefits they provide. The success defensibility of a claim relies upon evidence of good Your staff are your ambassadors practice and, in particular, on documentation.
Staff reflect your business and brand. Make sure that all Documents are the best way of showing that you have staff: good practices in place and have done all you can to · Receive the right level of training to deliver the activity ensure the safety of your staff, all visitors to your site and correctly. those taking part in your activities. · Are fully competent in handling all the participants. · Can cater for all abilities. Contemporaneous photos and statements Just because you’ve worked with them a long time or they are the best evidence of the actual site, come highly recommended, the onus is on you to ensure conditions, equipment and weather at the the correct training is observed. time of the incident; some or all of which may be in dispute if a claim is made. Keep talking!
Encourage an open environment where any near misses or Training staff on how these documents can be the issues are discussed so that staff feel confident in reporting difference between a successful and an unsuccessful these to you and you can take action to avoid an accident defense helps them to appreciate and understand from occurring. their importance, and hopefully ensures that they are an accurate record of events and are completed What should you do if there is an incident? contemporaneously.
This checklist is what your cover provider or insurer will We hope that this guidance has endorsed that you need you to send to them: are already following the best practices within your · Risk assessment for the organisation, or individually, to ensure accident activity. prevention! n · Accident report form. · CCTV cover of the incident. · Name of the instructor/ supervisor of the activity. · A copy of the instructor’s training records and qualifications. · The signed T&C form or If you found this acceptance of risk form. · Inspection/maintenance records for the activity and article useful, book to any relevant equipment used. join the Strategic Forum · Photos of the site. in October 2019. Here · Statements from the staff on duty and involved in the you can get involved with incident and aftermath. conversations about Safety, · Statements from all witnesses to the incident. inspection and licensing post AALA. Go to https://www.outdoor-learning.org/AALA Go to page 23 to keep up to date with post-AALA updates for details. and learn from the AALS information log.
p25 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Digital technology and outdoor learning: A framework for decision-making
Excluding technology
When digital technology is excluded from Outdoor Learning, it may create a greater immersion in the task and a stronger connection to the outdoor world. For example, in the absence of a smartphone, learners may be more ‘present’ and aware of where they are, who they are with and what they are doing. However, the removal of a learner’s personal technology may create problems and negative issues that may outweigh the educational advantages. For example, many learners now rely on their smartphone for personal, medical, educational and logistical reasons and this disconnection may not always lead to the positive outdoor learning experience that the t is a perfect day on the ocean for a paddle and a learner practitioner had planned. arrives on a session with a new drone. “Check this out!” Ithey exclaim to the practitioner with excitement, “it will Excluding or be great to record the action.” The assistant practitioner including digital glances over whilst unloading their boat. “Surely we are technology in NOT using that?” they say, with a look of surprise. “This is Outdoor Learning Outdoor Education!” The learner now looks a little angry. is a difficult and “Why CAN’T I use it? It will help us review our performance important decision and make a movie for social media.” The assistant for practitioners to instructor is now marching over, equally angry. “I am NOT make. In the example having this on the session, distracting the paddlers and at the beginning of making that annoying noise, no way!” Both are now staring this article, both the intensely at the practitioner who is trying to think of a assistant and the systematic way of making this decision, but their minds go student are correct blank. in their arguments and it is really down to the practitioner to make the final decision. There is, however, little guidance on making this decision and many practitioners may feel significant pressure from the learners or the organisation to include or exclude digital devices in their sessions or programmes.
In this article, the focus is upon digital technology and the term technology is used to describe any digital electronic device that can record, store and present Information.
A framework for decision-making
To begin to address the issue of whether to include or exclude technology in outdoor learning, the Digital With the increased availability of digital technology, Technology in Outdoor Experiential Learning (DTOEL) practitioners of Outdoor Learning are often confronted Framework is being developed. The framework may help with the decision of whether to include or exclude digital practitioners to make or reflect upon a decision to include devices in their sessions. Smartphones, cameras, GPS or exclude digital technology in Outdoor Learning. The units and drones are just a few examples of what is being framework has been developed from a review of over 100 included and excluded and the range and affordability of studies and articles on technology in Outdoor Learning these digital tools is set to increase in the future. and the DTOEL model has recently been published in the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning Including technology (1). The framework is made up of four key questions and stages labelled A to D and a summary is shown in Figure 1. When practitioners include technology in outdoor learning, they may hope to enhance the experience for the learners and create new learning opportunities. For example, A: What is the main application of the digital a practitioner may use an iPad on an environmental device I am considering? session for learners to identify and photograph what they find. However, this tool may become a distraction for This stage in the DTOEL framework involves the practitioner the learners, with unintended negative consequences. identifying the specific application of the device that is For example, the learners may be so absorbed by the being considered. The digital device may: record the screen that they end up looking at the iPad more than the experience like a camera or a drone; provide information environment around them. on location like a GPS device; display or record information
p26 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Figure 1. A Summary of the DTOEL Framework. (Hills & Thomas 2019)
in the field sides of this part of the like a tablet; DTOEL framework in communicate their teaching. and connect with others during C: What are the the experience key learning like a sat phone; direct attention considerations? to specific parts of the outdoor Having considered environment like the device’s primary a pair of smart application and what glasses: or, it is an emerging technology in Outdoor may be gained or lost, Learning like a virtual reality headset. four key aspects of learning can now be explored. These include the learning outcomes or aims, the learner, the practitioner and the resources available. B: What may be gained or lost by including or excluding the application? The learning outcomes or aims of the session are of primary importance and are ultimately what the inclusion Once the primary application has been identified, the or exclusion of the device may be judged against. At this research suggests (1) that what may be gained and what stage, studies have shown (1) that the practitioner should may be lost should be explored. For example, in recording consider asking: devices, digital media may enhance the reflective process and advocate for the outdoor program. However, such Does the inclusion or exclusion of this digital recording may threaten the experience of ‘being there’ application actually contribute to the learning for the learners and looking through a lens may affect objectives? the capacity of a practitioner to monitor the safety of their group. Furthermore, location devices may enhance If the answer is no, then perhaps an open and honest learning to map read and provide a reliable position in discussion needs to be had with the learners and other an emergency. However, such constant information may practitioners about exactly how the inclusion or exclusion threaten the ‘feeling of the unknown’ or ‘adventure’ for the of the device’s application is actually linked to the learning learners and some practitioners have come into difficulty in outcomes. However, the aims or the learning outcomes the event of GPS failure if their map and compass skills are may not have been formalised, agreed by all practitioners lacking. and communicated to the learners. This may have a major detrimental effect on the success of the decision The review of the literature suggests that it is the to include or exclude technology. Indeed, it may be that identification of both the gains and the losses of each within charged debates about technology in outdoor application associated with either including or excluding learning, practitioners and learners simply have a different digital technology that strengthen session planning. There idea about why they are in the outdoors and what they are is a strong argument for practitioners to consider both trying to achieve.
