Outdoor Education General

Comfort Zone: Model or metaphor?

2011-05-09T03:33:00Z

I found this research paper from the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education by Mike Brown of the University of Waikato and wanted to share it. Mike presents a very interesting perspective on the Comfort Zone in outdoor education programming.

ABSTRACT: The comfort zone model is widespread within adventure education literature. It is based on the belief that when placed in a stressful situation people will respond by overcoming their fear and therefore grow as individuals. This model is often presented to participants prior to activities with a highly perceived sense of risk and challenge which arouses strong emotional and physical responses to novel tasks (e.g., ropes courses or rock climbing activities). Students are encouraged to think about ‘stretching themselves’ by moving outside their comfort zone, to expand their preconceived limits and by inference learn (and become better people). This paper explores theories from cognitive and social psychology, based on the work of Piaget and Festinger respectively, that underpin the comfort zone model. The perpetuation of this model which uses risk to promote
situations of disequilibrium/dissonance does not find strong support in educational literature. It is therefore suggested that the comfort zone model be reframed as a metaphor, for possible discussion post activity, rather than being used as a model to underpin programming and pedagogy in adventure education settings.

You can read the PDF online.

The State of Outdoor Recreation in the United States

2011-05-02T02:51:00Z

Each year the Outdoor Industry Foundation releases it's Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report which presents an assessment of the level of participation in outdoor sporting activities in the United States. Monitoring these trends are key for outdoor programs to stay focused on what activities are of major interest to different population groups.

Unlike many other sports, outdoor participation among Americans has remained remarkably stable over the last several years - demonstrating impressive resiliency during challenging economic times. According to The Outdoor Foundation's topline report, the rate of participation in outdoor recreation in the United States remained solid in 2010 and at the same level seen in 2008. Nearly half of Americans ages 6 and older, or 137.9 million individuals, participated in at least one outdoor activity in 2010, making 10.1 billion outdoor outings, according to the 2011 Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report. The research shows significant increases in adventure sports such as kayaking, backcountry camping and climbing as well as slight increases in youth participation among those individuals ages 13 - 24.

Published annually by The Outdoor Foundation, the 2011 Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report 2011 is derived from 40,000 online interviews conducted in January 2011/early February 2011. Respondents came from a nationwide sample of individuals and households from the U.S. Online Panel operated by Synovate. A total of 15,086 individual and 23,656 household surveys were completed. The total panel has over 1 million members and is maintained to be representative of the U.S. population. Over-sampling of ethnic groups took place to boost response from typically under-responding groups.

File Size: 496 KB

Download from the Outdoor Industry Foundation (PDF)

Australian Study shows ongoing outdoor education program multiplies life effectiveness skills

2011-04-11T13:16:00Z

A recent Australian study shows teenagers exposed to outdoor education programs develop real life skills that give them a huge advantage over others as they transition into adult life.The study, commissioned by Cranbrook School in Sydney, is the first to follow a group of students who attend four Outward Bound courses as part of their mandatory high school curriculum from Year 7 to 10. "It shows young people taken from the comfort of their homes learn to be self reliant fast in wilderness conditions. They also learn to take responsibility, work in teams, and accept the consequences of their own actions. Their life skills grow with every year, and by their final outdoor experience they are significantly more confident, capable and stable than students who did not participate. They are also far better prepared to initiate, motivate, and lead in later life." The study, led by Dr. James Neill from the University of Canberra, used a variety of measures to assess changes in leadership and other social skills impacted by an ongoing Outward Bound experience.

Experts agree than any outdoor education is better than none. Similar research techniques have been used to measure the effect of short courses – some less than a week - provided by others in the industry – all of which show students developing positive life skills. The Cranbrook Study shows that the benefits are multiplied if students take part in more than one outdoor education course throughout their school years.

You can download a PDF copy of the full report from Outward Bound Australia.

Children & Nature Network releases Natural Leaders Network Toolkit

2010-07-05T23:48:00Z

The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working nationally and internationally to reconnect children with nature. The network provides a critical link between researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children's health and well-being.

C&NN has just annnounced the release of the Natural Leaders Network Toolkit. This tool kit is a guide for all youth around the world who want to start Natural Leaders action groups or networks. It’s like a road map to figure out how to get started and where to go with your work. It offers some cool ideas and gives examples of how you might build your own Network. You will find stories of current Natural Leaders and the work they are doing, as well as the history of the Natural Leaders Network and how Natural Leaders fit into the greater movement to reconnect kids to nature. Go ahead, download it now and start reading.

The Children & Nature Network launched the Natural Leaders Network in 2008 to encourage young leaders to take decisive action against nature-deficit disorder. With founding support from the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors, and the corporate support of The North Face, we are ready to take on this challenge.

Reports from the Children & Nature Network

June is the nation’s Great Outdoors month, proclaimed by the President of the United States and all 50 state governors. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) is among those organizations celebrating and supporting Great Outdoors month. C&NN has chosen the occasion to announce the release of two major studies it commissioned with funding support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The “American Beliefs Associated with Children’s Nature Experience Opportunities: Development and Application of the EC-NES Scale,” was conducted by the Maryland-based independent non-profit learning research Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) at the request of the Children & Nature Network. Authors are John Fraser, Ph.D.; Joe E. Heimlich, Ph.D.; and Victor Yocco. This is the first study to establish a baseline measure of the attitudes of the American public concerning the importance of direct experiences in nature for children’s healthy development. Among its findings, the survey indicates that parents and others in the public see the benefits to children’s physical development and their love of nature from nature-based experiences, but do not tend to see the cognitive, emotional and social benefits from those experiences. The study also revealed a wide age differentiation—the younger the adult participating in the survey, the less likely he or she is to see the benefits for children’s healthy development from these experiences in nature.

While the public reports positive attitudes about children playing outdoors in nature, the respondents also reported barriers. The most dominant was concern about safety. Respondents reported significant differences between locations where they played as children, such as woods, and where they let children play today, such as indoors. They identified “wilder” places like woods, streams and ponds as the riskiest locations.

To C&NN, this discrepancy strongly suggests that the movement must develop new ways for parents to feel safer introducing their children to nature, such as Family Nature Clubs (http://www.childrenandnature.org/movement/natureclubs/).

“We believe this landmark study is the first but not the last of its kind,” said Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Children & Nature Network. “During the next five years, we hope to see the children and nature movement reach more people, of all income and cultural groups, and that, in the next survey, they report an even stronger appreciation for the importance of children’s direct experiences with nature for their healthy development —along with a greater willingness to make those opportunities possible for every child, every day.”

The second study, C&NN’s Grassroots Survey, developed by the Children & Nature Network’s national Grassroots Leadership Team with independent analysis of the results by professional evaluator, M. Lynette Fleming, Ph.D., provides a baseline measure of the growth of the “children and nature movement” as reported by grassroots leaders and representatives of the more than 70 campaigns working to reconnect children and nature. These campaigns are registered on the Children & Nature Network’s map of the movement (www.childrenandnature.org), located in more than 40 states—spanning cities, states and regions. These campaigns, in total, report between 900,000 to 1.5 million participants during 2009.

Among other findings, reported as changes since their children and nature campaigns started:
• 74% of the campaigns report an increase in community support;
• 71% report increased awareness of the importance of nature for children’s healthy development;
• 71% report increased media attention; and
• More than half report an increased number of people participating in events and programs.

In addition, Fleming reports a trend toward collaborative efforts to support the growth of the children and nature movement, rather than individual efforts by individual organizations and agencies—locally, regionally and nationally.

“This report is the first to quantify the numbers of people reached as well as the value of the resources that the Children & Nature Network provides in the effort to nourish and support this movement,” said Betsy Townsend, Founding Chair of C&NN’s national Grassroots Leadership Team and a member of the C&NN Board of Directors. “I am inspired by these indicators of progress—and compelled by how much work we all still need to do to reverse the trend that Richard Louv, co-founder and Chairman of C&NN, has called nature-deficit disorder.”

