Towards an understanding of flow and other positive experience phenomena within outdoor and adventurous activities

Abstract

In considering what draws people to become involved in adventurous activities, studies on flow suggest that people are motivated to participate because of the intrinsic feelings of enjoyment, well-being and personal competence that they experience. This paper explores the positive experience phenomena termed peak experience, peak performance and flow. Similar and distinctive characteristics are identified, and factors influencing the ability to experience such peak moments are considered. A state of flow, which appears to hold the most relevance for adventurous activities, is explored in greater detail and considered in the light of The Adventure Experience Paradigm. Csikszentmihalyi's flow models are outlined and examined with particular reference to perceived levels of challenge and skill. It is suggested that an insight into the nature and characteristics of such optimal experiences can contribute to our understanding of why adventurous activities are intrinsically motivating. Such an understanding can assist practitioners in enhancing the learning experiences and opportunities for development of each individual participant.     

Developing outdoor and adventurous activities for co-existence and reconciliation in Israel: an Anglo-German approach

Conflict resolution between different social groups is an issue that has continued to gain high profile news coverage both nationally and in a global context. In this respect, it has been shown that carefully designed and managed physical activity programmes can make a small but nonetheless invaluable contribution to reconciliation and co-existence within deeply-divided communities and socially fractured societies. Where this has been successful it is possible that projects such as these can be designed to be tangible products that not only facilitate co-existence work but can also be part of a more sustainable product that local coaches, teachers and community leaders can continue to promote through the teaching of core values and principles. This paper highlights how outdoor and adventurous activities (OAAs) can be used as a means to address co-existence and reconciliation within a deeply-divided society and outlines the work that is currently being undertaken in northern Israel by an English and German project team.     

Towards an understanding of neuroscience for science educators

Advances in neuroscience have brought new insights to the development of cognitive functions. These data are of considerable interest to educators concerned with how students learn. This review documents some of the recent findings in neuroscience, which is richer in describing cognitive functions than affective aspects of learning. A brief overview is presented here of the techniques used to generate data from imaging and how these findings have the possibility to inform educators. There are implications for considering the impact of neuroscience at all levels of education – from the classroom teacher and practitioner to policy. This relatively new cross-disciplinary area of research implies a need for educators and scientists to engage with each other. What questions are emerging through such dialogues between educators and scientists are likely to shed light on, for example, reward, motivation, working memory, learning difficulties, bilingualism and child development. The sciences of learning are entering a new paradigm.     

Towards an understanding of instructional design heuristics: an exploratory Delphi study

Evidence suggests that experienced instructional designers often use heuristics and adapted models when engaged in the instructional design problem-solving process. This study used the Delphi technique to identify a core set of heuristics designers reported as being important to the success of the design process. The overarching purpose of the study was: (1) to examine and describe the heuristics that guided instructional designers’ practice and (2) to identify the relationship between these heuristics and key competencies of the discipline, as outlined by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction. Sixty-one heuristics were ultimately identified (reached consensus). All 61 aligned with at least one of the four categories of IBSTPI, with some aligning with more than one. More specifically, 17 heuristics aligned with Professional Foundations competencies, 17 aligned with Planning and Analysis competencies, 18 aligned with Design and Development competencies and 10 aligned with Implementation and Management competencies. By examining instructional design heuristics, we hope to better understand the potential genesis and/or future application of each heuristic. Results provide insights into the specific heuristics experienced designers perceive as being effective during the ID process.     

Towards an understanding of the values issue in curriculum decision-making

Much of the literature on curriculum decision-making focuses on individual teachers and their instructional decision-making role within the classroom. The propensity for studying curriculum decision-making from this perspective has left a deficit in the area of curriculum decision-making by groups. It is the aim of this paper to propose one possible framework to promote understanding in this neglected area. After establishing deliberation as a basis from which to study curriculum decision-making, it will be argued that the values issue in group deliberation may be clarified by applying some notions borrowed from the field of teacher socialization. Various factors which influence curriculum decision-making will then be incorporated into the framework.     

