8.1 The ADVENTURE in outdoor adventure

• Very little data has been generated which looks at the processes of outdoor adventure programmes.
• There is very little research data about the relative significance of the various ingredients that make up an adventure programme.
• Much of the research about the "adventure ingredient" is in the form of insights from various champions of outdoor adventure, rather than in the form of objective empirical studies.
• Most research about adventure has been concentrated on just one kind of programme: intensive developmental programmes - especially those for young people in trouble or 'at risk'.
• To understand the ways in which adventure contributes to young people's development, it is necessary to investigate the various processes from the individual perspectives of young people.
• No research has been found which systematically traces the various ways in which adventure affects individual young people's development.
• The relative importance of two ingredients of adventure programmes - 'adventure' and 'reviewing' - can be partly resolved by drawing on experiential learning theory, and partly by drawing on theories about meeting young people's developmental needs.
• New policies and practices in outdoor adventure are seeking greater equality of opportunity amongst young people.

• The group dimension of outdoor adventure can be highly significant in bringing about the personal and social development of young people.
• Challenges in a wilderness setting can facilitate group bonding and co-operation.
• Co-operative learning is a potent developmental tool, and can be a major strength of outdoor adventure.
• The residential aspect of some outdoor adventure experiences can be particularly valuable.
• The size of group is important; the optimum size will depend on the desired outcomes.
• Research studies into 'group work plus adventure' in the UK focus on outcomes rather than process, giving little attention to the reviewing of activities.

• Research into effective teaching styles in adventure (indoors and outdoors) shows a facilitative style to be most conducive to personal and social development.
• Outdoor activities can help to reduce formality, and develop staff/pupil relationships. Staff need training in appropriate interpersonal skills if they are to advance rather than retard young people's development.
• Staff need some understanding of developmental psychology, if their claims about their practice influencing young people's development are to be credible.
• No research has been found about the developmental effects of short-term and long-term relationships between outdoor staff and young people.
• Evidence from a number of sources illustrates the different ways that 'adventure in the classroom' can positively influence young people's personal and social development.
• These appear to be dependent on the teachers' commitment and ability to adopt experience-based, student-centred approaches such as those developed in New York classrooms.
• Both Active Tutorial Work and City Bound Flanders demonstrate the extent to which the principles of adventure-based learning can provide the "core tenets" of a coherent and effective developmental programme without the ingredient of outdoor physical adventure.

• Whilst the developmental value of sport is taken for granted, that of outdoor adventure remains in question, largely because a higher standard of proof is demanded. This is possibly because outdoor adventure is a relative 'newcomer', and because larger claims are made about its developmental benefits.
• Outdoor adventure and sport share many common ingredients and a common history.
• There is growing concern to promote equal opportunities in both sport and outdoor adventure.
• The function of sport (including outdoor activities) is given little systematic analytical attention by statutory and voluntary bodies working with young people.
• Various developmental benefits are associated with regular physical exercise: such as humour, patience, energy, ambition, optimism, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-assurance, emotional stability, improved body image, and a more easy-going and good-tempered nature.
• Failure in sport and outdoor adventure can be a self-destructive experience spreading negative effort to other aspects of self, whereas success is self-enhancing.

• For many young people, experiences in the outdoors involve a spiritual dimension.
• Contact with the natural environment has been shown to have important health-giving effects, and is a great source of sensory pleasure.
• Misdirected intervention from staff can hinder beneficial developmental effects resulting from young people's contact with the natural environment.
• The insights of experiential learning together with the increasing popularity of interdisciplinary approaches are transforming both environmental education and adventure education.
• Environmental and adventure education are becoming more like one another, increasing scope for integrated programmes.
• Environmental abuse has a disproportionately damaging effect on young people.
• Many young people demonstrate a concern for environmental issues which deserves to be addressed through youth work, including outdoor adventure.
• Young people's access to the natural world is limited by economic and social inequality and discrimination.