“I am heartened by the rapid growth of the children and nature movement, evidenced in part by these studies,” said Richard Louv, C&NN co-founder, Chairman, and author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. “However, more research is needed on a number of fronts. And we are a long way from reaching our goal of every child experiencing their birthright of experience in the natural world, which we believe offers better health, improved learning abilities, and a sense of wonder.”

2009 Independant Baseline Study
The “American Beliefs Associated with Children’s Nature Experience Opportunities: Development and Application of the EC-NES Scale,” is the first study to establish a baseline measure of the attitudes of the American public concerning the importance of direct experiences in nature for children’s healthy development.Download PDf

2009 Grassroots Survey
The second study, C&NN’s Grassroots Survey, developed by the Children & Nature Network’s national Grassroots Leadership Team with independent analysis of the results by professional evaluator, M. Lynette Fleming, Ph.D., provides a baseline measure of the growth of the “children and nature movement” as reported by grassroots leaders and representatives of the more than 70 campaigns working to reconnect children and nature. Download PDF

Health Benefits to Children from Contact with the Outdoors & Nature
The following is a synthesis of selected research and studies on health benefits. These studies, along with others, were originally published as part of C&NN's four volumes of annotated bibliographies of research and studies listed below. Download PDF

Children's Contact with the Outdoors & Nature: A Focus on Educators and Educational Settings
The following is a synthesis of selected research and studies that focus on education and educational settings. These studies, along with others, were originally published as part of C&NN's four volumes of annotated bibliographies of research and studies listed below. Download PDF

Children and Nature 2009: A Report on the Movement to Reconnect Children to the Natural World
Download PDF [1.1MB]

C&NN Community Action Guide: Building the Children & Nature Movement from the Ground Up
Download PDF [1.4MB]

Outdoor Nation: Empowering the nation's youth outdoors

2010-05-10T03:06:00Z

Outdoor Nation is a growing community of young Outsiders -- artists, athletes, advocates and ambassadors -- who have joined together to champion the outdoors. This new youth-led movement will reclaim, redefine and rediscover the outdoors - building an Outdoor Nation for this and future generations.

How to Get Involved!

Share this application http://www.outdoornation.org/summit with your networks: Facebook, Twitter, emails, friends and colleagues and encourage them to apply.

Outdoor Nation will:

Mobilize a movement by empowering young people across the country to champion the outdoors and outdoor issues
Influence federal, state and local outdoor policies and programs
Provide advice and a youthful perspective to outdoor companies and organizations
Create a community that shares outdoor passions and organizes outdoor outings
Host events that bring the Outdoor Nation together - providing networking and training opportunities

Outdoor Youth Summit and Festival

On June 19 and 20, thousands of Outsiders from Outdoor Nation will join together for the world's first two-day Outdoor Youth Summit and Festival in New York City's famed Central Park. This event will unite young people from across the country with a common mission: to champion the outdoors and advance a youth-driven movement.

Outdoor Nation Festival

On June 19th, thousands of young people of all ages will join together to celebrate the active, outdoor lifestyle. This multi-faceted event will turn the world's iconic urban park into an adventure playground and festival - fusing pop culture with an outdoor ethic and lifestyle. All activities will be inclusive, open to the public and free of charge.

Outdoor Nation Summit

On June 20th, Outdoor Nation will bring together young people from all 50 states to take part in an Outdoor Youth Summit to develop a national agenda, set priorities and outline strategies to champion the outdoors. The Summit will enable young leaders to craft and deliver their message of change to the country as well as exchange ideas, skills and connections -- building a strong Outdoor Nation for all.

Coalition

Supported by a coalition of more than 40 organizations - including The Outdoor Foundation, The North Face, REI, National Park Service and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation -- Outsiders will receive the tools, training and social support they need to spur a cultural revolution that leads to a strong Outdoor Nation.

Self Esteem and Mountaineering

2009-03-02T15:15:00Z

by Paul Auerbach, M.D.

reposted with permission from the Medicine for the Outdoors Blog

The journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, published by the Wilderness Medical Society, always has a number of very interesting articles of significance to the layperson outdoor medicine enthusiast.

"Students Experience Self-Esteem Improvement During Mountaineering," by Saeid Bahaeloo-Horeh and Shervin Assari (WEM volume 19, pages 181-185, 2008), was a study of 54 students from different universities in the city of Tehran, Iran who participated in a mountaineering program. Using a self-esteem scale, the participants were measured before and after the mountaineering activity. By the measures used, it was discovered that their self-esteem was improved. Interestingly, the self-esteem correlated with the degree of bodily pain reported, and was also correlated with an improvement in mental health and depression. It did not correlate with age, gender, marital status, prior personal or family history of mountaineering, prior history of mountain sickness, or reaching the summit (of mount Damavind).

The authors note the historical belief that sports activities build self esteem. However, this has never before been quantified for outdoor or wilderness activities. Their findings make sense, from the perspective that positive achievement should lead to an improvement in self-esteem and how one views oneself.

It is intriguing to note that there may be a lessening of depression, or tendencies towards depression. It is not possible from this study to ascertain how long this effect might persist. Many outdoor educators have observed that persons who suffer from clinical depression often do not find a significant improvement in mood by participating in outdoor recreation, and may even be disappointed by the experience when their depression is not lessened by their activities. The logical way to think about that observation against the findings of this study is that there are many variables to a situation, such as the cause and severity of depression (or any mental illness), the specific effects of an activity, the physiology and emotional state of individuals, and so forth. However, it is encouraging to note that a sense of accomplishment from a relatively brief mountaineering program can have such a laudatory effect on how a person views him or herself. Furthermore, without a positive correlation related to reaching the summit, it is fair to say that it is the activity, or "the journey," that is important.

Saeid Bahaeloo-Horeh, MD; Shervin Assari, MD

Introduction.—Despite ample evidence in the literature of the correlation between sports participation in general and self-esteem, there is a dearth of information regarding the probable impact of specific sporting activities on self-concept. We, therefore, sought to assess the effect of mountaineering on self-esteem and its correlates in university students.

Methods.—This longitudinal study recruited 54 students (male 26%, female 74%) from different universities in the capital city of Iran, Tehran. The students participated in a mountaineering program in Mt. Damavand in July 2006. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), SF-36, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were completed by all the participants before and after this activity. Their demographic data and mountaineering experience were also collected.

Results.—Mean RSES after climbing was significantly higher than before the experience (24.78 ± 2.4 vs. 23.67 ± 3.3; P = .002). Self-esteem was correlated with bodily pain, and its improvement was correlated with mental health and depression (P < .05). Self-esteem and its improvement were not significantly correlated with age, sex, marital status, prior personal and family history of mountaineering, past history of mountain sickness, and reaching the summit (P > .05).

Conclusion.—This study showed that participation in a single mountaineering program improved students' sense of self-esteem. We suggest that taking up this activity might have benefits for students with depression.

New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education - Call for Manuscripts

2009-02-24T00:31:00Z

We are pleased to announce the 2008 issue of the New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education and the call for manuscripts for the 2009 and 2010 issues.

The 2008 issue includes:

Outdoor Education: Opportunities provided by a place based approach.Mike Brown
Situational leadership for developing group culture Chris Jansen
Weaving the threads: challenges encountered while educating for sustainability in outdoor education David Irwin
An Economic Impact Scale for Outdoor Health and Safety Management W Guy Scott & Helen M Scott
Sense of Community Among High Mountain Travellers in South America Mary Breunig &Timothy S. OConnell

The 2009 issue will be a standard issue and we are now accepting submissions. Contributor guidelines are included below.

2010 Special Edition on Place-based approaches to Outdoor Education

The NZJOE will present its first special issue in 2010. This themed issue will focus on research and practice related to place-based approaches to outdoor education.

