Marsden, David (2023) Knowledge, Skills, and Practical Experience Required for Higher Education Outdoor Education Graduates. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Outdoor education is important for young people as it promotes health and wellbeing, personal development, community connectedness, and environmental awareness. Secondary schools often engage external organisations to deliver outdoor education programs to their students. Primarily, these organisations employ non-teacher-trained staff as outdoor educators who often do not have the knowledge, skills, or practical experience to provide outdoor education student learning outcomes. As a result, students may attend programs that provide guided outdoor recreation experiences rather than education. In Australia, the development of non-school-based outdoor educators tends to focus on technical skills and safety. There is an absence of guidelines regarding the knowledge and skills required of higher education (HE) graduates to deliver outdoor education outcomes. Furthermore, there is a lack of agreement regarding the type, duration, and frequency of practical experience needed to develop outdoor education knowledge and skills. To address this gap, this study aimed to explore the knowledge, skills, and practical experience required by students in HE who graduate to become outdoor educators. The study focused on outdoor education settings external to the school environment typically provided by the commercial or not-for-profit sector (external outdoor education provider) on a fee-for-service basis to secondary schools. A mixed methods research design was employed. Document analysis was conducted to explore the knowledge, skills, and practical experience required of HE outdoor education graduates. A total of 218 documents were sourced from community, industry, and government. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to explore the perceptions of outdoor education practitioners regarding the knowledge, skills, and practical experience of HE outdoor education graduates for employment in the outdoor education sector. Six interviews were conducted with outdoor education sector professionals to achieve data saturation based on common perceptions. An online questionnaire was then distributed throughout Australia to quantify findings from the qualitative phases. A total of 134 responses were gained from practitioners in the outdoor education sector. Findings reveal that HE graduates require a complex range of knowledge, skills, and experience to fulfil the role of an outdoor educator. Thirteen themes emerged, capturing the knowledge and skills required of HE outdoor education graduates. Two further themes offer insight into the relationship practical experience has with outdoor education knowledge and skills. Quantitative results revealed the average number of practical experience days required by HE outdoor education graduates to develop the knowledge and skills and the duration and types of practical experiences. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) was applied to delve into the findings to explore the purpose of this study in detail. Through the application of bioecological theory, social environment factors contributing to the knowledge, skills, and practical experience of HE outdoor education graduates have been established. Theoretically, a Knowledge and Skills Framework for HE outdoor education graduates has been developed. The relationship between practical experience and the knowledge and skills required of HE outdoor education graduates has been identified. Practically, findings can inform the HE sector in outdoor education courses and the outdoor education sector on knowledge, skills and practical experience required by outdoor education graduates.

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