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Through Adventure Education: Using a Socio-ecological Model in Adventure Education to Address Environmental Problems

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The Socioecological Educator

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Abstract

This chapter considers the relationship between adventure education and the socio-ecological model. A first look at the socio-ecological model might leave one wondering how adventure education fits within it. Given that the model is historically about promoting health behaviours by focusing on the interactions of people with both their physical environments and socio-cultural settings in their everyday lives, adventure education may seem at odds with socio-ecological thinking. After all, the nature of multi-day adventure education programs is to take participants out of their everyday environments, or what might be called their everyday social ecology. This chapter however, highlights the connections by suggesting there are three primary reasons why adventure education programs fit well within the socio-ecological model. First, both adventure education and socio-ecological models regard positive behaviour change as a desired outcome. Second, adventure education and socio-ecological models both offer insights to address environmental problems. Third, both models highlight our social and environmental interrelatedness. Adventure education provides a unique opportunity to step away from the complexities and distractions of day-to-day life and learn directly about both human and ecological interrelationships. Adventure education can be an effective way to teach systems thinking and the socio-ecological model provides a useful framework to do so.

At some point in time, humanity’s ever increasing resource consumption will meet the very real limits of a planet with finite natural resources. – Richard Heinberg

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utah Education Policy Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Wynn Shooter

  2. Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT, USA

    Nate Furman

Authors
  1. Wynn Shooter
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  2. Nate Furman
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Correspondence to Wynn Shooter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia

    Brian Wattchow

  2. Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia

    Ruth Jeanes

  3. Monash University, Frankston, Australia

    Laura Alfrey

  4. Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia

    Trent Brown

  5. Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Amy Cutter-Mackenzie

  6. Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia

    Justen O'Connor

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Shooter, W., Furman, N. (2014). Through Adventure Education: Using a Socio-ecological Model in Adventure Education to Address Environmental Problems. In: Wattchow, B., Jeanes, R., Alfrey, L., Brown, T., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., O'Connor, J. (eds) The Socioecological Educator. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7167-3_8

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