Education

School of Outdoor Education & Environment

International Outdoor Education Research Conference

La Trobe University Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, July 6-9, 2004

Connections and Disconnections: Examining the reality and rhetoric. International perspectives on outdoor education theory and practice.

Outdoor education often claims to foster relationships with self, others and the natural environment. But there are also disconnections; perhaps between outdoor experiences and everyday lives, home and remote settings, or between theory and practice. How can research contribute to understanding the tensions between such connections and disconnections?

This symposium aimed to focus on the role of research in exploring how the field addresses its claims. It asked: With what kinds of relationships and knowledge is outdoor education concerned? How important is the cultural and geographical context or the pedagogical process in developing such relationships? What is the role of broader social, cultural or education theory in understanding outdoor education? What are the connections between theory and practice and what are future directions for the field?

The conference built on the International Conference held at Buckinghamshire-Chilterns University (UK) in 2002 and aimed to foster an international community of researchers whose work critically examines outdoor education theory and practice. By bringing together researchers and potential researchers it offered the opportunity to share research methods, findings and issues.

The conference was structured around paper or poster presentations and discussion forums. Special interest group meetings and excursions to local outdoor environments were also conducted.

The collection of papers presented here are those delivered at the conference. Papers which appear in the refereed section have been peer reviewed, initially as an abstract suitable for the conference and then as a complete paper. Given the conference nature and theme, some of the papers describe 'works in progress'. The email contacts for authors are included with papers as a means to meet the conference aim of fostering an international community of researchers and to promote ongoing dialogue. We encourage readers to engage with this process.

Andrew Brookes
Chair, conference academic committee

Dr Peter Martin
HoD Outdoor Education and Environment
La Trobe University, Bendigo.