Towards understanding the two way interaction effects of extraversion and openness to experience on career commitment

In this study, we examined potential two-way interaction effects of the Big Five personality traits extraversion and openness to experience on career commitment measured in terms of three components of career identity, career resilience, and career planning. Participants included 450 managers from public and private sector organizations in North India. The results indicated significant positive impacts of extraversion and openness interactions on the career resilience dimension of career commitment. Implications for practice and future research directions are also discussed.     

Dangerous activities within an invisible playground: a study of emergent male football play and teachers’ perspectives of outdoor free play in the early years of primary school

This research was carried out during a study which focused upon the rough and tumble play of children in the early years department of a suburban primary school in northern England. The child sample’s playtime activities were ethnographically observed over a period of 18 calendar months, during which time interviews were also carried out with the children’s class teachers and several other adults taking part in the children’s daily school routines. It was found that the narratives created by a cohort of four‐and‐a‐half‐ to six‐and‐a‐half‐year‐old boys around their football (soccer) play were socially and symbolically complex, providing evidence that such play is a highly valuable developmental activity. However, the interview data indicated that owing principally to very low adult:child ratios in playground supervision, the focus of the adults was strongly directed towards negative aspects of outdoor free play.     

The place and approach of outdoor learning within a holistic curricular agenda: development of Singaporean outdoor education practice

This paper details the potential contribution of outdoor education (OE) in Singaporean education given the recent raft of national curricular reforms aimed at fostering holistic and exploratory learning opportunities. In this context, we contend that increasing recognition of the value of OE, both internationally and locally, heralds specific challenges within unique Singaporean educational conditions that must be taken into account for this subject area to flourish. In particular, we seek to distil the ways in which local community, cultural and school conditions signal the need for a more place-based and contextualised version of OE. Our analysis further addresses the need for adequate professional development frameworks to be installed in order to enhance existing local teachers’ capacities to substantially educate pupils through the outdoors, within a Southeast Asian urban context.     

Towards an understanding of the place of ethics in school-based action research in the United Kingdom

As school-based action research has taken a higher profile in UK schools, the place of ethics warrants particular attention. This paper draws on evidence from a taught online Master of Education course collated via chat room discussion where 53 researching teachers were asked to explore policy within their own institution regarding school-based action research ethics. None of these teachers identified the existence of any such policies but described instead current practices. We analysed their reported school-based action research practices and discovered three major categories of response: the unexamined use of gatekeepers; the unsupported use of existing ethics guidelines (such as those of the British Educational Research Association); and the conflation of legal and ethical demands by schools. We raise questions relating to the relationship between ethics and education and call for all those involved in school-based action research to take part in developing action research ethical policy in school.     

Using phenomenography to build an understanding of how university people conceptualise their community-engaged activities

Higher education institutions are seeking greater community engagement through academic, social and civic activity. In response, researcher attention has turned to impacts on students’ education, and benefits to both university and community partners. This phenomenographic study examines how a diverse group of teachers, researchers and administrators at one New Zealand university conceptualised their involvement in community-engaged learning and teaching. We identified an outcome space where university people conceived their community engagement in three ways: within an expert/novice discourse, as advocacy, and in the most complex conception, as reciprocal learning. When working with and within communities, we suggest that university people should be supported to approach community engagement as reciprocal learning rather than adopting approaches that render community partners in passive roles.     

城市儿童户外活动空间现状及对策研究

在城市化发展迅速的当下,我国儿童的户外活动场所建设暴露出越来越多的问题,儿童户外活动不足,引发了一系列社会现象。本文通过大学生创新创业训练课题的实践成果,结合时代背景,从儿童户外场所的探索性、自然性、游戏性等多角度,结合现代景观认知理论方法对其进行了分析和研究。     

Towards an understanding of dynamics among teachers,teacher leaders,and administrators in a teacher-led school reform

A substantial amount of professional development and implementation has moved towards teachers and teacher leaders in recent years. Previous works have examined how teachers, teacher leaders, or administrators perceive teacher leadership in school reforms, but few have advanced all three perspectives simultaneously. Drawing upon over 200 interviews, we examine how leadership is distributed and the tensions and dynamics arising among these three groups in a teacher-led school reform. Two main themes emerged from our analysis: minimizing conflicts with teachers was important to teacher leaders, and the distribution of leadership between administrators and teacher leaders changed the status and normative roles of teacher leaders.     

