Adventure vs. Outdoor Ed. vs. Outdoor Pursuits

Adventure education is often used synonymously with outdoor pursuits and outdoor education. However, there are crucial distinctions that must be made between these three terms. 

• According to Blanchard et al. (2007), “outdoor pursuits refers to activities that involve moving across natural land and/or water resources by nonmechanized means of travel” (p. 3). Activities associated with outdoor pursuits include, but are not limited to, hiking, backpacking, canoeing, climbing, caving, rafting, kayaking, camping, snow shoeing, and cross-country skiing (Blanchard et al., 2007). In outdoor pursuits, the primary focus is often on skill development and learning in the psychomotor domain (Timken & McNamee, 2012). 

• Outdoor education relates to any learning that occurs in and through the outdoors, and it is important to note that there is no specific content associated with outdoor education (Gilbertson et al., 2006). 

• Both outdoor pursuits and outdoor education differ from adventure education because adventure education has a greater focus on affective learning including personal and group development, communication, and cooperation (Timken & McNamee, 2012). Another important factor to consider is suggested by Timken and McNamee (2012), “while adventure education can and does occur in the natural environment, that environment is developed specifically for activities such as low and high element challenge courses, but can also include team building and group initiative activities that could occur in a gym setting” (p. 23).

References

Blanchard, J., Strong, M., & Ford, P. (2007). Leadership and administration of outdoor pursuits (3rd edition). Venture Publishing.

Gilbertson, K., Bates, T., McLaughlin, T., & Ewert, A. (2006). Outdoor education: Methods and strategies. Human Kinetics.

Timken, G. L., & McNamee, J. (2012). New perspectives for teaching physical education: Preservice teachers’ reflections on outdoor and adventure

 education. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 31(1), 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.31.1.21