p27 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) However, there are also many negative unintended consequences in including and excluding technology in Get the academic paper. Outdoor Learning. For example, research studies have shown that the learner may be significantly distracted Read more about the DTOEL framework in the Journal from the task, environment or group (2). This is the most of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. discussed negative result of using technology outdoors. http://bit.ly/DTOEL_paper_JAEOL Furthermore, when technology is excluded, more negative issues may occur for the learner over and above any Discover more... positive effects of the exclusion, and opportunities may be IOL members get discounted subscriptions to the missed by the practitioner to enhance the session. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning In any negative, unintended consequences, it is important (JAEOL) and can also access five past papers as part to identify which gain or loss, learning consideration or of their subscription. application, was not fully examined. Once identified, the To get access to JAEOLvisit feedback section of the model highlights the need for www.outdoor-learning.org/Journal practitioners to feed this into the next time a decision is made on the inclusion or exclusion of technology in Outdoor Learning.
The second biggest issue The order of the framework to consider is the learners themselves. What stage of Although the DTOEL framework is explained here in stages the learning cycle are they in? A-D, the parts of the framework can be considered in any If they are in the experience order and many practitioners may begin with the learning phase and in the field, then considerations. Regardless of the order, what is important any technology applied may is that each stage is considered in the decision-making place a barrier between process. them and the environment. However, if they are in the reflective phase, trying to recall the experience out of the Summary and future directions field, it may be an excellent way to enhance the post- experience learning. The DTOEL framework helps practitioners to think systematically about any inclusion or exclusion of Next, consider the skills and attributes of the practitioner in technology in outdoor learning. In any inclusion or using this piece of technology. Have they taught with this exclusion of technology in device before and are they familiar with its functions and outdoor learning, something is settings? Managing groups in the outdoors can be stressful always gained, something is and a practitioner’s competency with the device is vital to a always lost, and it is always a balance be-tween the successful outdoor learning experience. Get involved, give positives and negatives. Overall, the research shows feedback or share Finally, are there sufficient resources available to use this examples of inclusion or technology? One GPS device may not be enough for the that any decision to include exclusion of technology whole group’s engagement and the reality is that digital or exclude technology tools are expensive to purchase and maintain. should be intentional, in Outdoor Learning. critically examined and Email: davehills@ evidence-based, so that the hotmail.co.uk D: What are the consequences of the decision? learning is the focus and not the technology itself. n Research suggests (1) that the inclusion or exclusion of technology in outdoor learning can hap-pen in two ways. Firstly, a practitioner may exclude technology by either removing the learner’s personal technology (e.g. References a smartphone) or by not applying additional technology, (1) Hills, D., & Thomas, G. (2019). Digital technology and outdoor like a drone or camera. Secondly, a practitioner may experiential learning. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor include technology by either not removing the learner’s Learning, 1-15. personal technology or by applying additional technology. (2) Cuthbertson, B., Socha, T. L., & Potter, T. G. (2004). The Either way, there is a strong argument for this being an double-edged sword: Critical reflections on traditional and modern intentional, conscious decision. Indeed, negative and technology in outdoor education. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 4(2), 133-144. unintended consequences may occur when a digital device ‘appears’ in an outdoor learning session without prior consideration by the practitioner.
DavidAUTHOR: is a full-time Davidteacher of OutdoorHills In the inclusion or exclusion of technology in outdoor Education at Brisbane Grammar School, learning there are many intended, positive consequences. Australia and is currently completing his For example, excluding technology may immerse the PhD at the University of the Sunshine learners in the task or group and create a much greater Coast, Australia. connection to the environment than if technology was Follow Dave on Facebook @ present. Similarly, in including technology, the learning davehillsresearch. experience may have been redefined, and either a) create new opportunities that were not possible without technology or b) normalise the experience, so that the Photo credits, in the order they appear: Paul Smith; Adam Harmer; learners can use their existing learning systems. Adam Harmer; Tom Laws; Dave Hills; Dave Hills.
p28 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) The magic of storytelling in Outdoor Learning
Outdoor practitioner, storyteller and author Danny English answers questions about the importance of story in outdoor learning and how it features in his book The Happiness Tree.
