Date of Award

6-1-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

P. Bruce Uhrmacher, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Nicholas Cutforth

Third Advisor

Paul Michalec

Fourth Advisor

Christy Moroye

Keywords

Adventure education, Culture, Educational criticism, Educational experience, Outdoor education, Qualitative research

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the adventure education (AE) experience with particular attention to what happens during the AE experience, the meanings participants ascribe to the experience, how personal backgrounds and institutional cultures coalesce in AE, and the significance of the AE experience for schooling. These topics are explored through observing and interviewing participants of adventure education programs under the qualitative framework of educational connoisseurship and criticism. The experiences at the three sites of study—an outdoor challenge course, a wilderness backpacking expedition and a summer adventure program—are described in detail and illustrated through the qualities of the experience (celebratory challenge, novelty, freedom and togetherness, aesthetic vitality, and great experience), cultural coalescence in AE (depicted through cultural rigidity and flexibility), and the participant perceptions of schooling. Findings are inferred through recommendations for AE, including consideration of the qualities of experience, striking a cultural balance in AE, and embodying a shift in thinking regarding the purpose of the AE experience. This study also provokes a reconsideration of contemporary educational paradigms, as the participant perceptions of schooling, when considered alongside the AE experience, provide a fresh perspective of the qualities of educational experience.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Benjamin Charles Ingman

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

451 p.

Discipline

Education

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