Here at Garapine we aim to deliver programs with real
outcomes, but what does that actually mean? The outdoor education sector talks
a lot about outcomes for students but sometimes it is hard to put into words
what we are really talking about. So often camp is just seen as a collection of
activities put together into a three or five day program. We all know that the students
get something out of the experience, but what exactly are these outcomes we
speak of?
Brian Fleming on Encoura (2015, https://encoura.org/defining-educational-outcomes-measuring-impact/)
writes,
“With the amount of hype surrounding efforts to improve
education outcomes, it’s easy to get the impression that the meaning of this
term, “outcomes,” is implicit. It is not. “Outcomes” may be one of the most
elusive terms uttered in education circles today, seriously stalling efforts to
propel this much needed imperative forward. Much of the confusion, we find, is
due simply to the fact that outcomes are easily conflated with two
complementary terms, objectives and outputs, which are not the same thing… Outcomes are
about what happens to students as a result of objectives and outputs.”
When students come on camp at Garapine, the school will set an objective for the camp. We then deliver a range of activities (which are the outputs) which ultimately lead to outcomes for the participants. While it appears that we are delivering a bunch of activities, the ultimate goal is the outcome.
Let’s take an example of a school wanting a camp objective of teamwork. The students do the raft building activity which requires them to design and build a raft in a small group. They must work as a team in order to achieve the goal of building a raft that will float. If they don’t work as a team, their raft is likely to sink.
The outcomes will then vary for each student. One of the quiet students might have tried speaking up in order to have their idea heard by the group and as a result become self-aware that this is required to achieve the objective of successful teamwork. Or another student might have felt really confident on completion of the activity because they had never tied knots before but after learning how to do it they succeeded resulting in an outcome of confidence.
With the facilitation and guidance delivered by our experienced outdoor education staff, students walk away from the activity with so much more than just having had a fun time.
Different camp activities will be impactful for different students. Often the overnight part of camp is the most impactful as students independently navigate sharing a room with friends, being away from home for the night, staying up too late but still getting up in the morning and getting themselves ready for the day.
There are just so many opportunities on camp for students to grow which is what makes camp such a formative life experience.
While we might be coming across as a little too passionate here, it’s important as an industry to put words and understanding around why outdoor education is so important.
In Australian culture the benefits of going on camp are often implicit, but the value and impact of these benefits should be fully understood so that we continue to provide students with the opportunity of an excellent camp with real outcomes for students.