Please can you give us a brief The spell is broken when a brave and summary of the story? adventurous young girl goes out in the In the story a terrible witch, who has woodland to explore, seek and search. locked herself away in a cave all alone, Under a rock she meets a new friend, finally ventures out into the world and a friend who knows where the world’s uses discarded rubbish and pollution as happiness is held: together they journey ingredients for a terrible potion. She mixes to a magical tree where they rediscover them together, casting a hideous spell to happiness and set it free once again, create a potion so poisonous she destroys breaking the evil spell and bringing smiles all the happiness in the world. Sadness to the faces of people all across the world. replaces happiness and the world becomes a terrible place to live.
AAUTHOR: passionate advocate Danny of Outdoor English Learning and Experiential Education, Danny English has been working in this field for over 18 years. A first class Outdoor Education graduate, child and adolescent counsellor, Forest School Level 3 Leader, Forest School Trainer, Storyteller and Children’s Author, Danny believes wholeheartedly in
Photos from the author the power of Outdoor Education. s s s
p29 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) What inspired you to write the book?
There are so many reasons for writing this story and wanting to share it. Children’s mental and physical health is in decline. I believe this to be no coincidence that it comes at a time when the earth and all our fellow species are also suffering a health crisis: deforestation, habitat destruction, plastic pollution, declining air and water quality and species lost are signs of a Gaian health crisis. Through my work as a Storyteller and Outdoor Educator, I welcome children into nature and some days they arrive tense and distressed, but the forest soothes them, their mood lifts and wrinkled brows turn to happy smiles. I hope the story helps people see that the health of the planet is directly connected to our health and by venturing into the outdoors we are offered a pathway to a healthier planet and a healthier self. It’s hard to explain to children that spending time in nature is good for their wellbeing but when the message is delivered as a outdoors. The little girl in The Happiness Tree regains her story it becomes more accessible. happiness by carrying a brave and adventurous spirit into the outdoors and exploring the finer things in the forest. She Can the book be adapted to engage with turns rocks, climbs trees, smells flowers and sits quietly to different ages? If yes, how? listen, then finds a special tree. I hope the story encourages children into nature to explore, be courageous and find The book is accessible to children of all ages. It their own special places. explores many different topics, offering a plethora of opportunities to use the story as a tool for holistic learning How did this story evolve through your practice? and development, as a way to inspire environmental responsibility. Children in the early years can engage As an Outdoor Educator I noticed that some children with the story in a sensory and playful way: they can make were coming to the forest, climbing a tree, looking for potions, explore different types of rocks, trees and flowers, bugs, swinging on a rope swing and declaring “I’ve done make brooms and create fantasy play as they whizz around everything, I’m bored.” I realised that I was witnessing the forest. children who had lost the ability to play; children who had become so accustomed to being entertained that they had The book is also accessible to older children who can use lost their ability to think creatively and play imaginatively. I some components of the story to explore sustainability, started looking for stories to tell but sadly I couldn’t find any health and wellbeing, and of course creative writing. While exemplifying the messages that I wanted to share, or the visiting schools I have witnessed some wonderful artwork lessons I wanted to teach, so I decided to begin writing my as children have painted and created their own Happiness own. Trees. I’ve heard some very creative ‘alternative endings’ to the witch’s story, been offered potions of all types and I told the stories from my heart, with the purpose clear in witnessed children leaving ‘happy gifts’ outside for the my mind, and the children soaked up every ounce of my witch. passion and enthusiasm. All my stories follow a similar pattern: they have an environmental theme, aim to teach the I met a young girl who went to the beach and basic principles of ecology, connect children with place, have magic and wonder woven through them and include a collected three bin liners full of rubbish so the nature connection activity too. witch couldn’t get it. When I tell my stories, they are open ended, which gives When we work with children and stories, all we have to children permission to make the story their own, so they do is plant a seed, open their imagination and give them become part of the magic and adventure. I have one story ownership of their own story. The Happiness Tree does that encourages children to search for a magical ring and this and how the children respond regardless of age is have had children approach me declaring, “It’s not in remarkable. France, we looked everywhere when we visited.” Stories inspire children to learn about themselves, each other and Why is it an important story to tell? the natural world in a fun, creative and engaging way. They bring joy and the environmental crisis will only be solved As already mentioned, it’s an important story to tell right when people have joyful experiences and rebuild their now because it helps us identify the connection between loving relationship with the natural world. our health and that of the planet. How can this story be used in practice? I do a mindfulness activity with children when I ask them to draw on a memory of a ‘special place’; over the years We know good Outdoor Education is ‘in’ the environment, I have witnessed more and more children describe their ‘about’ the environment and ‘for’ the environment; this story special place as somewhere inside. I run the same activity provides an opportunity to explore these three important with adults and 95% consistently describe a place in the components. The book draws children into the environment
p30 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Should this balance, the way we frame our discussions/stories change with age/ability of children?
Yes absolutely. I have another story that I tell about an overzealous dragon who gets carried away and melts the ice caps. When I tell the story to my three-year-old daughter it is very different to when I tell it to my 14-year-old nephew. As a storyteller there are ways to engage with the listener that evoke certain emotions, build suspense and encourage empathy; tempo, tone, varying volume and ‘the long pause’ are just a few ways to bring the story to life and meet the listener at a point that they can understand. The questions and discussions are very different too and sometimes with younger children discussions don’t happen at all, but you can observe them making sense of the stories in their play.
