Four Dimensions

Authenticity

This element calls on educators to locate learning in contexts that have relevance for their students. There is a growing body of research showing how education that is more directly connected to the everyday lives of learners can be very powerful. Authenticity refers to what feels real to us: who we are with, where we are, what we are doing, and most importantly, why we are doing it.

As an example, a field trip exploring a local harbour to map the projected change in the high tide level, due to climate change, may provide greater insights and calls to action than an exercise where a group is required to make a presentation on rising sea levels in the Arctic. Research supports the idea that outdoor experiences in the learners’ locale can offer a higher degree of authentic adventure than, for example, a heavily regulated and rather contrived experience, such as challenge ropes courses.

The notion of authentic learning contexts aligns well with place-based or place-responsive learning, which meets students ‘where they are at’ and connects them with their communities and the challenges within them. By recognising the importance of authenticity, skilled educators can link learning to students’ past and future learning experiences. The value of learning in local places and addressing issues of relevance to students and their communities is supported by a growing body of literature across a range of disciplines.

Agency and responsibility

One of the central goals of educators (and parents) is to give young people the agency they need to make informed choices, which will in turn make a positive difference in their lives and in the lives of those around them. Closely linked to the concept of agency is the notion of autonomy. When someone displays autonomy they can take actions based on intrinsic motivation, rather than feeling compelled to do something because that’s what the teacher or instructor told them to do. Autonomy has been defined as the ability to make an informed decision coupled with the taking of responsibility for this choice.

Autonomy can be fostered through providing learners with appropriate and meaningful choices. In an outdoor context this means more than superficial choices such as, Do you want to do this activity before or after lunch? or Do you want to climb or belay first? For learners to be able to make informed and meaningful choices, and take ownership and responsibility for these choices, they must know what they are doing and what the task involves; this requires development of appropriate skills, which we cover in the Mastery section. When learners are engaged in activities that have meaning in their lives, and where they can gain a sense of accomplishment, their intrinsic motivation will increase and they are better placed to take responsibility for their learning. 

Educational experiences should be planned so that learners can be held responsible for acquiring knowledge, developing skills, making sound judgments, and seeing the connections between actions and the outcomes. These outcomes are difficult to achieve if teaching is reduced to delivering a series of ‘risky’ activities that must be constantly managed by the instructor. Asking students to take responsibility should come with opportunities for them to exercise autonomy, use their competences, and see the links between the current task and other aspects of their lives.

Uncertainty

Many common definitions of adventure assert that a key element is the taking of risks coupled with an uncertain outcome. The trouble is that many educational programmes — both indoors and outdoors — seem to feature increasingly less adventure. In educational contexts, we suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on uncertainty in the process of achieving a desired outcome, rather than on the outcome itself.

Engaging learners in authentic contexts, where they have choices about how they might tackle a pressing issue, provides opportunities to enrich learning. When there is an element of uncertainty regarding how to solve a problem, learners are required to find new solutions and experiment with new ideas or actions. This creates space to be creative, rather than relying on previous actions or following a formula.

The idea is to facilitate learning experiences with uncertainty through being immersed in situations which require the learner to deliberate, be creative, try imaginative solutions. Uncertainty creates opportunities for trial and error, for experimentation; in other words, it places students within powerful contexts for real-life learning.

Building uncertainty into programmes is vitally important to helping students to not only survive, but to thrive in the contemporary world that is increasingly fluid. We owe it to young people to help them develop the competencies to deal with uncertainty, so that they can grapple with — and perhaps even thrive amidst — the messiness and unpredictability that hallmark everyday life.