It has been suggested that our experiences of places are fundamental and inseparable from our lived experiences of the world (Park, 1995; Wattchow, 2006). Place is not merely the geographical location of activity, rather it is a means of understanding the overlapping realms of individual, cultural and natural phenomena in human experience. This issue is interested in exploring outdoor educations role in understanding place and the potential for addressing issues of placelessness.

This special edition aims to provide a fresh perspective on approaches to outdoor education which take situated and place-based aspects of education as a central tenet of learning, knowing and acting. Presentation of exemplary programmes, critical examination of emerging issues, and new perspectives that contest or extend existing theories and practices are welcomed.

Papers from New Zealand based students, researchers and practitioners are particularly welcomed along with papers from overseas contributors that specifically address issues of relevance to New Zealand outdoor adventure education theory/practice. Papers with a focus on Maori perspectives of place and connections with the land in outdoor education are particularly welcomed and encouraged.

Manuscripts should conform to the requirements laid out in the Notes for Contributors in this issue of the journal. Enquiries regarding this special issue should be addressed to the guest editor.

Contributions should be submitted no later than November 2009 to the Guest Editor: Dr Mike Brown at michaelb at waikato.ac.nz

Park, G. (1995). Nga Uruora: The groves of life. Wellington: Victoria University Press.
Wattchow, B. (2006). The experience of river places in outdoor education: A phenomenological study. Unpublished Doctorate, Monash University, Melbourne.

Contributor Guidelines

Manuscript Submission

1. Writers should submit an electronic copy of their manuscript by e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word or RTF document format to Dr Shayne Galloway, Editor, New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, School of Physical Education, University of Otago, at: shayne.galloway at otago.ac.nz

2. The journal follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (2001), particularly for the citation of references and the format of the reference list. Articles should be 1500 to 5000 words in length, formatted for A4 paper including an abstract of no more than 150 words, and 3 to 5 keywords that describe the main topic. The manuscript should be typed in size 12 Times New Roman, double-spaced, on one side of the page, with page numbers included.

3. The title page should include the title of the paper (no longer than 12 words), authors name and institution and a physical address, phone number, and an email address for correspondence. A word count for the manuscript is required. A brief biographical statement is also required (50 words maximum).

4. The abstract should follow the title page and include the title of the manuscript, but NOT the name of the author(s). The abstract should summarize the main points of the article, and be no more than 150 words in length.

5. The manuscript must follow APA (5th edition) guidelines. Headings, tables, figures and photographs etc should be formatted accordingly. Each should be referred to in the text and be numbered consecutively. Footnotes should not be used unless necessary.

6. New writers are encouraged to use a peer review process with their own academic colleagues as informal referees before submitting a paper for consideration.

Manuscript Processing

1. All manuscripts will be acknowledged when received, without obligation for publication.

2. A manuscript is sent to members of the Editorial Board to read as part of the blind peer review process. They will make comments on the paper in terms of its appropriateness for the journal, quality of the literature, methodology (where appropriate), analysis, conclusions and originality. They will also provide constructive feedback on effective writing to emerging writers. This report will form the basis of acceptance, rejection or required modifications to a paper before publication.

3. Authors will be advised within two months of the date of submission of the results of the review process.

Running 'Mega' Programs - Part 3

2009-01-13T02:13:00Z

Following up on the two previous Blogs on running Mega Programs. I've updated the MindManager Map and have published it as a PDF file so that anyone developing a large program can see all of the details of how we plan one of the largest college wilderness orientation programs in the world. The big thing I've learned is that 'the devil is in the details.' Scripting out your program in the finest detail makes sure that you won't miss critical things and means you won't waste lots of time 'reacting' to problems due to lack of planning. You can view Part 1 and Part 2.

You can find an Interactive PDF File of the MindManager Map - Here

If you have a copy of MindManager, you can download the complete Map - Here.

Betty van der Smissen, pioneer in outdoor education, passed away on November 6

2008-11-08T06:04:00Z

Dr. Betty van der Smissen, pioneer in the field of outdoor education for more than 50 years, passed away on November 6, 2008 from cancer. Her contributions have influenced outdoor programming, legal liability, research and the accreditation fields. You can read more about her historic contributions at this article from Parks & Recreation Journal and from these video interviews (Interview #1, Interview #2). A list of her extensive publications are available at Amazon.com.

Here is a short list of some of her accomplishments

Her early experiences in outdoor programming were with church camps. She was an early member of Christian Camping International.
She was the first research chair on the American Camp Association (ACA) national board and served as president. She conducted research on the ACA camp standards that resulted in the first major revision.
She worked with the American Association for Health Physical Education & Dance (AAHPERD) outdoor programs beginning with the Council on Outdoor Education.
She attended the second meeting, in St. Louis, of what became the Association for Experiential Education (AEE), served on AEE's original bylaws committee, and assisted in the development of the AEE Accreditation Program.
Her university leadership with outdoor programs has helped shape the development of outdoor research and programming.
She was the first director of the outdoor field campus at the University of Iowa, where she conducted outdoor education programs.
Worked with the Stone Valley Outdoor Education Center at Penn State and conducted two national symposia on outdoor research and evaluation.
Directed more than 100 theses and dissertations related to outdoor topics.
Worked closely with a Japanese doctoral student who became the national leader for outdoor education in Japan.

The Association for Experiential Education had already created a Research Endowment Fund in Betty's name. The goal of the endowment is to provide grants for areas of research involving:

outdoor programming in adventure, challenge, and experiential programs
organized camping
environmental education
legal aspects related to outdoor programming

Research selected will focus on:

benefits and outcomes
attitudes
interests
good practic

Tax deductible contributions can be made to the van der Smissen endowment. You contribution will:

Honor the invaluable contributions Dr. van der Smissen made to the profession over a lifetime.
Emulate her belief in the importance of “giving back” professionally.
Demonstrate your belief in the importance of quality outdoor programming to human development.

For information on make a donation, go to the Betty van der Smissen Endowment Fund.

Economy hits outdoor print publications

2008-10-27T04:22:00Z

Print publication is one of the most challenging businesses out there. You are in a constant push to write and edit content, find and keep subcribers, and find advertisers. Two small but well-respected niche print publications have stopped publishing, Alpinist and Backpacking Light. Their press releases tell some of the story of the challenges of a print publication in tough economic times. In the case of Backpacking Light, the company will continue to operate but cease to publish a printed magazine. In the case of Alpinist, the entire company is closing. According to Hoovers.com on average about 35% of a magazine's revenue comes from subscribers or single-copy sales and the remaining 65% comes from advertising. Mediaweek reports that advertising revenue has decreased.

Alpinist Magazine

Alpinist LLC, which publishes the climbing magazine Alpinist, runs the website www.alpinist.com and produces The Alpinist Film Festival, announced that the October 2008 financial crisis has forced them to suspend operations. The print publication Alpinist

Founded in 2002 by Marc Ewing and Christian Beckwith, Alpinist began in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as an archival-quality publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing. The quarterly quickly gained a reputation for both superior writing and beautiful photography; by 2004, Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner called it, "The best climbing magazine in the world today." Alpinist went on to win numerous awards; in March 2005 it was featured in a seven-page article in Outside Magazine ("The Purists") that explored its impact on American climbing. Alpinist's website, www.alpinist.com, attracted more than 50,000 unique visitors per month. Breaking news, weekly features, video, and desktop wallpaper images were complemented by reader's blogs and gear reviews, creating a site that thousands of climbers turned to daily for both information and entertainment.

In 2004, Beckwith founded The Barry Corbet Film Festival in honor of cinematographer and adventure legend Barry Corbet. In 2005, the event was folded into Alpinist LLC as The Alpinist Film Festival (AFF). By 2008, the AFF, held each winter in Jackson, had grown to a four-day annual event that attracted more than 3,000 people each year. In 2008, the AFF began touring; events in Bend, OR; Bozeman, MT; and Boulder, CO, exported signature elements of the master festival, such as cocktail hours and live DJs, to create a fun gathering for adventure communities across the West.