Thinking more broadly… how important is to seek and explore in pursuit of their own special place. storytelling in Outdoor Education and why? Lessons about the environment are woven into the story, from where clouds are born, to different types of rocks. For me it is absolutely essential, the age of the ‘worksheet’ is over, and the time of the story is returning. I recently saw Take the story outside and share it beneath a tree, explore a quote, “children don’t remember facts, they remember the surrounding area, be open to searching, seeking, stories”, and in this age I think this is more relevant than creating, discussing and building on the story. There are ever before. lots of opportunities to use the book in the outdoors, but the learning is transferable too. We have been telling stories since the dawn of time as ways to share information, develop culture and connect us to our I believe that when we tell stories in the outdoors communities and the land. As people we crave connection and we connect children to place, it unlocks and human interaction, and story can provide both. I have their imagination. witnessed first-hand how differently children receive and respond to information and are motivated and inspired when presented with a story rather than facts or names of things. When back indoors, children are inspired to write their own spells and poems and further develop the story too. For example: you could show a group a hawthorne tree, tell them its Latin name, talk about the leaf structure and How do you maintain a balance between the its ecological niche in the forest, but they are likely to have negative impact on children of describing the switched off as you finish the final syllable of the Latin name. harm we are doing to the planet and the positive message of connecting with nature? If you take children to a hawthorne tree to share stories of myth and magic, explain how they are the entrance to the I would never advocate scaring a child or using fear to world of the ‘small folk’, let the children taste the leaves encourage caring for the environment: that can only be with claims of magic teleporting powers, spin a tale of how done creating joyful experiences and reconnecting people the flowers induce sleep, and you have them engaged. with their love for nature. Each child is unique and the way Through story, they want to know more, and you will find we discuss the environmental challenges we face should them revisiting the tree time and time again with a curious be approached carefully. spirit. With careful facilitation, once they are engaged and curious, you then have an opportunity to add layers of Storytelling is an excellent tool as it mixes myth and information as and when appropriate. magic with meaning. I chose a witch and a glitterworm as characters in the story as they can be identified by children The Happiness Tree is a new story, but our land is filled with as mythical beings. This can transport children to another folk tales that are being forgotten, folk tales that connected, world, with the mythical beings softening the message. excited and taught us However, the lessons woven into the story remain and when valuable lessons about carefully approached can lead to discussions about the ourselves, the world and our state of our planet and how we can help. place in it. There is a great Go to page 32 for sense that children and adults a review of The Context and place are also key. We know that when are losing their connection Happiness Tree by children have positive, meaningful and personal with nature and place, and Dinah Johnson, and experiences in nature they are more likely to care and stories are the foundations for book stockist protect nature as adults. If we can create this type of that the connection can be information. experience for children and enthusiastically weave in rebuilt upon. n stories with meaning and lessons about the environment, then surely this has the potential to further increase the likelihood of this. p31 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019)
Reader’sHorizons asked Dinah Johnson reviewto independently review The Happiness Tree by Danny English
t’s been a few years since I’ve read a picture book to our children so it was a real pleasure Ito be asked to write a review of The Happiness Tree. Purely by chance the nearly-teenager was about when it arrived. Just for old times’ sake I said “Come and listen to this story and see what you think” and began to read it aloud.
Let alone the loveliness of the story and the beautiful illustrations by Miriam Hull, it was a real joy to hear the words spoken, as these sorts of books are meant to be. I’m sure if I’d just done my SATs exams recently I could tell you all the storytelling tricks in all their technical terms (I am reliably informed it contains ‘pathetic fallacy’) but as I haven’t, I’d just say definitely read it. It draws you in, has great characters, takes you on a journey, has those wonderful repeated sentences that littlies love, an ‘other worldness’ to the watercolour paintings, whirlpool writing in a cauldron, and most of all it’s a great tale.
One that cleverly reinforces the need for us to connect with nature to make us happier and how that has, and should have, an effect on our want to take care of the planet. We’re not too far away from a world of sadness if we aren’t too careful so it’s lovely to be inspired by a curious and adventurous young girl looking to bring some sparkle back to the world with the help of a new found friend.
It would make a wonderful resource for the introduction, conclusion or after lunch read to a day working in the outdoors with Early Years and Key Stage 1 children. A quiet time to get people thinking about how being surrounded by nature has such a positive impact on us and why we all need it. I would say it’s a heart- warming story for all ages (including nearly- Book details teenagers and 46-year-olds), but definitely one The Happiness Tree by Danny English, for younger children. ISBN 9780993272967. £8.99, full colour throughout, 64 pages, paperback. And a Spoiler Alert, but I did feel a bit sad that the Wicked Witch couldn’t somehow be To order email: [email protected] rehabilitated and included. n or call 01825 767396
AUTHOR: Dinah Johnson Dinah Johnson completed a BEd (Hons) in Outdoor and Science Education at Liverpool John Moores University in 1997 before working at The Townsend Centre in Swanage for two years. In 1999 she moved to Leeson House Field Studies Centre for five years before leaving to raise a family. Dinah continued to volunteer there, setting up a gardening project with local children which ran for five years. She now works as one of their Freelance Tutors with Primary schools. Dinah set up The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society in October 2017.
p32 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Canoe commute An everyday adventure through time and space here is in the developed world a thirst for adventure and ‘escape’. A brief TGoogle search using the term adventure will reveal “About 1,890,000,000 results (0.54 seconds)”, yet most of the images evoke exotic places that are beyond the resources in time, social capital and finance of many even in the so-called ‘developed’ world. At the same time the stunning pace of climate change suggested by the most recent IPCC report calls for some pretty hard and fast changes in the behaviour of these same people, questioning the ethics of the costly carbon footprint typical of most adventure travel (1). At first sight a thirst for adventure might be seen as running in conflict with the very present needs of the planet.
Alastair Humphreys coined the term ‘microadventure’, calling people to seek out adventures on their doorstep, including within the everyday work commute (2). Seeking to escape the pressure that surrounds the timescape of the 9 to 5 while also minimising our carbon footprint and refreshing our love of place, we set off from work at 6 o’clock on an autumnal Friday evening, homeward bound.
