Outdoor Centres
The John Muir Award sets a context for an environmental dimension - biodiversity, sustainability issues, responsibility, conservation, outdoor access - that might otherwise be seen as separate to an outdoor programme.
A study titled ‘Is Outdoor Education Environmental Education?’ (Parkin, 1998) found that 83% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that outdoor education and environmental education should be interrelated. The natural environment contributes significantly to outdoor education outcomes it’s the setting or ‘classroom’ for most outdoor education activity.
The John Muir Trust supports Learning Away’s Campaign for Brilliant Residentials which promotes the life-changing experiences that children and young people take away from residentials. Find out more about the campaign online.
Outdoor education is an experiential method of learning with the use of all senses. It takes place primarily, but not exclusively, through exposure to the natural environment. The emphasis for the subject of learning is placed on relationships concerning people and natural resources.
This definition implies that outdoor education is more than just learning about nature.
Historically, two branches of outdoor education have been identified: environmental education and adventure education. Truly functional outdoor education incorporates aspects of both approaches.
Simon Priest