"We're extremely proud of what we've been able to accomplish in the six and a half years since we started," said Publisher Ewing from his home in Chicago. "There hasn't been a publication like Alpinist since Ascent"—the iconic climbing publication that emerged from the 1960s to inspire a generation of climbers—"and our readers have been our lifeblood. We owe them everything."

"It's incredibly sad to close after working so hard for so many years," said Editor-in-Chief Christian Beckwith. "That being said, I'm deeply proud of our team for putting out twenty-five great issues, the film festival has been a blast, and I'm honored to have shared all this work and creation with our community. I'll always look back on Alpinist with joy."

Exploration of the options for the various Alpinist businesses are underway. Details will be made available on www.alpinist.com when they are finalized.

Backpacking Light Magazine

Beartooth Media Group, Inc., announced today that it will suspend production of its print magazine (and the Zinio.com digital edition of that print magazine), Backpacking Light. Other operations, including its website, BackpackingLight.com, its book publishing division (“Beartooth Mountain Press”), and the Backpacking Light range of house-branded gear and apparel, will remain business as usual.

Issue 11 will be the final issue mailed to domestic (U.S.) subscribers and issue 10 will be the final issue mailed to international subscribers. All issues remain available for single copy purchase at BackpackingLight.com, and Issues 9-11 will remain available at existing newsstand locations throughout the U.S.

Reasons for discontinuing production of the print magazine include: rising costs, inability to meet production schedules, industry-wide declines in print media advertising and subscription revenues, increasing pressure from subscribers to have a “lightweight” footprint on the environment true to the company's vision, and the desire to refocus the company's energy back to its online media roots.

The company's President and CEO, Ryan Jordan, cites the current economic recession as a major factor in this decision. “Printing, transportation, and fulfillment cost increases over the past few years make publishing a print magazine of our size at an affordable price impossible without advertising,” Jordan said. “Now that advertisers are moving more of their ad dollars online, the ability to produce a high-quality, short run, niche publication requires substantial costs. It's not fair to our long-time customers, including our gear shop and online subscribers, to divert their dollars to unprofitable projects.”

In addition, the company has found it increasingly difficult to reconcile their print magazine footprint with their vision as an industry environmental leader. “We promote sustainability and responsible resource usage,” comments Jordan. “It's hard to do that when retailers and magazine distributors are destroying unsold copies of the magazine, and subscribers are throwing them away.” Jordan continues, “The printing industry is the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Add to this the the monumental transportation costs required to deliver printed matter from the factory to distributors, retailers, and subscribers, and the combined tax upon energy levels is pretty dramatic. We can't in good conscience be a part of that simply to increase our sales base and to serve the decreasing number of subscribers that demand that their information be delivered in print. The outdoor industry's addiction to paper – magazines, catalogs, hang tags – is completely counterproductive to their long term sustainability. We've made the decision to break away from that herd.”

Jordan states that the complexity of producing a print magazine has also taken its toll on the resources of a company that already produces one of the outdoor industry's largest web sites, manages a book publishing division, and its own brand of outdoor gear and apparel. “The print magazine was an experiment that diverted resources away from our core activities. Now it's time to end the experiment and reinvest our resources into serving and building our core business, and serving those customers that have been such an instrumental part of growing our company. As hard as it is to end the print magazine, it's an exciting time because we have so much to look forward to in the future. Keeping the print magazine afloat has inhibited us from doing some of the other things that we really wanted to do for our customers.” One of those things, cites Jordan, is expanding the depth and diversity of the editorial content published online at BackpackingLight.com.

Subscribers holding unfulfilled subscriptions will not be left in the dark. “We are committed to making sure that every subscriber to the print magazine will be taken care of,” says Karen Wilson, Backpacking Light's Customer Service Manager. “We have a subscription conversion and refund program in place that has already been communicated to our print subscribers.”

Backpacking Light was founded in 2001 and rapidly established itself as a leading online publisher in the outdoor industry during a time when other outdoor magazines were struggling with their identity. Jordan claims that outdoor magazines still haven't quite figured out how to respond to economic and environmental pressures. “As for Backpacking Light, we have no identity crisis anymore,” says Jordan. “We know what has worked, what our subscribers want, and where to go from here. I'm really excited for the future.”

The 2008 Wilderness Risk Management Conference - WRMC Jackson, WY

2008-10-03T03:12:00Z

For those of you who aren't able to be here, I'll try and give you a flavor of this year's Wilderness Risk Management Conference. OutdoorEd.com will be covering the conference and bringing you both highlights and key information from conference presenters.

Day 1

This is the first full day of the 15th Annual Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) sponsored by the National Outdoor Leadership School, Outward Bound, and the Student Conservation Association.The conference is being held in the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, a spectacular backdrop for the conference. It's the largest conference attendence ever with over 350 people from programs across North America and internationally.

As usual the conference was proceeded by several days of in-depth preconference sessions. Here's what was going on:

Wilderness Medicine Institute WFR Recertification
NOLS Risk Management Training
Outward Bound's Instructor Judgment Training
Risk Management for Service and Conservation Corps
Climbing Site Management
The Learning Brain
Managing Risk with Volunteer Leaders
Using Case Studies as a Teaching Methodology

That list gives you a really good sense of the topical focus of this conference. That's the reason why I find this conference one of the best professional development experiences for me each year. Unlike more general conferences, the core focus of the WRMC means that for three days I get to live and breathe the core issues of risk management from a broad range of perspectives. I have more than twenty-seven years in the field of outdoor education as a program director and I always gain new information and insights from the WRMC. It's also an opportunity for me to share my experience and bounce ideas off friends and colleagues.

The conference opened with a keynote address by Dr. Sarah Newman, who is the first Public Risk Management Specialist for the National Park Service. Dr. Newman is an epidemiologist by training and brings her expertise to the immense job of designing and implementing a Public Risk Management Program for the first time in the National Park Service's history. Her program will conduct risk assessments and analyze risk management to identify ways to prevent and reduce injuries to the millions of National Park visitors. Dr. Newman identified some of the complex issues of gathering and evaluating data from such a diverse set of parks across the country.

After the keynote the conference moved into workshop mode. There are four key conference workshop tracks:

General Program Management
Staff Training
Crisis Management & Emergency Response
Legal and Insurance

Within each of these four tracks there are numerous workshops by some of the top experts in the field. I started the first workshop session with a presentation by Kent Clement, professor at Colorado Mountain College. Kent, through his background in instructing in the outdoors for more than two decades and in statistics has identified a number of important components that make up the judgment and decision-making process.

In between workshops I've been at the OutdoorEd.com booth in the Exhibit Hall, talking to people about OutdoorEd.com and encouraging folks to continue contributing to the site. I'll be posting more about the conference over the next few days.

Building Sustainability into your Outdoor Program

2008-09-22T03:16:00Z

Creating a more sustainable outdoor program is a goal for many of us. At Princeton University we began to look at our carbon footprint and overall environmental impact a year ago. Sustainability in outdoor programming is much larger than how we practice Leave No Trace in the outdoors. It strives to look at all of our practices as an organization, from what type of equipment we purchase: where it was made, how was it made - with what materials, who made it, how far did it have to travel to get to us, etc. Take this and expand it to the food you buy, methods of transportation and more and it becomes a huge project.

I want to share with you our experiences in building a sustainability curriculum into our wilderness orientation program for incoming freshmen. Since Princeton's Outdoor Action Frosh Trip Program is the largest single wilderness orientation program in the country (688 freshmen and 183 leaders on 83 different 6-day wilderness trips this fall) it offered us the unique opportunity to teach more than half of the incoming class about sustainability before they started schoo.