I should say a little about myself. I am a professional involved in Outdoor Learning who works in Ambleside, Cumbria. I have a keen interest in canoe journeys, especially those which involve canoe sailing. My commute was from Ambleside to Ulverston; if there was anything unusual it may have been the means of travel: a canoe rather than car, train or bicycle. A colleague and I set off from work hoping that we would be back in work on Monday, our canoe loaded with paddles, camping kit, food and sailing equipment and perched on top of a set of wheels known as a trolley.
Our journey home and back would total over 60 miles, each one packed with rich and varied adventures creating memories that would linger.
AUTHOR: Richard Ensoll Could the addition of trolleying Rich Ensoll works at the University of Cumbria where to your range of activities he lectures on the suite of Outdoor Studies degree programmes delivered there. He has worked as a open new possibilities for your freelancer, primary teacher and centre manager and outdoor programmes? Are there enjoys mountaineering, orienteering and canoeing. He bodies of water near your (or is interested in understanding and promoting low carbon adventures and welcomes comment and debate: richard. your client’s) base of operation [email protected] that could be linked by canoe given some investment in a
Photos: from the author set of canoe trolleys and high visibility vests? p33 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) After a quiet trolley to the river Rothay we set off down the fast-flowing river and were soon plunging through the steep waves of a near-spate river. All too soon we found ourselves at the river mouth and, with a fresh northerly wind blowing, we set sail into the gathering gloom of dusk. As night drew in, the wind grew in strength, creating a fascinating and exciting journey through Bowness, weaving lines amid gleaming boats moored in the harbour which emerged like icebergs argent in the moon glow. South of Bowness the wind eased as the lake opened and an extending view set the scene for a sight that stunned both of us. Framed against the dark shadow of a storm cloud to our north was the silvery arc of first one, then two moonbows. These monochrome rainbows, in which we felt sure we could discern a spectrum of colours, completed a sublime mountain/water/moonscape that held us transfixed as we sailed on into the night.
After a quiet night’s sleep under our upturned canoe we continued down the river whose mood turned quickly from gentle meanders to the crash and roar of a white-water river in full song. Absorbed by the process of careful river running, necessary to a single laden canoe on such After a good meal, and resisting the temptation of a lift back powerful white water, each 100 meters stretched to the to Ambleside, we set off again, inland this time, trolleying equivalent of ten kilometres of road cycling or over 100 through Ulverston town centre. kilometres of driving. Time flowed around us unnoticed as we inched forward till, spent with the nervous energy, we Could your outdoor programmes be decided to trolley the boat for a while, exchanging mental strain for physical graft as we fought the clumsy contraption designed to start or finish in the client’s over rough ground, steep steps and finally a locked gate. home town, travelling on foot, bicycle or by The sudden speed and noise of the road came as a jolt, canoe? reminding us that we were only nine minutes from home by car. 20 minutes of trolleying brought us back to the river at the tidal limit, where another character change occurred. Providers based in urban areas? The tide-etched sandy banks were mostly submerged but Many major cities in the UK have well a swift flow told us that the ebb would soon strand us on a developed canal systems; could you use wide plain alive with the threat of sinking sand, so, pulling these to link places or journey beyond the against a strong head wind, we dug deep for two hours of cities? continuous effort. Arriving at the open vista of Morecambe Bay with the last of the tide fleeing around us we dragged our canoes into what once (in 1796) was the shortest Providers based in rural areas? and widest canal in the world, to creep through a green Could your clients arrive or leave by a more corridor of lily pads for the two kilometres into town where adventurous means? Could your programme we were met by my son. The three of us then dragged the be designed to equip your clients to journey recalcitrant canoe the remaining 500 metres to arrive home at 2.30 on Saturday afternoon. Our 45-minute, 26-mile independently to their transport home? commute had taken ten and a half hours of continuous journeying. We had hoped to ride the flooding tide back upstream but our timing was off, so to avoid the pathless main road, we trolleyed a circuitous and hilly route enjoying many wayside conversations, popping into a friend’s house for tea and an exciting downhill ride with one of us perched atop the swaying boat while the other clung grimly to the back trying to steer. We rejoined the river16 kilometres and many hours later and began to paddle into the generous dark. There were no more moonbows, but bats circled as bright moonlight picked out spiralling tendrils of mist on the glassy water surface creating a feeling of gliding through translucent clouds. Two hours of apparently effortless paddling, the still night disturbed only by a low gurgling from the stern, left us once more ensconced under our canoe, tired but content.
Sunday morning saw us working into an increasing headwind so, after rounding the islands off Bowness, we set sail once more. Had we paddled the next leg the distance might have been something close to seven kilometres and, working into a force five head wind, might have taken about one and a half hours: a challenging but straightforward choice. Sailing, on the other hand, was
p34 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Do we as facilitators value and communicate the potential of journeys in terms of their power to provide flow experiences? How do we facilitate experiences to minimise the impact of the regular, metronomic and inflexible impact of clock time?
