ABSTRACT
Outdoor adventure education has a rich history in the UK (Allison et al., 2011; Allison and Telford, 2005; Cook, 1999; Loynes, 1999 a, 1999b). It is a sector of educational provision that has provided challenging experiences as part of and beyond formal schooling with the specific aim of eliciting personal growth in young people in some form for over 100 years. Much adventure-based education is founded on the rich history of expeditions (discussed in further detail below) and on the work of Kurt Hahn (Veevers and Allison, 2011) who was the inspiration for Outward Bound, The Duke of Edinburgh Award, United World Colleges and Round Square Schools. In the USA a parallel and overlapping movement has emerged which draws heavily on experiential learning theory and is often attributed as drawing on the philosophy of American pragmatist and educational philosopher John Dewey (Seaman, 2008). One of the underpinning assumptions of much theory and practice is the premise that humans must encounter their physical and/or psychological limits in order to enhance their capacity to successfully address the challenges of everyday life often associated with developing the virtues (see Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Ewert, 1989; Hunt, 1990; Priest, 1990; Priest and Gass, 1997). This is epitomized by the Hahn quote ‘Your disability is your opportunity’ (Hahn, 1960: 4).