We were extremely lucky to be awarded a special grant from an office at Princeton that supports sustainabiltiy initiatives. With that grant we were able to hire two student sustainability interns for the summer to research our current practices to establish a baseline and to develop plans for reducing our overall footprint. What Collen Driscoll '11 and Emily Sung '11 discovered was that this research often leads to more questions than answers. We were given a great start on thinking about our program by Paul Van Horn at Northland College and his great research paper with his students - ASAP: As Sustainable As Possible. With the beginning research in place we were extremely lucky to be able to hire Jessica Kellett, an environmental educator from California as a consultant to develop a Sustainability Curriculum for our leaders to teach on the trail this year. Along with the curriculum, Jessica planned our first Sustainability Day of training for our leaders before the trips went out.

We are still working on assessing the results of this year's program and I'll be writing more about it in the coming weeks. We clearly had an impact on the attitudes of some students. Our trip leaders and their groups did a fantastic job of recycling and not just the traditional bottles and cans. During the trip they separated out all of their fruit and vegetable waste (onions, apple cores, orange peels, green peppers) which went into two 50 gallon drums and down to the community garden on campus. All other excess food waste (everything from leftover peanut butter in jars to uneaten cheese) went into nine 50 gallon drums which were sent off to a pig farmer (how Dining Services at Princeton currently disposes of its excess food waste). Bottles, jars and cans went into a recycling dumpster. Plastic bags for food packing were separated into clean and dirty with clean ones going to a local plastics recycling plant. Watching students unload all of this at the end of the trip as compared to just tossing everything in a dumpster demonstrated what a powerful effect sustainability curricula can have.

You can read the cover story "Training on trail may bring greener outlooks to campus" from the Princeton Weekly Bulletin and view the Online Video showing how students on trip G17 in the Delaware Water Gap commenting on what they learned about sustainable practices on their trip.

You can also download a PDF of the Outdoor Action Sustainability Guide for use in your program.

What is the Future of Outdoor Education?

2008-02-12T05:14:00Z

A recent report published in the Proceedings of the National Academey of Sciences entitled Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation by Oliver Pergams and Patricia Zaradic shows that after 50 years of steady increase, the per capita visits to U.S. National Parks have declined since 1987. The authors looked at a variety of measurements and conclude that "all major lines of evidence point to an ongoing and fundamental shift away from nature-based recreation." You can read a PDF of the full study on their excellent Web site Videophilia Web Site.

Oliver and Patricia's latest paper is a follow-up on an earlier article published in the Journal of Environmental Management entitled "Is love of nature in the US becoming love of electronic media?" In these works and Videophilia.org the authors site the increase in TV and computer use in children as one important factor in the decline in their involvement with the outdoors mirroring the work of Richard Louv (Last Child in the Woods) and others.

Their research is confirmed by various reports by the Outdoor Industry Foundation.

All of this research raises fundamental questions about the next generation of outdoor users. Where will they come from if the current trends aren't reversed? The other side of this tidal current is the push by a growing movement of "No Child Left Inside" programs to bring outdoor experiences and education back into the lives of children. The National Association of Environmental Educators and other organizations ares supporting changes to HR 3036 No Child Left Inside Act 2007. It's clear to me that outdoor involvement in the U.S. will continue to erode with concerted action on connecting children to the outdoors.

You can read more about Oliver and Patricia's work in the follow Web sites:

Nature Conservancy Interview of Oliver Pergams and Patricia Zaradic - http://www.nature.org/tncscience/misc/art23800.html?src=new
The Videophilia Web Site - http://www.videophilia.org (an excellent resource on Oliver and Patricia's work)
Is Anybody Out There? - article published in the Journal of Developmental Processes (PDF)

Let me know what you think about this at the General Forum here on Outdoor Ed.

Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation

Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic

Abstract

After 50 years of steady increase, per capita visits to U.S. National Parks have declined since 1987. To evaluate whether we are seeing a fundamental shift away from people's interest in nature, we tested for similar longitudinal declines in 16 time series representing four classes of nature participation variables: (i) visitation to various types of public lands in the U.S. and National Parks in Japan and Spain, (ii) number of various types of U.S. game licenses issued, (iii) indicators of time spent camping, and (iv) indicators of time spent backpacking or hiking. The four variables with the greatest per capita participation were visits to Japanese National Parks, U.S. State Parks, U.S. National Parks, and U.S. National Forests, with an average individual participating 0.74–2.75 times per year. All four time series are in downtrends, with linear regressions showing ongoing losses of –1.0% to –3.1% per year. The longest and most complete time series tested suggest that typical declines in per capita nature recreation began between 1981 and 1991, are proceeding at rates of –1.0% to –1.3% per year, and total to date –18% to –25%. Spearman correlation analyses were performed on untransformed time series and on transformed percentage year-to-year changes. Results showed very highly significant correlations between many of the highest per capita participation variables in both untransformed and in difference models, further corroborating the general downtrend in nature recreation. In conclusion, all major lines of evidence point to an ongoing and fundamental shift away from nature-based recreation.

Is love of nature in the US becoming love of electronic media? 16-year downtrend in national park visits explained by watching movies, playing video games, internet use, and oil prices

Oliver R.W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic

Abstract

After 50 years of steady increase, per capita visits to US national parks have declined since 1988. This decline, coincident with the rise in electronic entertainment media, may represent a shift in recreation choices with broader implications for the value placed on biodiversity conservation and environmentally responsible behavior. We compared the decline in per capita visits with a set of indicators representing alternate recreation choices and constraints. The Spearman correlation analyses found this decline in NPV to be significantly negatively correlated with several electronic entertainment indicators: hours of television, (rs=-0.743, P<0.001), video games (rs=-0.773, P<0.001), home movies (rs=-0.788, P<0.001), theatre attendance (rs=-0.587, P<0.025) and internet use (rs=-0.783, P<0.001). There were also significant negative correlations with oil prices (rs=-0.547, P<0.025), foreign travel (rs=-0.452, P<0.05), and Appalachian Trail hikers (rs=-0.785, P<0.001). Income was significantly positively correlated with foreign travel (rs=0.621, P<0.005) but negatively correlated with national park visits (rs=-0.697, P<0.005). There was no significant correlation of mean number of vacation days, indicating available vacation time is probably not a factor. Federal funding actually increased during this period, and so was rejected as a probable factor. Park capacity was rejected as limiting since both total overnight stays and visits at the seven most popular parks rose well into the mid-1990s. Aging of baby boomers was also rejected as they are only now reaching retirement age, and thus during the period of visitation decline were still of prime family vacation age. Multiple linear regression of four of the entertainment media variables as well as oil prices explains 97.5% of this recent decline (r=0.975, multiple r2=0.950, adjusted multiple r2=0.925, SE=0.015, F=37.800, P<0.0001). We may be seeing evidence of a fundamental shift away from people's appreciation of nature (biophilia, Wilson 1984) to ‘videophilia,’ which we here define as “the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media.” Such a shift would not bode well for the future of biodiversity conservation.

35th Annual Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Conference Blog

2007-11-11T17:29:00Z

The 35th AEE Conference has just finished up here in Little Rock, Arkansas. It's been such a busy three days that I've barely had time to keep up with the daily flood of emails while I'm gone from the office, much less do a daily conference Blog.

AEE is my favorite conference because it is the place where I get to see friends and colleagues from around the country and across the globe. Some of these people are folks that I only get to see in person once a year. For many of those people our history goes back decades.

My very first AEE Conference was in 1977 at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario when I was twenty-one. At that time I had no idea that Experiential Education was more than just the outdoor trips I was leading as a college student, it was a field with thousands of programs, academic degrees, scholarship, research, etc. While that first conference helped me in my undergraduate research in psychology studying the impacts of wilderness orientation programs, it's been the dozens of conferences, both International and Regional that I've gone to over the years that have really expanded both my vision of the field and my skills as an educator, facilitator, and outdoor practitioner. If you haven't ever been to an AEE Conference, then put it on your list of "must do's." The caliber of professionals in the field to network with and as presenters is the highest I've seen anywhere. Three days at an AEE Conference is like a week of personal coaching from the best in the business.