How long did this sense of immersion last? The car journey home took a mere 50 minutes – ample time for the re-surfacing very different. The sailing rig we use will allow the boat to of old frustrations concerning the speed of others and the felt tack upwind. However, the same canoe that can run down need to ensure I was home in time. The tick-tock of linear time white water and trolley along narrow lanes does not make and space returned all too soon. an ideal sailing craft. The relatively large sail area makes it challenging to keep the narrow canoe upright and avoid What had we learnt? We had been reminded that another, swamping or capsize, and efficient upwind sailing only occurs perhaps more innate or childlike pattern of life can exist when everything is set just right. Consequently, early on, we and in doing so refreshed our knowledge, understanding found we had sailed for a kilometre and made no progress up and appreciation for our backyard. We had also renewed the lake at all. After two and a half hours and approximately 17 friendships and developed skills while minimising our carbon kilometres of effortful, tenuous sailing we beached the canoe, footprint. exhausted but elated, with only two kilometres of paddling into an easing wind to complete before we could regain the head of the lake. Paddling against the current we re-entered the What about practitioners? river Rothay, paddling until the flow became too strong, and What might be possible on your doorstep, what from there one walked the bank while the other poled (a bit potential might there be in your locality? Could like punting but the river is fast flowing and the boat much less you, with appropriate permissions, stop off stable) to our previous entry point. and spend a night in a wood instead of going home on a work night? Is there a canal system By comparison with a fleet of sailing dinghies nearby you could trolley to and paddle to visit adapting a fleet of canoes so they can a friend or relation for the night then paddle sail upwind is relatively cheap and, with back the next day? Could you spend the some training and thought, offers a much weekend walking home from your work place? wider range of options for light winds and What about hitchhiking? Consider whether you journeying. I would welcome the opportunity could allow more time and hitch somewhere by to talk more about how this could be done: choice? see my contact details below. What about school-based programmes? So, at four o’clock on Sunday afternoon, 28 hours journeying, Could you encourage school children to and 14 hours sleep since setting off, we found ourselves embrace the adventure potential in their trolleying back into the university car park. On the way through the campus we met some students who we had chatted with commute? Ask children to map their commutes two days before, at the start of our journey. They exclaimed, and consider how many different routes can “Have you really been all the way there and back? It only they find to school? If they get a bus/train feels like a few moments since you left.” To us the time had to school could they take a detour or get off also flown yet paradoxically we felt we could account for each early and walk the rest? Could children who moment with an intensity beyond our everyday experiences. The richness of the journey had foregrounded a non-linear are usually given a lift ask to be dropped in a experience of space and time better understood in terms of different place then make their way to school? immersive events or happenings, rather than clock time and These ideas could culminate with using their linear measures of distance such as metres and kilometres. favourite route and camping in the school For example, sections of river parsed according to the flow and power of the water with a single section of 30 metres grounds, journeying on somewhere from school demanding complete attention, a microcosm of all life rich with for an overnight or meeting somewhere remote fear, skill, planning and elation; a perception of speed as our and travelling to school for an overnight. n trolleying canoe careered downhill along narrow lanes or the rapture of a moonbow sighting and mist tracery. Events acted to disrupt the linear nature of clock time and spatial measures References such as kilometres, causing us to enter into a flow of being that (1) IPCC (2018). Special Report was gentler on ourselves, others and the other-than-human. on Global Warming of 1.5 C. We were conscious of our behaviours emerging unforced as Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch. we danced with the elements, with moments of intensity and Accessed on 4/11/18. If you enjoyed this others of reflection. The deadline of work at 9am on Monday (2) Humphreys, A. (2012). adventure through time ghosted our actions but for large periods was lost in the Living Adventurously: and space, read more immersive intensity of the events which were experienced in a Microadventures. Available at: about Slow Outdoors gentler way than the imposed regularity of the tick-tock of linear https://www.alastairhumphreys. on page 36. time and space. com/microadventures-3/ Accessed on 4/11/18. p35 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Earthwise
Taking it slowly Slow Outdoors: Bringing us to our senses
n April the UK had a Slow Art Day when galleries There’s great scope for slowing down in the encouraged visitors to take time and really look outdoors. Taking young people out of the Iclosely at pieces of art. Visitors to art galleries on classroom frees them from the succession average take just 20 seconds to look at a painting. of 40-minute lessons and the tyranny of an Many spend more time trying to capture the image overburdened curriculum. Of course, there’s the on their smartphones than examining the picture. danger of thinking we need to create a similar The Slow movement started in Italy in the 1980s in regime in the outdoors by packing in at least opposition to the growth of fast food outlets and it six activities a day, but this misses the value of now encompasses slow cooking, slow travel and having time to get to know each other and to other aspects of living more slowly. In the UK we explore and connect with nature. Sharing stories even have slow radio which offers listeners such around a campfire, looking closely at insects in a sounds as monks chattering, water wheels turning, pond, wandering into the mountains, discovering cattle on the move and the dawn chorus. the source of a river or meeting a farmer or a craftsperson, are all activities that cannot be rushed and are becoming increasingly valued for our mental wellbeing in our frenetic lives. AUTHOR: Outdoor environmental educators have long Geoff Cooper appreciated the value of encouraging us to slow down by emphasising the importance of sensory Geoff has long been an activities. Rachel Carson, one of the founders of advocate for Outdoor Learning the environmental movement and author of Silent and believes that it has Spring stated that, “it is not half so important to an important part to play know as to feel” (1). One early approach was in questioning values and ‘Acclimatization’ developed in the United States encouraging environmental by Steve Van Matre at summer camps in the late awareness and action. He 1960s. He questioned the emphasis in formal enjoys journeys on foot and by boat which allow time education on factual verbal learning and stated to meet people, share stories and appreciate nature. the need to focus on feelings as a means of connecting young people to nature (2). Since Photos: Deer: Cadop; Jetty: Rudy & Peter Skitterians
p36 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) then, Van Matre and the Institute of Earth Education he founded have designed a range of environmental education programmes moving from awareness to understanding and leading to action. Many outdoor leaders will be familiar with such aspects of these programmes as ‘Earthwalks’ and ‘Magic Spots’ which concentrate on slowing down, looking closely at nature, using all the senses and having time alone to explore and reflect. Similar activities are described by Joseph Cornell (1989) as integral to his concept of Flow Learning (3). These have had a considerable impact on education and interpretation programmes devised by national parks, youth camps and wildlife organisations in the United States and Europe. The John Muir Award in the UK takes a similar approach through its four challenges, the first two of which are to ‘discover’ and then ‘explore’ a wild place through all the senses (4).
