The Theory and Practice of Challenge Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This book provides an overview of an evolving orientation to the facilitation of growth and learning that can be summarized as "challenge education." Challenge education is a complex synthesis of a variety of therapeutic, educational, recreational, rehabilitative, and enrichment strategies. Chapter 1 outlines the historical roots of challenge education and summarizes the contributions of various educational methodologies: outdoor education; camping education; adventure education; awareness education; somatic education; humanistic education; play education; recreation education; experiential education; and other influences derived from holistic health, family therapy, social psychology, interactional theory, spiritual education, and Native American education. Chapter 2 discusses philosophical foundations of challenge education, introducing the ideas of E. F. Schumacher, Arthur Combs, George Brown, Roberto Assagioli, Teilhard de Chardin, Jack Gibb, and Jiddu Krishnamurti, as well as ideas from existential theory, experiential education, neo-humanism, trust level theory, and "connectedness and belongingness" theory. Each of the first two chapters contains over 250 references for further exploration. Chapter 3 summarizes basic operational guidelines for challenge education, including mandatory procedures related to experiential learning, safety, risk awareness, goal setting, sequential approach to activities, debriefing, environmental concerns, and ethics, and highly desirable procedures involving pre- and post-program involvement, team building, evaluation and research, and solo time or introspection. Chapter 4 includes 10 original papers about contemporary issues in challenge education. These papers are: "Program Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities" (Christopher C. Roland); "Environmental Ethics" (Gary M. Robb); "Realizing Human Values" (Michael McGowan); "Leadership Development: Technical Skills, Peoplework Skills, Character Traits, Personal Growth, and Challenge Leadership" (Thomas E. Smith); "Societal Impact" (Warren Schumacher, Judith A. Hoyt); "Higher Education" (Dan Creely, Bill Quinn); "Corporate Outdoor Experiential Training & Development" (Richard J. Wagner, Gail M. Ryan, Christopher C. Roland); "Interdisciplinary Models, Approaches, & Networking" (Christopher C. Roland); "Urban Issues" (Steve Proudman); and "The Challenge of Research for Challenge Education" (Thomas E. Smith). Contains additional references and an index. (SV)