If you are planning for 2008, check these out:

International AEE Conference
November 6-8 - Vancouver, WA, USA (across the river from Portland, OR)

AEE Regional Conferences

West Region
February 29 - March 2, 2008 - Sly Park, California

Southeast Region
March 14 - 16, 2008 - Cedar Mountain, North Carolina

Northwest Region
March 27-30, 2008 - Randle, Washington

Heartland Region
March 28 - 30, 2008 - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

Rocky Mountain Region
April 4 - 6, 2008 - Gunnison, Colorado

Northeast Region
April 11-13, 2008 - Hancock, New Hampshire
(I'll be at the NE Region Conference, hope to see you there)

Mid-South Region
April 11-13, 2008 - Talequah, Oklahoma

Mid-Atlantic Region
April 11-13, 2008 - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

This Year's Conference

So let me give you a quick sketch of this year's conference. I'll start by looking at the various keynote speakers.

Jasper Hunt Opening Address

The conference began with a superb keynote address by Dr. Jasper Hunt, professor at Minnesota State University. If you aren't familiar with Jasper's work I strongly encourage you to read Ethical Issues in Experiential Education, one of the most thought-provoking books on how to integrate ethical frameworks into experiential education. Jasper took us through an exploration entitled "Unity through Diversity" exploring how we are united as experiential educators through a common sense of shared assumptions about how the educational process works and a common commitment to character development (moral education) of our students.

As Jasper does so well in much of his writing, he juxtaposes the philosophical ideas of one great thinker to another as a way of exploring the truths of both. In this case he looked at Descartes and John Dewey (often thought of as the 'father' of experiential education). He talked about Dewey's notions of Primary Experience - direct interaction, and Secondary Experience - reflection/study of the primary experience. He made the point that sometimes as experiential educators we embrace the primary experience that we may devalue the secondary experience. He gave the example of learning to load prepare your own ammunition for target shooting (build the cartridge with bullet and gunpowder) . If done incorrectly, the rifle shell can blow up in your face. We don't need to have a "direct experience" of this in order to learn (in fact we shouldn't). Rather, a secondary experience, like reading a textbook or manual on how to do this is much better than "experimenting" to see if you did it right. In his own way Jasper provided us with an excellent "Secondary Experience" of how we should think about experiential learning.

Minnijean Brown Trickey Keynote Address

Most people will not know the name of this amazing woman, I didn't before arriving in Little Rock. To understand the importance of what Minnejean had to say you have to know that 2007 is the 50th Anniversary of the "Little Rock Nine" when nine African-American school children (Minnijean among them) faced down an angry mob at Little Rock Central High School and, under the protection of federal troops sent by President Eisenhower, helped desegregate the school in ways that sent ripples throughout the Civil Rights Movement. This remarkable woman, and the other eight who entered the school with her were true pioneers. She gave us a picture of the history and struggle for equal rights that continues today. She was given several standing ovations in recognition of her courage and commitment to Civil Rights.

Kurt Hahn Address by Dr. Nina Roberts

The Kurt Hahn Address is presented annually at the conference to honor the exceptional people who make a substantial contribution to experiential education for a significant length of time. This year's recipient is a good friend and someone who I have incredible respect for, Dr. Nina Roberts a Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University. Her areas of emphasis include outdoor recreation, parks, urban programming, leadership, and youth development. She also is currently serving as the Project Director of the Pacific Leadership Institute, which connects urban youth with the outdoors. Nina formerly served as an Education and Outreach Specialist with the Natural Resource Program Center for the National Park Service. Prior to that, she was a Research Associate and Assistant Director of National Urban and Diversity Programs for the Student Conservation Association.

A thread that ran through Nina's address, and through all of her work, are the issues of social justice and multiculturalism. I can't think of anyone I know who "walks her talk" about these issues more passionately than Nina and she did so once again in her address. What is so wonderful about Nina is her ability to challenge people, and I mean really put you on the spot about whether you are addressing critical issues, and still do it with a smile on her face and real joy in her heart about working for change. Congratulations to Nina for being selected as this year's Kurt Hahn Address recipient and for all her great work.

Playnote - Karl Rohnke

What's a Playnote you ask? Well, since this is AEE, let's take a Keynote-level speaker, like Karl Rohnke, and give him a big room and a large group of people to play games with for an hour and a half and you get a Playnote. Karl has been an important "player" in the field of experiential/adventure education since people began to think of it as a field. He was a watch officer at Hurricane Island Outward Bound in 1967, and chief instructor at North Carolina Outward Bound until 1971. He left Outward Bound to become one of the founders of the Project Adventure program in Hamilton, MA, and worked there continuously until 1996. During his tenure at PA, he served as director and president of the company. Karl is also one of the founders of The High 5 Adventure Learning Center in Brattleboro, Vermont. Karl was the recipient of the 1990 Michael Stratton Practitioner Award, and in 2000, he presented the Kurt Hahn Address at the International AEE Conference. Karl has written over 15 books that relate to the field of adventure education, including The Bottomless Bag Revival, Silver Bullets, Quicksilver, and Funn 'n Games.

I can tell you that non one else can take a room of 150 people and let them play and learn with a few pieces of balled up paper and a couple other props in the unique way that Karl can. He has a special ability to open people back up to the play we experienced as children and at the same time, use it to reinforce lessons about experiential education. It was a a session of fun and challenge.

That's an overview of some of the large events at this year's AEE Conference. I'll be back blogging about some of the workshops I went to next.

Simulations as a Leader Training Tool

2007-11-02T04:14:00Z

CHAPTER THREE - PRINCETON UNIVERSITY OUTDOOR ACTION LEADER TRAINER MANUAL

Simulations as a Leader Training Tool

Abbreviations:
LTT - Leader Training Trip
LT - Leader Trainer (person who leads an LTT)
LOD - Leaders of the day
Frosh Trip - our wilderness orientation program

WHY DO SIMULATIONS?

Simulations provide leaders in training with opportunities to gain practical experience and receive feedback in a safe environment.

On the days that participants are Leaders of the Day, the Leader Trainers will perform a series of simulations. There are a wide variety of simulations that can be done, including first aid, interpersonal skills, group dynamics, and protocol issues. The Leaders of the Day are responsible for recognizing and responding to these simulations, which give trainees practice in handling some of the difficult situations that could come up on a trip. It is important that participants know the Leader Trainers will be doing simulations and that it's their responsibility to deal with them.

After each simulation the Leader Trainers should debrief the experience with the group to discuss how this type of situation should be dealt with. It is often best to give the Leaders of the Day the opportunity to first explain what happened, how they responded, and what they would do differently if it were to happen again. Leader Trainers should then tell them what they did well, what they should have done differently, and when necessary, discuss with the group different ways to deal with the same situation.

Although the Leader Trainers will be evaluating their participants as leaders throughout the trip, simulations are NOT meant to test the participants. Stress this to your participants. Simulations give participants opportunities to practice and improve skills. They are not intended as a test of an individual's skills. In simulations of emergency situations, the purpose of sims is to learn about the complex nature of emergency response. A low-pressure walk-through of the Emergency Procedures will imprint them on the participants far better than a confusing, high-pressure affair. Keep in mind that an accident scenario can be a highly emotional experience. We want to give people experience with emergency procedures; we don't want to emotionally traumatize them.

PROTOCOLS

Leaders-in-training must know in advance that simulations are going to occur and that it's their responsibility when Leaders of the Day to respond to them.
Leader Trainers must always be honest about whether or not they are doing a simulation; not telling a participant that a situation is pretend can be frightening and emotionally traumatizing.
Leader Trainers should be the only ones involved in simulations. Participants should not be expected to know when and how to do a simulation and when one should end.
Simulations must not risk the safety of anyone in the group, including Leader Trainers, Leaders of the Day, and the other trainees. This means don't get hypothermic, dehydrated, hungry, etc. You never know when a real problem could occur and you would need to take charge.
The Leader Trainers must teach Emergency Procedures and Lost Person Procedures before any simulations so that trainees have the requisite knowledge for executing any emergency plans. There is no point in asking the group to do an exercise if they don't have previous training in it.

