Experiencing challenge, while being supported by peers, may facilitate social-emotional learning in outdoor adventure education programsExperiencing challenge and achieving difficult goals is a central component of outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs. Research indicates that overcoming challenge can support youth's social-emotional learning and provides opportunities for youth to develop important competencies, including independence, interpersonal skills, leadership, confidence, and decision-making skills. To better understand how challenge drives youth’s learning in OAE, this study explored the experiences of youth who participated in an Outward Bound (OB) course. OB is a specific wilderness OAE program that emphasizes challenge through physically strenuous activities, such as backpacking, canoeing, and rock climbing, that also immerses youth in emotional and interpersonal challenges. The questions guiding the research asked: (1) “How do youth experience challenges and how do they transform this experience into learning?” and (2) “What is the role of peer-to-peer support in youth's learning from challenges?”
Thirty-two students, age 14–18, who had completed an expedition course at the Philadelphia Outward Bound School in the U.S. participated in the study. The students were recruited from 16 different summer courses, which varied in duration from five to 14 days. The majority of students (66%) had chosen to go on the course, and the remainder were either enrolled by their parents or went as part of a school trip. An equal number of female and male students were included in the study. A total of six interviews (approximately 60–75 minutes long) were conducted with groups of five to six students immediately after their courses ended. The interview groups were arranged to include no more than two students from the same course. A group interview approach was selected to provide a more comfortable setting for sharing personal experiences. The interviews followed a semi-structured format that prompted youth to recount a challenging situation they encountered on their expedition course and detail how they responded to the challenge. Youth were also asked to explain what they learned about themself or how they were changed by the challenging experience they shared. The recorded interviews were analyzed using qualitative coding methods. Analysis aimed to identify how experiencing challenge facilitated learning and how peers supported students' learning from challenge.
Analysis revealed three main findings regarding students' learning through OB challenges: (1) <em>Youth learned through struggling with challenges</em>; (2) <em>Peers’ support helped students overcome challenges and learn</em>; and (3) <em>Youth embraced a culture of compassion and commitment</em>. The first finding, <em>youth learned through struggling with challenges</em>, indicated that overcoming a variety of intense physical, emotional and social challenges “led youth to have reflective insights, discoveries, and realizations about themselves and their capabilities.” These capabilities included the development of perseverance and self-management skills, such as the ability to overcome adversity through a positive mindset. Youth also gained interpersonal problem-solving, social-emotional and communication skills, and increased self-efficacy. The second finding, <em>peers’ support helped students overcome challenges and learn</em>, highlighted the critical role of peers in facilitating learning. Peers provided “instrumental support” that helped struggling youth solve problems and regain their motivation. Peers also provided emotional support that encouraged overcoming obstacles and “helped fortify youth against distress and self-doubt.” The final finding revealed that <em>youth embraced a culture of compassion and commitment</em>, which facilitated learning through challenge. Youth’s compassion and commitment were particularly highlighted as important elements of the group culture which “appeared to mobilize youth to provide empathic and reliable support for peers facing difficult challenges.”
Findings suggest that combining rigorous challenge with “rich peer support” is key to facilitating youth's learning and development through OAE. The challenges youth experienced were drivers of social-emotional growth that was enabled through a supportive context for learning based on the encouragement of peers and positive group culture. OAE programs should encourage peer-to-peer support to foster youth’s capacity to learn through challenge.
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