HPR 443

Outdoor Leader competencies

Overview

(1) knowledge and skills (2) educational and psychological

foundations (3) outdoor education foundations (4) environmental understandings (5) instructional methodologies (6) learning environment (7) assessment

Knowledge and skills

Generic skills Concerning types of outdoor leadership skills,

these areas are comprised of skills applicable to all adventure experiences; such as weather interpretation, first aid, trip planning, and appropriate level of performance.

Meta skills Concerning types of outdoor leadership skills,

this area combines hard and soft skills into a workable design; for example, leadership style, problem-solving, decision-making skills.

Professionalism

Know your topic Have the skills

Learn from formal Instruction Learn from informal instruction

Know your participants

Professional ResponsibilitiesPlanning & Organizing

Plan the work/work the plan Communicate with students Equipment (condition, amounts, fit, location) Materials (to aid in instruction: pictures,

handouts, drawings, CD’s/DVD’s, twigs, etc) Site knowledge Risk Mgt (before, during & after)

Personal PresentationDress appropriatelyArrive earlyStart on timeBegin to develop a rapport with students as soon as you meet themCommunicate personallySet expectationsClarify what’s going to happenRulesEquipment check – bring extras just in case

Educational and psychological foundations Clear goals Appropriate activities Curriculum materials Instructional strategies

outdoor education foundations Involves a structured experience for students Usually involving a challenge (possibly including an

element of risk) A period of reflection to help students derive

meaning from the experience An assessment activity Skilled outdoor educators can use outdoor

experiences to achieve many general education objectives in subject areas such as the arts, language, mathematics, science, and social studies

environmental understandings Major concepts

how natural systems work and how social systems interact with natural systems. Regarding natural systems, teachers should be able to

communicate and apply major ecological concepts. Individual: Existing as a distinct entity; separate: individual

drops of rain.

Species: a class of individuals or objects grouped by virtue of their common attributes and assigned a common name; a division subordinate to a genus.

Population: All the organisms that constitute a specific group or occur in a specified habitat

Community: A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions.

•Ecosystem: a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment

•Interdependence: a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)

•Niche: The function or position of an organism or population within an ecological community.

•Adaption: An alteration or adjustment in structure or habits, often hereditary, by which a species or individual improves its condition in relationship to its environment.

•Homeostasis: The ability or tendency of an organism or cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes.

EthicsLeave No Trace http://www.lnt.org/programs/lnt7/index.html

instructional methodologies

Outdoor education addresses learning objectives through guided direct experience in the outdoors, using the natural and built environments as resource materials.

Such experiences in the outdoors provide three-dimensional reality to what is taught in the classroom and make possible depths of understanding and appreciation that may not be possible indoors.

learning environment

Outdoor education can occur in any outdoor setting, ranging from a school yard in an industrial neighborhood to a remote wilderness setting

Capable outdoor educators create a safe place for learning--a community of learners

Such a setting promotes appreciation, exploration, and discovery, and provides an intellectually open, stimulating, and exciting environment.

In such an environment, students pursue their own ideas individually and in groups.

Teachers also guide students in self-assessment, collaborative work, and preparation of presentations of accomplished work.

Capable outdoor educators model certain habits of mind, including curiosity, excitement, wonder, and imagination.

Assessment

Assessments should be ongoing. It's best to use a variety of strategies, such as

observing and listening to students as they work, discussing students' ideas and understandings, and asking students questions.