To learn more about the Institute of Earth Education go to www.earthed.org.uk
John Quay (2013) discusses two approaches to learning in outdoor education. The most common and accepted one recognises Outdoor Learning as an interaction between self, others and the environment. Quay argues that an equally relevant approach focuses on our emotions, which are central to outdoor education and explains that this is a more holistic approach based on Heidegger’s notion of ‘being in the world’ (5). This is a pure aesthetic experience, a feeling of oneness with the world that exists without calculation or analysis.
If you are feeling inspired, watch this 90- minute video about ‘being in the world’. If you want a quick overview watch the first five minutes. http://bit.ly/Being-in-the-world
There is a growing body of research that supports the importance of emotional attachment as a key to understanding our connections to nature. Lumber, Richardson and Sheffield (2017) conducted two online surveys of 321 people and recorded the direct nature experiences of 72 students to determine pathways to References connecting with nature. Their analysis concluded that (1) Carson, R. (1962). Silent Spring. Boston MA: there are five important pathways: Contact, Beauty, Houghton Mifflin, USA. Meaning, Emotion and Compassion. This emphasised the (2) Van Matre, S. (1972). Acclimatization. Martinsville, significance of aesthetic approaches based on emotions, IN: American Camping Association. feelings and personal connections to nature. Information, (3) Cornell, J. (1989). Sharing the joy of Nature. identification and knowledge-based activities were shown Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications. to be far less important (6). This holds no surprises if we (4) John Muir Award (n.d). relate it to many people’s strong childhood memories of https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/john-muir-award times they have enjoyed in natural settings. It’s often the (5) Quay, J. (2013). More than relations between self, emotions that have been stirred that keep these memories others and nature: Outdoor education and aesthetic strong - seeing an animal in the wild for the first time, experience. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor watching a sunset or the Milky Way, looking down on the Learning, 13:2, 142 -157. autumn mist in a valley, feeling the exhilaration of jumping (6) Lumber R., Richardson M., Sheffield D. (2017). in a lake or climbing a mountain, hearing a cuckoo in spring Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, or seeing a murmuration of starlings. These are occasions compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to which affect our bodies, senses and emotions. n nature connection. PLoS ONE 12(5).
p37 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) MAKING MUSIC A handy resource from creativestarlearning.co.uk full of ideas, suggestions and activities for running outdoor music sessions. Within the early years it is expected that settings will provide a balance of provision between the indoor and outdoor spaces. Yet often it is challenging for practitioners within the constraints of their work to come up with a sufficient range of ideas and ways of doing this. Outside there is space and height to experiment with scale and far more stimuli than indoors. There is room to move and use the whole body. We can make the most of the outdoor space for activities which couldn’t happen inside. Source: http://bit.ly/Outdoor-music n GROWING FOR FOSSIL FINDING THE FUTURE The UK Fossil Network share a plethora of fossil collecting Select the month to get handy hints on guides and advice - search by region to find your local fossil sowing, planting, growing and harvesting, hunting locations.n with curriculum guidance, videos, summer Source: https://ukfossils.co.uk/ activities and links to cooking. Food growing Photo: Steve Lilley with CC License. influences environmental awareness and attitudes. Children and young people with an increased knowledge of the natural
Love our outdoors Love world, such as biodiversity, ecosystems and sustainability, understand their impact on the environment and their role as environmental stewards and have increased levels of environmental responsibility. A lovely batch of resources created by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in partnership with Tourism Northern Ireland. n Source: http://ccea.org.uk/growing/september.php
CAMPAIGN FOR SCHOOL GARDENING The RHS Campaign for School Gardening is open to schools, youth organisations, home educators and freelance teachers. It aims to inspire and support teachers and youth leaders to develop a garden as a rich resource for young people’s learning, health and wellbeing. Register to receive your free welcome pack. n Source: https://bit.ly/1EQbM7R Photo: ©RHS / Julie Howden
• In the media • Sector news • Resources • Research
p38 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) SAVING 30 DAYS WILD RETURNED FOR A SCOTLAND’S FABULOUS FIFTH YEAR RAINFOREST The Wildlife Trust’s annual challenge – 30 Days Wild – calling on everyone to go The Atlantic Woodland Alliance is launched to wild every day in June saw a record number of 60,000 people, families, schools, save Scotland’s rainforest. Some of Scotland’s businesses and care homes throughout the UK signed up to receive a free pack of largest nature conservation organisations are ideas and to take part. coming together in a bid to save the country’s 30 Days Wild encourages everyone to enjoy nature in our neighbourhoods through dwindling rainforests – found on the west coast daily Random Acts of Wildness: listening to bird song, gazing at butterflies, growing from Wester Ross down to Argyll. “Scotland’s borage for bees and making the most of our parks, gardens and school grounds. rainforest is just as lush and just as important as Evidence shows that taking part can also make us happier and healthier. n tropical rainforest, but is even rarer,” said Adam Source: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30-Days-Wild-returns Harrison of Woodland Trust Scotland. “It is found Photo: Vauxhall City Farm along the west coast and on the inner isles and is a unique habitat of ancient native oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodlands and includes open glades and river gorges.” The new report reveals that there is as little as CURATIVE 30,325 hectares of rainforest left in Scotland. The remnant oak, birch, ash, native pine and hazel NATURE woodlands are small, fragmented and isolated It’s catching on. From Forest Bathing, from each other. They are over mature and often features on BBC Springwatch and show little or no regeneration. They are in danger in the national media to academic of being lost forever. n research; nature as a cure is getting Source: a lot of attention. It’s now understood http://bit.ly/WoodlandTrust-Atlantic-Alliance that the