ETHICS OF SIMULATIONS

Leader Trainers have a responsibility in simulations, as in all aspects of the trip, to:

DO NO HARM (physical OR emotional)

to themselves
or to others

DO NO HARM

to the environment
or to the teaching environment

Leader Trainers must keep in mind that simulations can sometimes be emotionally charged events for people. This may be due to their anxiety about their ability to deal with a real accident or recollections from other traumatic events. They also need to recognize when a true accident potential is developing and know when to call off the sim; darkness, cold, etc. are just some things which should end the exercise.

Leader Trainers are not to implement actions during the simulation which could place themselves or other members of the group at risk. This includes such things as the victim actually becoming hypothermic or dehydrated, getting sleeping bags wet as part of a hypothermia simulation, not eating during an eating disorder simulation, etc. OA does not want to present a false illusion of the 'invincible LT' to its trainees, or simulations could become true emergencies. The 'invincible LT' mindset not only puts the LT at risk, it also impairs his/her ability to looks out for the needs of participants and to create the best teaching environment possible.

ROLE OF PARTICIPANTS

The Leader Trainers should make sure that participants understand their role in a sim before doing any simulations on the trip. Participants who are not Leaders of the Day should all be considered 'competent frosh.' They should observe the sim carefully to learn from the Leaders of the Day and to be able to participate in the debrief. They should not alert the Leaders of the Day that a sim is going on or consciously get involved in the sim, unless the Leaders of the Day ask them to perform a task that a competent frosh would be able to do.

Getting caught up in a sim:

In some simulations, participants might not realize that a sim is happening. Participants might inadvertently make comments that become part of a simulation and find themselves caught up in the sim. Soft skills sims of an offensive camper or inappropriate discussions are particularly easy to get caught up in. Being caught in a sim can be a useful learning tool, but participants might also feel used or tricked by the Leader Trainers. It is important to explain in advance that the Leader Trainers are not trying to trick anyone and that it's ok to get caught up in a sim. By explaining this in advance, Leader Trainers can mitigate some of the negative reactions that could undermine the relationship between them and their trainees.

ROLE OF THE LEADER TRAINERS

Leader Trainers take on many different roles during an LTT, which makes the leader's role particularly challenging on this type of trip. Some of the roles you will have to juggle are:

Sample Frosh Trip Leader
Frosh Participant
Leader Trainer

It is often confusing to participants WHO you actually are at any point. You're both a problem freshman and a teacher, and it's easy for participants to forget that you're playing a frosh, when you're constantly stepping out of your role to answer questions or to take advantage of a teachable moment. Leader Trainers need to make it clear to participants what role they are in and when they are switching roles. It is best to say things at the start of the day like "I'm going to be a frosh now." And then when it's time to be a Leader Trainer and debrief the group to say, "I'm out of role now, let's debrief." Otherwise, participants don't know how to react to you. One way of reducing this ambiguity is for Leader Trainers to wear an armband when they are "in character" and take it off when they are being a leader trainer. On an LTT with 3 or more Leader Trainers, two LTs could stay in freshman mode the entire day, and the third could remain a resource for participants. The Leader Trainer who is not in character could answer the kinds of questions that would ordinarily draw LTs out of their roles as frosh.

There's no one way to juggle these different roles, but it is important to make a clear distinction between when you're in character and when you're not. If you're in frosh mode and the group isn't treating you like a freshman, it can be helpful to play up your role. You can starting asking questions, if a leader of day is talking in front of you about aspects of Princeton life that a freshman would not know (classes, majors, eating clubs, etc). This not only reminds the group that you're in freshman mode, it gives the LODs a chance to think about what impression of Princeton they want to give their frosh. It also can also create spontaneous and interesting opportunities for soft skills sims, if the leaders of the day get themselves caught up in Princeton stereotypes. One of the simplest ways of creating a character is to revert to your own freshman self, as if you only knew what you knew when you were on your own Frosh Trip. This is only one of the many ways to play the part. It may not be the most entertaining to watch, but it does save your participants a lot of confusion. This way, your participants won't have to wonder whether what you tell them about yourself applies to you or to a made-up character. If participants have to spend too much time figuring out whether or not you mean what you say, then the simulated role is detracting from the learning environment. Getting to know their leader trainers as real people is a lot of fun, but it can't be a focal point of the trip for the participants. This is a big transition between Frosh Trip and an LTT, and it's important to make sure participants understand that on an LTT, getting to know a bunch of cool people in the woods is only one aspect of the trip.

MODELING SIMS

On their "modeling leadership" day, the Leader Trainers should sim each other--generally a simple First Aid sim (like a cut) and a simple soft skills/group dynamics sim. Model sims should set the standards and give the trainees some idea of what they're in for. LTs should try to make their decision making process as transparent as possible to their trainees on the role modeling days, so that they can see all the factors that go through a leader's head in making a decision.

SIMULATIONS

There's a lot to think about when running simulations:

What to think about before each simulation:

What are the goals/teaching purpose?
Who is participating: Are you trying to target the sim towards a particular LOD?
What is the time frame? How long to let the sim run?
Potential Pitfalls?
How will you evaluate?

What to think about after the simulation:

When to debrief?
Quick Leader meeting: What did each LT see?
What are the teaching points to draw out?
How is each LOD feeling after the sim?

Each pair of Leaders of the Day should be presented with at least one "hard skill" simulation and one "soft skill" simulation. Those in the "other" category should be selected by the Leader Trainers based on the needs of the group. It's a good idea to establish a non-verbal code between Leader Trainers, so that each LT knows when a sim is about to begin.

Required:

Anaphylaxis (often useful to sim an anaphylactic reaction to something other than a bee sting)
Lost Camper
MOI Spine
Musculoskeletal Injury
Hypothermia
Hyperthermia

Other:

Fast/Slow Hiker
Lazy Camper (great if you got to bed really late!)
Offensive Campers (issues of race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. This could be through jokes, games, comments, etc.)
Homesick Camper
Disregard for LNT
Know-It-All Camper
Group Morale
Campers in Love
Disregard for Safety/ Safety Protocols (lightning, swimming, road crossing, etc.)
Disregard for Group Activities (games, camp break down/set up, etc.)
Dehydration
Cuts/scrapes
Sprains/Strains
Trowel Problems
Eating Disorder
Substance Abuse
Burns
Concussion
Increasing ICP
Dislocations
ASR

SIMULATIONS OF EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

It is best to do big First Aid or hard skills simulations at the end of a day';s hike near your planned campsite, so the sim doesn't prevent the LODs from effectively timing the day. It's very convenient to do large-scale First Aid sims at camp in the morning. The trade-off is that the group will start hiking much later than the LODs had planned, since they can't factor sim-time into their plans for the day. The sim should be called when the party going for help starts down the trail. At that point, the Leader Trainers inspect the gear and route taken by the group hiking out, the first aid measures performed, and the camp setup arrangements, and the group cleans up.

Simming an Evac

It's important to talk about how to plan an evac before doing simulations on an LTT, so that trainees will understand what's expected of them. Otherwise, the Leaders of the Day will be tempted to try to end the sim by saying that they'll call Command and evac, instead of going through all the preparations for the evac. It is important that the Leaders of the Day practice evacuation procedures with and without cell phone reception. If there is actually cell phone reception, the Leader Trainer who is not the victim can role play the Command Center to give the LODs some insight into how Command Center really works. Leader Trainers can also require that the Leaders of the Day fill out proper paperwork (SOAP notes and incident reports) before the sim is called, so that they get into the habit and are familiar with the contents of the trip packet.

