Current Status and Future Prospects of School Camping, Outdoor Education and Environmental Education.

Overview & Synopsis

"School camping," a term used from the 1920's to 1950's to denote camping programs conducted by schools, later became part of the larger outdoor education movement and experienced a boom period in the 1960's and 1970's, when it came to be called "resident outdoor education." Outdoor education teaches outdoor-related facts, concepts and skills, using the outdoors as both facility and medium for teaching. Environmental education, derived from the environmental movement of the 1960's, has as its goal the improvement of natural and human-made environments through enlightened and improved decision-making; environmental education was strengthened by the passage of P.L. 91-516 (National Environmental Education Act) in 1970 and by subsequent passage of parallel legislation by many states, to mandate or enable school systems to provide environmental education in the curriculum. The environmental and outdoor movements have recently merged forces with environmental education as the ultimate goal and outdoor education as the most effective method and place for teaching toward this goal. Recent emphases are: adventure education, particularly for juvenile delinquents; environmental education for handicapped and older citizens; and urban-oriented nature centers for the 85% of the United States population now living in urban areas. (MH)