TJ - The Publication for Learning and Development

The challenge of the Outdoors

By Ingrid Cranfield (August 2005 Issue)
0 Comments Comments
Article Rating:

Poor Best

Email to a friend | Print Version


Dick Allcock, a pioneering figure in the world of outdoor training. died earlier this year. Ingrid Cranfield traces the origins of outdoor development and assesses the contribution Allcock made in this arena.

The moral equivalent of war

In 1906 the philosopher William James issued a challenge to statesmen and educationists: to discover in peacetime the moral equivalent of war. In ancient times, he wrote, ‘men were hunting men, and to hunt a neighboring tribe, kill the males, loot the village and possess the females, was the most profitable, as well as the most exciting, way of living …’.1

The formal initiation of the young into adulthood has been a prominent feature of some civilisations. Initiation rites ‘revolved around the necessities of tribal life, with emphasis on hunting, husbandry, child-bearing and home-making … Individual roles, particularly for men and women, were defined, understood and accepted by all … ’. 2 In the Middle Ages, guilds established apprenticeships, which prepared young men for their role in society.

In the 18th century, the notion of education in ‘nature’s way’, rooted in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, stressed the need for children to know something about nature and to have freedom of thought and spirit and opportunities for strengthening the body and training the senses.

Kurt Hahn the inspirational educator who later founded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Gordonstoun and Outward Bound, took up the challenge to find a modern means of developing young people. Hahn regarded it as the foremost task of education ‘to ensure the survival of … enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial and, above all, compassion’. 3 The resemblance to the ideals of soldiership is striking. In particular, expeditions and contact with the forces of nature provided natural adventures and could contribute greatly to the building of strength of character.

 

We have only displayed above the opening paragraph of this article. If you are a TJ subscriber, login now so you can download a PDF of this article in full, free of charge. For non-subscribers the PDF can be purchased for £9.00 see the "Buy Now" Option above.

Click here for a free 30 day trial to Training Journal

Back to top | Current TJ

 

Readers Comment

Comment on this story here >

Be the first to comment on this news story