Lost Camper

It's best to pull the lost camper sim as early in the trip as the skill level of the participants allows, since they're all expecting this sim. If you wait until the end of the trip, the Leaders of the Day will be trying "catch" the sim. The order in which you do sims can help you prevent your trainees from getting too wrapped up in trying to predict which sims are going to happen when.

LOGISTICS OF SIMULATIONS

PROGRESSION

Sims should be tailored to the skill level of participants at any given point in the LTT. For instance, you do not want to open with an MOI Spine or Lost camper. Good sims to do for the first Leaders of the Day include musculoskeletal injury, hypo/hyper-thermia, anaphylaxis, homesick camper, fast/slow hiker, camper conflict. The progressive difficulty of sims often means that the early Leaders of the Day have lots of little sims to deal with, and the last Leaders of the Day have just a few large-scale sims. The last Leaders of the Day will probably have an easier time with their sims, even though the hardest sims should happen late in the trip. Even by putting the most experienced/competent trainees first to set a high standard, the later LODs are likely to have an easier time handling sims, by virtue of having watched and learned from everyone else. It's important to be aware of how the group is handling the progression of sims.

HOW MANY SIMS?

LTs need to consider how many sims they want to do each day of the trip. The length of a simulation affects the realism of the sim. For instance, it's more realistic for a fast/slow hiker sim to last all day. One of the major flaws inherent to LTT simulations is that they suggest that these situations are resolvable once and for all, as if a fast/slow hiker situation could be "fixed" for the rest of the trip. LTs should stress to trainees that these situations are constants, insofar as on Frosh Trip, the leaders will have to keep a fast/slow hiker situation in mind for the remainder of the trip and it will be a factor in every decision the leaders make, whereas on an LTT, it's over in a couple hours and doesn't determine the rest of the day. But if you keep up a fast/slow hiker sim for the whole day, you'll run into other problems: Trainees can only process one sim at a time. Otherwise, the slow hiker seems to be going slowly because they're homesick, and you won't be able to isolate these situations in a debrief. It's sometimes necessary to sacrifice realism in order to cover a number of topics in simulations. How long a sim you'll be able to do is determined by the number of leader trainers on the trip and how many sims you want to accomplish on any given day.

REALISM

Over-The-Top Sims: Missing the Education Value

It's important to try to recreate situations that actually come up on Frosh Trip. With over the top sims, there's a danger that an LTs antics will overshadow the educational value of the sim, because it's so much fun to watch. Simulated situations, however can still be valuable when taken to the extreme, even if the chance of having to deal with anything that extreme on a frosh trip is minimal. If trainees are effectively handling the extremes, then milder versions of these situations will seem easy on frosh trip.

The fun factor of the sim can work with or against its educational value. It's important to be aware of how these factors work together in the context of your particular group. Silly sims, like campers in love, can certainly boost group morale without stepping in on the Leaders of the Day, if low morale is impairing the learning environment. The group's maturity level will largely determine the point at which the "fun factor" detracts from the sim's educational value.

At some point, over the top sims impair a Leader Trainer's ability to accurately evaluate a participant's leadership style. If an LOD has to deal with a day of crazy simulations, they will adapt their own leadership over the course of the day to deal successfully with crazy sims. There is a danger that they will adopt a contrived leadership style in order to handle these sorts of sims, and you won't be able to get an accurate reading of how they would normally act in a leadership position. In 24 hours, you're not going to be able bring about a huge change in someone's leadership style. At best, you'll get them thinking critically about what they do well, what they need to work on, and they can improve. In order to give them helpful feedback, you need to get a good reading on how they lead.

CATCHING THE SIM

Leader Trainers need to think about how to prevent the "catching the sim game" before it starts. Participants often think of the leader trainers as being "tricky" and "sneaky," which may not be far from the truth. When participants jump on a sim before it can develop (or to where it would likely develop on a Frosh Trip), leader trainers are forced to exercise some "psychological judo" to avoid the premature discovery of the sim. This only encourages participants to be more wary, timing bathroom trips and asking trainers where they're going and what they're doing at every moment. This is the "sim game," and it isn't helpful for anyone involved. In the sim game, the Leaders of the Day pay too much attention to their "problem frosh" and not enough to the rest of the group. It certainly isn't the way a participant would act as a leader on a real trip, and the Leader Trainers need to observe how participants would normally lead, if they're going to be able to offer constructive feedback.

LEADER RADAR & CATCHING THE SIM The catching the sim game is where good test taking techniques meet leader radar. Participants are going to try and should try to guess what sims the LT's will do, so that they can mentally prepare themselves to handle them. A finely tuned leader radar should be able to pick up on subtle signals so that the leader can head off major problems before they happen by fine tuning the dynamics of the trip. The LTT cannot perfectly recreate the function that leader radar plays on Frosh Trip: Even when their real-life counterparts are preventable, sims are not. It is important that participants understand the unpreventable nature of sims and the relationship between sims and leader radar.

So what is the challenge of a simulation? Is it to recognize the sim, or is it to deal with it once it has been recognized? Clearly, the ability to see a situation before it becomes truly problematic is advantageous, and is something that we encourage, calling it "leader radar." However, we're also trying to teach and evaluate participants on their ability to deal with problems once they've occurred. The ability to do both is essential.

One way to help this is by explaining the purpose of sims, in language similar to that which is used above. It also helps to set the tone on the role modeling day. If the Leader Trainers demonstrate the boundaries for how obsessed leaders should be with things like layers, water, and walking ahead of the group, leaders of the day will have a much better idea of how they should act. Another possibility is to do more sims that are "unpreventable," like anaphylaxis. It's a problem that arises, and it's just something that needs to be dealt with. Unfortunately, most frosh trip problems aren't really of this nature: they build over a period of time, and are thus catchable at many different stages. In general, soft-skills sims don't seem to fit this model, though there are obviously soft-skills elements in any medical emergency. Perhaps the best response to the Catch the Sim Game is to ask the Leaders of the Day this question: "Is this behavior/activity something you would allow to continue on your Frosh Trip?"

TONE ON AN LTT

Sims, as well as everything else, should be dealt with because they present a problem that needs to be resolved, not because the leaders of the day are trying to pre-empt or catch a sim. Leaders of the Day should understand that they're responsible for setting the tone on their day. They should create an atmosphere in which they confront any behavior or activity from any person that they would not want on a frosh trip.

The tone of an LTT is tricky because it's not exactly Frosh Trip, but at the same time, it is a model of a Frosh Trip. Some topics of conversation that would be obviously inappropriate for the participants on a Frosh Trip are no longer inappropriate for the participants on an LTT. The question remains, even if these kinds of conversation are not inappropriate for the participants to be having, are they still inappropriate to be having on an LTT? It's helpful to lay out your expectations even before hitting the trail, so that participants understand what's expected of them in terms of behavior. If you lay out your expectations about what is and is not appropriate early on, and as part of the FVC, then it's up to the Leaders of the Day to maintain that tone throughout the trip. The Leaders of the Day need to have practice setting the tone for their own trips. On the LTT, they are responsible for taking care of two "frosh" and should set a tone that would welcome any freshman, since they have no idea where these freshman are coming from and can't make any assumptions about their comfort level. It is thus their responsibility to steer conversation appropriately, and the responsibility of participants who are not leaders of the day to try not to make it any more difficult for their friends.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LT'S ON THE TRAIL

Another reason that sims seem to get out of hand is because of the relationship most leader trainers have with each other; LT's will go into trips both knowing and not knowing their co-leaders, but because we spend so much time together (and because we're all so cool), we become good friends quickly. Leaders of the day don't know our personalities, and so it's always ambiguous when the leader trainers are interacting with each other if they're just having fun or if they're somehow doing a sim. It's important to watch out that ordinary conversations between Leader Trainers, conversations that might be easy to push over the line into good sims, do not fuel the catching the sim game.

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