chemicals released by leaves Photo: Stan Phillips/Scotland Natural Heritage on from the trees and breathed in help the above website. release ‘natural killer cells’ in our immune system that target things like tumours – a physiological reality. BUTTERFLIES: Being amongst nature improves our mental and physical health. Just a few ONE SPECIES’ minutes outdoors in nature helps to lower our blood pressure, reduce stress levels MIRACULOUS and improve our mood. The IOL Research website has articles and resources which focus on outdoor COMEBACK n “This is a species that has come health and wellbeing. back from the brink,” says Dan Hoare Research website: https://www.outdoor- of Butterfly Conservation about the learning-research.org/ Duke of Burgundy. “We’ve halted the Read more: slide towards extinction and in some http://bit.ly/Outsideonline-miracle-cure landscapes it is genuinely marching back across the landscape. That’s a real cause for celebration.” Hoare, the director of UK conservation at this small charity, headed a programme to BIRD GIRL SETS UP halt the species’ extinction in Britain. BLACK2NATURE The Duke’s caterpillars eat common Mya-Rose Craig is a young British wildflowers, cowslips or primroses, but Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, the butterfly is oddly fussy: it doesn’t environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. like the open downs favoured by most She is based near Bristol and writes posts about warmth-loving butterflies, nor does it birding, conservation and environmental issues thrive in dense woodland. It requires from around the world. lightly grazed grassland and scrub, or She has also set up Black2Nature with the aim coppiced woodland. n of working with organisations to increase the Source: engagement of Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) http://bit.ly/TheGuardian-butterfly people with nature and the environment. n Photo: Francessco Gatti via Pixabay Source: http://birdgirluk.blogspot.com/ p39 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) Life after Licensing
t’s been two years since I last commented on • Provide a sector-owned and -led publicly Ithe future of Adventurous Activity Licensing accessible listing of providers recognised in these pages (see Perspectives in issue by the regime. 78). Since then, the HSE has conducted a • Agree a transition approach from AALA and consultation and presented the sector and wider the existing sector schemes that are to be stakeholders with three options, namely: incorporated.
Option 1: The existing HSE-led inspection There are obviously some fantastic opportunities remaining with little change to build on the lessons of the past 25 years Option 2: A revised HSE-led regime with a and to support increased provision of outdoor wider scope or adventurous activity, whilst continuing to develop Option 3: A sector-led alternative. standards and increase the value placed on that provision. This is an important step forward for The response level to the consultation was the sector and although there is commitment to good and extensive narrative was provided by creating a better place, there remain some key respondents to help inform the HSE decision. questions to be answered: This led to a wide range of outdoor adventurous i. What are the key features of an inspection activity stakeholders to come together, to provide regime that can provide an alternative to a single body for the HSE to hold a conversation AALA that can be endorsed by the HSE? with. This body, formed in 2017, became known Perspectives ii. How can a sector-led scheme continue as UKAIG (UK Activity Industry Group) and it to improve the standards of delivery of draws on input from all home nations and most adventurous activity in a consistent manner large stakeholder groups across the UK. across the UK? iii. What are the true sustainable costs of a As a direct result of the dialogue between the sector-led scheme? HSE and UKAIG, Sarah Newton MP confirmed iv. What pricing approach reflects the range her support for the HSE’s board decision to of size and type of delivery models and pursue Option 3, leading to a request that the promotes inclusion? UK Adventure Industry detail an alternative to the current AALA statutory licensing. I am clear that the sector is capable of developing and running an alternative to AALA To propose the detail of a sector-led, inspection- and that the time is right for that to happen. based regime, the sector needs to develop a new regime that incorporates a range of existing I am equally clear that without such an approach accreditation schemes. The new regime can there is a very real risk of the sector fracturing draw on the best of the existing schemes, as across home nation and outdoor discipline lines; well as featuring developments that support fracturing will only make it harder to access, wider participation by providers. In addition, understand and realise the potential benefits of the new regime can improve sharing of good outdoor adventurous activity provision. practice and provide a better understanding of the capacity and potential of the sector (a Thank you to all who have ensured their voice current issue for policy makers and those looking has been heard in the conversations to date. to draw on the sector to meet societal needs Please look out for opportunities to continue to around health, education and environmental influence the design and development of the sustainability). sector-led inspection regime. IOL will continue to support both the debate and the development To develop the new regime the sector needs to: activity. n • Review the scope of the existing accreditation schemes, including their inspection process, with a view to incorporation into a new regime. by IOL CEO • Design and cost an inspection cycle that is sustainable by providers, accessible to the Andy full range and scale of providers and gives Robinson developmental feedback. • Establish a sector-wide governance body recognised and accepted by the sector and HSE. Visit http://ukaig.uk • Establish a management function to to read the latest manage the scope of activities covered by news from the UK the new regime, appoint an inspectorate, Activity Industry provide a Quality Assurance function for the inspecting and the inspected, share Group. good practice and lessons learnt, as well as provide information to HSE.
p40 HORIZONS 86 (Summer 2019) How old is Outdoor Learning?
399 years (at least!) It was 1620 and the first recorded evidence of the London Society of Apothecaries apprentices being taken into the countryside on ‘herbalising’ tours to collect and study plants for medicinal purposes.
... just one of the fascinating facts from the book Roots & Wings: A History of Outdoor Education and Outdoor Learning in the UK by Ken C. Ogilvie, author of ‘Leading and Managing Groups in the Outdoors’.
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