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Outdoor Environmental Job:
Before taking up an outdoor environmental job as full time, make use of a few volunteer opportunities for the particular outdoor job. This would give hands on experience about the outdoor environmental job, and help you make the right decision. Many organizations now offer outdoor volunteering opportunities, for example seasonal park and outdoor volunteer programs to work in natural surroundings which are intended to be an extension of the school classroom and encourages students to learn experientially about nature and themselves while living and working cooperatively in a community environment. Adventure travel is very popular as an outdoor environmental job. Cruise ships, forestry department, firefighting, resorts, skiing and snowboarding are favorites of many youngsters.
Fishing in Alaska, cleaning rivers, water skiing, fighter pilots, smokejumpers... the list of outdoor jobs is endless. Dan Koeppel, an ardent bike enthusiast who travels and writes about bikes has this to say about life outdoors, "...if you can recall what it is you love about nature, the outdoors, action, I think you'll find it's the same thing you love about life. And you can make a life out of it. Seeing that is like seeing a door open. All you have to do is go through it. "
Outdoor Education Programs:
A general definition of outdoor education by "The Outdoor Institute" is presented here: Outdoor education is, "the use of experiences in the outdoors for the education and development of 'the whole person'". James Neill, the editor of the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, gives the following definition: "Outdoor education is an international, experiential education phenomenon which engages people in adventurous activities for enhancement of the well-being of individuals, communities, and the environment".
School camps, wilderness expeditions, and some long-term programs are the common forms of outdoor education. An outdoor education camp can also be spiritual/religious, extra-curricular, service-based, alternative therapy, creative expression or business development programs.
A useful conceptualization of the purposes of adventure outdoor education programs was developed by Priest and Gass (Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, 1997). They proposed a hierarchy of four types of programs:
- Recreational (aims to change the way people feel; the purpose is leisure, fun and enjoyment; e.g., surfing for pleasure)
- Educational (aims to change the way people feel and think; where the purpose is to learn skills and/or information; e.g., a "learn how to surf" class)
- Developmental, (aims to change way people feel, think and behave; where the purpose is to undergo personal growth; e.g., a surfing course in which the goal was teach personal goal setting, self-discipline, and build individual's self-esteem)
- Therapeutic/redirect ional (aims to change the way people feel, think, behave, and resist; a youth-at-risk program which aims to reduce recidivism and improve school attendance)
The underlying theme or purpose of most outdoor education programs is personal growth and development. The outdoor education programs provide opportunities to learn valuable life skills (and coping skills).
We thank you for visiting our directory, and wish you well in whatever endeavor brought you here. We are constantly adding new information and resources to our site, both general and state specific in nature, so check back often.
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