Exploring a pluralist understanding of learning for sustainability and its implications for outdoor education practice

This article explores a pluralist understanding of learning for sustainability in educational theory and relates it to outdoor education practice. In brief, this kind of learning can be described as a deep engagement with an individual’s multiple identities and the personal location in diverse geo-physical and socio-cultural surroundings. I identify the intersection of learning for sustainability and pluralism in three themes: learning as transformation, learning as participation and learning about identities and spaces. The reflections on what kind of learning outdoor education could seek to promote potentially help the field to clarify its role as a sustainable education approach. A programme designed to be responsive to both sustainability and pluralism would enable learners to explore the multifacetedness of a location and provide space for them to share and exchange individual experiences, perceptions and worldviews.     

Towards an understanding of how children read and spell irregular words: the role of nonword and orthographic processing skills

This study examined, in 180 children aged from 6 to 9 years, to what extent irregular word reading and spelling were predicted by vocabulary knowledge, reading frequency, orthographic processing and nonword reading skill. Consistent with models of reading highlighting the quasi‐regular nature of irregular words, it was found that nonword reading was a large and significant predictor of irregular word reading even when entered into a regression analysis after all of the other variables. However, irregular word spelling was equally well predicted by orthographic and nonword reading skills. The results are discussed in relation to models of word reading and reading development.     

Motivation and engagement in English,mathematics and science high school subjects: Towards an understanding of multidimensional domain specificity

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the domain specificity of multidimensional motivation and engagement (adaptive cognitions, adaptive behaviors, impeding/maladaptive cognitions, maladaptive behaviors) in mathematics, English and science high school subjects, with an additional focus on three key educational correlates (educational aspirations, class participation, enjoyment of subject). Based on a sample of 1801 students from six Australian high schools, confirmatory factor analysis offered modest support for the domain specificity of motivation and engagement (as measured by the Motivation and Engagement Scale — High School: MES-HS) across three distinct high school subject areas and also in relation to the three key educational correlates. Interestingly, the level of specificity varied as a function of the particular academic motivation construct. For example, between-subject correlations for more ‘state-like’ constructs such as ‘valuing of school subject’ were relatively lower, whereas correlations for more ‘trait-like’ constructs such as ‘anxiety’ were relatively higher suggesting that the latter is relatively more general across mathematics, English and science. The implications of these findings for future practice and research are discussed.     

Fred outdoors: An initial report into the experiences of outdoor activities for an adult who is congenitally deafblind

Abstract

Outdoor Education has long been used with groups that could be described as having “special needs”. Research in this particular area has in the past concentrated on adaptations to equipment and activities, allowing access for people with physical disabilities, and expanding the learning and development opportunities available to those with learning difficulties. This article documents the initial observations made of the experiences of a man, who is congenitally deafblind, when given the opportunity to experience outdoor activities. The article highlights a number of areas, which appear particularly relevant to this specific target group, and may be worthy of further investigation. The use of video technology is also demonstrated to be a valuable research tool when working with people who have multisensory impairments.     

Fred outdoors: An initial report into the experiences of outdoor activities for an adult who is congenitally deafblind

Outdoor Education has long been used with groups that could be described as having “special needs”. Research in this particular area has in the past concentrated on adaptations to equipment and activities, allowing access for people with physical disabilities, and expanding the learning and development opportunities available to those with learning difficulties. This article documents the initial observations made of the experiences of a man, who is congenitally deafblind, when given the opportunity to experience outdoor activities. The article highlights a number of areas, which appear particularly relevant to this specific target group, and may be worthy of further investigation. The use of video technology is also demonstrated to be a valuable research tool when working with people who have multisensory impairments.