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Making connections with nature: Bridging the theory — practice gap in outdoor and environmental education

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Abstract

In this paper I describe my experience in attempting to assist tertiary students connect with the natural environment through outdoor and environmental education experiences. The paper addresses research conducted with students undertaking an outdoor and environmental education degree and focuses on the pedagogical methods employed in this context. I argue that outdoor and environmental education practitioners may benefit from moving away from a mode of teaching based upon ‘generic’ methods and look instead to a more local, specific and contextual form of education. By describing an outdoor and environmental education journey in a local, ‘ordinary’ place and students’ experiences in unearthing the stories embedded in this place, I aim to provide some practical strategies to engage young people in a direct and meaningful way. The intention is to broaden the pedagogical possibilities related to facilitating experiences in natural environments and thus contribute to bridging the rhetoric/reality gap in outdoor education.

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Authors
  1. Lou Preston
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Additional information

Lou Preston coordinates and lectures in the Graduate Diploma of Outdoor and Environmental Education in the School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences at the University of Ballarat. Lou has just embarked on an EdD journey (through Deakin University) and aims to study students’ experiences in the Grad. Dip. in relation to their development of an environmental ethic. She may be contacted through e-mail: l.preston@ballarat.edu.au

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Preston, L. Making connections with nature: Bridging the theory — practice gap in outdoor and environmental education. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 8, 12–19 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03400791

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