Sutherland and Legge (2016) suggested that some of the non-negotiable features of adventure education are as follows: challenge by choice, full value contract, teacher as a facilitator, brief, debrief, and experiential learning.
According to Timken and McNamee (2012), “Challenge by choice is akin to asking participants to be responsible for their own level of participation, whatever that level happens to be at the moment, without fear of judgment from others” (p. 26). Project Adventure describes challenge by choice as allowing students to choose their own challenge; students will never be forced to participate in something that puts them into a feeling of panic (n.d.).
According to Project Adventure (n.d.), the full value contract, or commitment, is “a set of agreements that group members make to each other to ensure that every member is equally valued and the group’s experiences are positive and productive” (Full Value Commitment).
Teacher as a facilitator means that the teacher will say only what is necessary, and students will be allowed to reflect on their personal and social development during a time of debriefing (Sutherland & Legge, 2016). It is important that a facilitator allows students to work through experiences and activities together, rather than providing the students with the answers to problems that arise.
According to Panicucci (2007), briefing is the framing and introduction of the experience. It is important to engage the learner in a simple story, and the briefing should define expectations, provide goals for the experience, and establish parameters that the group should operate within (Panicucci, 2007).
Gass and Stevens (2007) suggested that debriefing is the process where “the facilitator guides clients' learning in a supportive role to help the group discover their own learning through goal setting, questions and answers, and guided reflection after each adventure activity and the total experience” (p. 104). Debriefing will typically occur in a group setting with the use of verbal discussion (Gass & Stevens, 2007). Furthermore, a debriefing requires a facilitator to ask open-ended questions aimed at eliciting varying responses rather than providing students with an evaluation of critical events that happened (Berry, 2011).
Lastly, experiential learning refers to the process of learning that occurs through an authentic and direct experience (Gilbertson et al., 2006). See the image below for further explanation on experiential learning (ISC Medical, 2019).
References
Berry, M. (2011). Learning and teaching in adventure education. In M. Berry & C. Hodgson (Eds.), Adventure education: An introduction (pp. 63-83). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203856758
Gass, M., & Stevens, C. (2007). Facilitating the adventure process. In D. Prouty, J. Panicucci, & R. Collinson (Eds.), Adventure education: Theory and application (pp. 101-
123). Human Kinetics.
Gilbertson, K., Bates, T., McLaughlin, T., & Ewert, A. (2006). Outdoor education: Methods and strategies. Human Kinetics.
ISC Medical. (2019, March 25). The benefits of experiential learning and kolb's learning cycle for training [Photograph]. www.medical-interviews.co.uk/blog/benefits- experiential-learning-kolbs-learning-cycle-training
Panicucci, J. (2007). Cornerstones of adventure education. In D. Prouty, J. Panicucci, & R. Collinson (Eds.), Adventure education: Theory and application (pp. 33-48). Human
Kinetics.
Project Adventure. (n.d.). What is adventure-based learning?. https://www.pa.org/what-is-adventurebased-learning
Sutherland, S., & Legge, M. (2016). The possibilities of “doing” outdoor and/or adventure education in physical education/teacher education. Journal of Teaching in Physical
Education, 35(4), 299-312. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2016-0161
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