Teachers' Facilitation on Students' Learning in Outdoor Adventure Education

Abstract

Student learning in the outdoors is often based on experiential learning where facilitation is integral in the process. Outdoor education teachers usually carry out facilitation during or after an activity to help students gain new knowledge, including of themselves and others. Facilitation can take the form of verbal or non-verbal group debriefs, metaphors, story--telling, reflection sessions or informal conversations. Often being considered as part of the hidden curriculum of outdoor education, facilitation is essential, yet often indirect and subtle.

The aim of this research project is to examine how facilitation techniques used by outdoor education teachers assist students’ learning in the acquisition of social and personal effectiveness skills. To address this, the study utilises ethnography and autoethnography as a research framework within the interpretive paradigm. Qualitative research methods including semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions explore the specific outcomes of teachers’ facilitation on students’ learning in a residential camp experience. Findings suggest that the main outcomes perceived by students related to the camp objectives in particular improved self-confidence and social communication skills were acquired mainly due to a range of facilitation techniques used by the teachers.

The results contribute to empirical research for facilitation literature and potentially bridge the gap between the role of facilitators and learning for youths in outdoor education.