Toward a Profession,Not a Craft

Physical education has a rich tradition of concern for the development of fully functioning individuals, but this tradition is in danger of being marginalized by the dominant technocratic and competitive structures of today's physical education. The purpose of this paper, in seeking to readdress the value of the experiential dimensions of sport, is to provide the instructor with insight into a specific domain of sport—challenging outdoor activity, or risk sport—that holds particular value for Bain's (1988) alternative approach for humanistic physical education. Employing the model of risk-sport involvement (Robinson, 1992) as an analytical framework, the paper attempts to promote an understanding of the complex nature of the risk-sport experience and the potential value such experiences hold for personal growth, meaningful social interaction, and social change.