A Narrative Case Study Simon Shaw. the University of Melbourne, Australia

SHA04195 The Overland Track: A Narrative Case Study Simon Shaw. The University of Melbourne, Australia Abstract As an outdoor educator, I am continually questioning whether the academic needs of my students are being fulfilled through fieldtrips such as those offered to students enrolled in subjects that have rationales and pedagogies grounded in experiential education. Focused on university students’ experiences on a five-day bush walk on the Overland Track in Tasmania, Australia, this study examines the experiences of eight students on a field trip that forms a core learning experience in an outdoor and environmental studies subject. This paper, presented in the form of a narrative case study, examines the ability for students to achieve set learning objectives in an unfamiliar and often confronting learning environment. This study found that the learning experiences of the students is consistent with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and that academically framed learning objectives were not met until physiological, safety, belonging and esteem needs of the students were fulfilled. Introduction Despite the late hour, physical exhaustion and an intense desire to sleep, I lay awake in my sleeping bag on this, the final night of this five-day bushwalk. Eight students and myself were close to completing a walk commonly referred to as the Overland Track in Tasmania, Australia. The track, roughly 80 kilometres long, extends from the northern shores of Dove Lake to the northern shores of Lake St Clair, cutting a route through the spectacular, remote and pristine Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park. The reason I lay awake was two-fold. The storm that hit us the previous night was still raging and although we were enjoying the relative comfort of a bushwalker’s hut on this night, I could clearly hear all around me the wild sounds of thunder, lightning and ferocious wind gusts and I could only imagine the havoc the storm was causing outside. The second reason I lay awake was because I was deep in thought about some of the comments I heard as I conversed with the students, some of which were deeply profound. I wondered as I tried to sleep whether some of these comments were a reflection of their development generated through this field trip. These thoughts inevitably led me to wonder whether by lunch tomorrow, when we were due to reach the end of the walk, we had achieved the objectives we set for ourselves. We were completing the walk as a requirement to complete a subject at The University of Melbourne in which I teach. The subject is designed to guide students toward a deeper understanding of the interrelations between themselves, other people and the natural environment. The subject focuses on experiential learning in an intensive way during field trips, including this one on the Overland Track, providing a first hand experience of the notion of learning as holistic and situational. Students will benefit from the subject in multiple ways, although the subject is specifically concerned with the cognitive, psychological and social development of its students. To evaluate the effectiveness of this field trip, I needed to look back at my own notes I had made during the trip. I have always kept detailed notes of the occurrences on these field trips in my journal; it allows me to further explore the role that nature plays in our lives; it enables me to further justify the learning processes that occur in wilderness settings; it gives me some idea of how successful I am in communicating my ideas to others. Linear and Cyclical Social Evolution Before the commencement of the field trip we had decided to focus group discussion on a paper entitled ‘The Metronomic Society and The Natural Environment’ (Nettleton, 1999) in which the author expresses the opinion that our linear lifestyle has caused us to devalue or outright ignore the very thing that makes us human; the natural environment. Nettleton argues that it is the clock and not the sun, moon and seasons that dictates our daily movements. This, in turn, cuts our ties with the natural rhythms that so influenced the lives of our ancestors and still influences most creatures that live on this earth (Nettleton, 1999). Having read this paper prior to departure, we have decided as a group to test the validity of this paper by living the next five days without our time pieces, depending wholly upon the sun and our bodies to determine our movements. None of the students on this trip had ever experienced five continuous days in ignorance of time, and each of the students removed their watches, some nervously exposing a tan line that indicated they rarely went anywhere without their time piece. So we gathered without our watches, and stood on the shores of Dove Lake located at the northern tip of the Overland Track, on this October morning. Many people in the past have stood at this location and seen the awesome sight of Cradle Mountain standing 1,545 metres above sea level. Dramatic near-vertical pillars of dolerite rock compel the observer to question what immense forces are responsible for creating such an enormous structure. Waterfalls cascade off the mountain, through distant fern gullies and plunge into the icy depths of the black waters of Dove Lake. If the group were expecting that marvellous scene to greet them on this day, they were to be terribly disappointed. A strong wind was blowing a combination of rain and sleet in an almost horizontal direction. As the group were making the final adjustments to their heavy backpacks they had to shelter their faces, the only unprotected part of their bodies, from the biting wind. Cradle Mountain was not in view, in fact very few peaks could be seen from the vantage point of Dove Lake in the near whiteout conditions. The bus that escorted the group to Dove Lake departed. Due to the weather no one else was in the car park, which is a most unusual sight given that the car park itself normally affords quite spectacular views and therefore attracts large crowds. After some time, a hire vehicle with two tourists drove into the car park. They immediately realised there was very little point in getting out of the vehicle and seemed content looking through a bundle of brochures they had collected from a nearby visitor information centre. After a short while, they drove off leaving us completely alone again. Our group consisted of Michelle, Jim, Helen, Susan, Adam, Jeremy, John, David and myself. I was the only group member who had walked the track before, having completed it several times over the previous few years. With some showing signs of hesitation, we headed off into the driving rain, knowing that the weather was unlikely to improve in the immediate future. The track left the shores of Dove Lake and followed the gentle contours of the nearby hills, meandering its way through lightly timbered forest and small tarns. Despite the continuing rain, at this stage the group are happy. Some are reporting that their packs do not feel comfortable, so we stop and rest whilst they are being readjusted. John jokingly asks after the first 10 minutes if we have reached our evening destination of Waterfall Valley Hut. The group responded in nervous laughter, some were no doubt hoping at some subconscious level that it was true. A couple of group members try their first taste of water from a swollen creek. The concept of drinking water out of anything but a faucet is foreign to them. The fact that the creek water is stained brown from the leeching tannins does not help them overcome their fears. Helen is unlucky enough to collect a bug in her drink bottle, which doesn’t encourage her to drink the water. They protest that water is supposed to be clear and bug free, but they drink it anyway with much hesitation. Have we sheltered ourselves from the natural environment so much that we no longer know when water can be consumed directly from a stream? This is not an urban waterway surrounded by buildings, roads and cars but a national park kilometres from infrastructure and agriculture that has the potential to pollute the watercourses. We can see the water cascading off the mountains into the fast-flowing creek yet the students are hesitant to fill their water containers. Is this a reflection of the Metronomic Society as described by Nettleton? Are these students somehow living a life where they believe that water does not come from the earth’s natural processes but is somehow miraculously provided by an ever-dependable faucet? In south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, water was something that we once depended upon in a cyclical fashion, it would rain during our cooler months which we would store in tanks and reservoirs for the periods of time when it did not rain which could be weeks, months or even years. It made us value water and become acutely aware of how to locate and conserve “good” water. The availability of clear, treated water is linear rather than cyclical, despite external pressures such as drought and pollution. It is little wonder that today the students looked at their water with trepidation. Emerging Social Needs After our pack readjustments, we continue the journey that had barely even started. The track makes a notable turn up a steeper spur line. The path is slippery and unstable, and the group are thankful for a metal bar that has been cemented into the rock that provides some support. This is the first big hill of the walk, and the students have a mixed response.

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