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Because I have not seen this elsewhere in the forum, and I believe it to be an important topic, I would like to invite any and all to comment on the histories of the Association for Experiential Education, the Association of Outdoor Recreation Education, and the Wilderness Education Association.
Why so many associations with arguably very similar missions?
Thanks in advance for your input!
Because I have not seen this elsewhere in the forum, and I believe it to be an important topic, I would like to invite any and all to comment on the histories of the Association for Experiential Education, the Association of Outdoor Recreation Education, and the Wilderness Education Association. Why so many associations with arguably very similar missions? Thanks in advance for your input!
Given that I am now a serious “old fart” I can comment on the start of AEE (Association for Experiential Education)
When I worked at the Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) I was witness to the very beginnings of AEE in 1973. The first office was in the basement of the Colorado Outward Bound School at 945 Pennsylvania Avenue, Denver.
Joe Nold as Director and later as President of COBS, provided critical financial support and free office space. Maria Snyder was the first Executive Officer.
It was an exciting time.
In essence, AEE was set up with a strong adventure based experiential learning (ABEL) focus and continued with that focus for many years. AEE was an affiliation of individuals and organisations. It was the very beginning of the use of the word “experiential”.
I was a member and active participant in AEE for many years.
The second AEE conference was held at Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park near Boulder, Colorado in 1974. It was strongly supported by the Colorado Outward Bound School.
The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) started in the early 1970’s. Paul Petzolt (who worked at Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) early 1960’s prior to setting up National Outdoor Leadership School [NOLS] in Wyoming) was an early supporter. Main focus was on leadership training in the early days.
The Association of Outdoor Recreation Education, (AORE) , I suspect, has a different focus to AEE and WEA. Outdoor Recreation and Outdoor Education are interpreted in different ways in various countries. This subject requires considerable research to sort out those differences.
So, in essence, I believe these associations have served separate communities but all in beneficial ways.
Kind regards,
Alistair McArthur
Odyssey Consultants
Melbourne
Australia
Born in 1941!!!
________________________________
cc.
· Joe Nold and Maria Snyder Weber
· AEE Chief Executive Officer: Paul Limoges, executive@aee.org
· AEE President-Elect: Christian Itin, ci3@humboldt.edu
From: General Forum [mailto:generalforum@outdoored.com] On Behalf Of Levi Wilner Sent: Thursday, 12 March 2009 11:21 AM To: a.mcarthur@c031.aone.net.au Subject: [General Forum] Histories of AEE, AORE, and WEA
Levi, also check out Jay Roberts Blog on "Why We Need an Association Merger in Outdoor Education" http://www.outdoored.com/Community/blogs/jay_roberts/archive/2008/10/31/together-in-2012-why-we-need-an-association-merger-in-outdoor-experiential-education.aspx
Levi,I have written a bit about this, I believe it is actually part of a larger trend of more and more (smaller and smaller) professional organizations across the US. If you are familiar with Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, well we all may be (organizations in general) on the way to conferencing alone. Not to say there are not some great benefits to smaller conferences. The big loss is in the ability to create a powerful lobby for the interests of a field. If you believe Saul Alinsky's premise that power comes through either money or people, then small conferences may come at a cost of power and promotion of the interests for Experiential Education.Still, we have conferences which people deeply enjoy and the personal connection does have great value. I found over 60 organizations that are closely connected (experiential & outdoor ed. related or associated) in the US, and more if you include Canada. Many began well before AEE, AORE, and WEA. Brent BellAssistant Prof. of Outdoor EducationDept. of KinesiologyUniversity of New Hampshire(603)862-3047bbell@unh.edu On Mar 11, 2009, at 8:20 PM, Levi Wilner wrote:Because I have not seen this elsewhere in the forum, and I believe it to be an important topic, I would like to invite any and all to comment on the histories of the Association for Experiential Education, the Association of Outdoor Recreation Education, and the Wilderness Education Association. Why so many associations with arguably very similar missions? Thanks in advance for your input!
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