Leadership and outdoor competencies

Boyle, I. & Toft, M. (1999). Traffic Light Decision Making: A Simple Model To Evaluate Dangers and Guide Safe Decision Making In Outdoor Adventure Experiences. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education. 3(2), 34 38.
Key points: Traffic light decision making model Used to judge danger in a situation Red light real danger is present, continuation could mean injury or death Yellow light some danger present proceed with care/ modified situation could result in safety Green light safe to proceed Considerations when using model: less experienced members feel the need to take higher risks, lots of accidents happen between 3pm 5pm when members are tired and want to be on schedule *Gave me an easy to remember method of approaching a potentially dangerous situation

Galloway, S. (2005). Judgment and Decision-making In Outdoor Leadership: Critical factors, common missteps, and keys to success. Wilderness Education Association Proceedings of the 2005 Conference: Expanding our Horizons. Pg: 69 73
Key points: Good judgment = quality of decisions = effective leadership Good judgement and decisions is a skill which takes time and experience to develop. Experts see the world very differently to novices Naturalistic decision-making process (NDM) detecting the problem or opportunity, diagnosing and mentally representing the problem, generating a course of action, and evaluating that course of action. Recognition-primed decision-making requires NDM model but by returning to evaluate during the detecting stage allows for patterns to be recognised within situations This can be seen as situational awareness. Be aware of heuristics in decision making and situational awareness as it can lead to what is easy/already known/already comfortable with, and can be a trap, leading to biased decisions and undesired outcomes. Actively question and evaluate. Work to see the big picture. Understand personal limitations. *Be aware of person limitations when making decisions, and continue to develop judgement

Outdoor Education Theory

Andrews, K. (1999). The wilderness expedition as a rite of passage: Meaning and process in experiential education. The Journal of Experiential Education. 22(1), 31 43.

Key points: Outdoor expeditions provide many lessons such as, teamwork and leadership, but more importantly, provides a rite of passage. Rite of passage: separation (from normal life), transition (experience something different from the norm), aggregation (re enter society with a new way of seeing things). The framework of ordinary society is created by normal experiences this in turn creates the frame work for extraordinary experiences as it differs from normal framework Sense of community: create a bond with those who share the ordeal and release from the social order Sense of self: removal of ordinary social ranking, ability to re-event oneself/ realise ones true self and abilities Sense of place: a feeling of connection with the natural world, feeling of belonging Further dimensions of the luminal experience: experiences described as magical/sacred, or times of love/awe/power/creativity/positivity/being alive. Ability to step out of social structure and reflect upon it. *Be aware and potentially take advantage of what outdoor expeditions can provide

Slattery, D. (2009). Bushwalking and access: The Kosciusko Primitive Area debate 1943-6. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 13(2), 14-23.
Key points: Routes of journeys in Australia are shaped, not by nature, but by historical and formal processes of land reservation Bushwalking was done on public land and avoided places of development or human use which made bushwalkers fight for protection of public land A bushwalker differed from a trekker, tramper, or hiker which were those who were users and litters, rather than large pack wearers and survivors. Australian bushwalking contributing parties: adventure, protection, recreation; nature, conservation, scinentific The right to access a place eg. parts of a national park we should get it... alternatively the right cannot be given areas can be compared to the climbing of Uluru/not climbing *Makes me question why we are going bushwalking in the way we do, and what information we get given before and during the trip, and if its biased and just justifying what we are doing for ourselves and the university.

Environmental Knowledge
Australian Geographic. (Jul Sep 2010). Fighting for the Snowy. The Journal of the Australian Geographic Society. July Sep, www.australian geographic/journal/fightingfor-the-snowy.htm
Key points: It's all about water, who stakes claim to it - and whether the river that provides it gets a say.

Jindabyne, Guthega, Island Bend and Eucumbene dams would stop all but one per cent of the Snowy's headwaters flowing downstream (Jindabyne one of the last dams, was finished in 1967) 1949 snowy scheme launched 28% apparently needed to maintain healthy river system Promised flow increase to 21per cent never even reached 5% * It's all about water, who stakes claim to it - and whether the river that provides it gets a say.

Outdoor Recreation Council. (2009). Management of outdoor activities for severe weather conditions: Guidelines for dependent groups. Templestow: ORC.
Key points: Collect and understand all relevant weather information prior Where possible monitor weather during Understand what to do in each relevant weather situation Know your limits, know the group limits Know the landscape Know when, who and how to communicate with emergency services/outside sources Know when to call off/change a trip Weather threats and dangers include fire, severe wind, lightning strikes, floods, extreme temperature (hot/cold), and blizzards *Be prepared mentally, physically, and with appropriate equipment for relevant weather that may occur

Human Nature relationships

Dombrovskis, P. & Miller, E. (1978). The Quiet Land. Sandy Bay: Peter Drombrovskis Pty. Ltd. Poems The Wilderness pg: 47 50 - Lonely pg: 92 94 - A question of time pg: 100 104
Key points: The wilderness is a quiet, peaceful, deep place, it is a place that is much more than us The bush exists with humans, life happens. Humans can however appreciate it and live with it, love it. The realisation that things were here before you, and will be there long after you. But although you experience the wilderness, others cannot know the deeper unintelligible things you have experienced.

*Love being in the bush, appreciate everything that it is, and everything it is supplying for me.

Payne, P. & Wattchow, B. (2008). Slow pedagogy and placing education in post-traditional outdoor education. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 12(1), 25 38.
Key points: Place a feeling of belonging or personal connection to a place Outdoor education was made to re-place Modern society demanding improved safety and leader qualifications Outdoor education was about skill and outdoor was just where it happened Place marks the potential transition to nature incorporated outdoor education People believe there is a wilderness which does not really exist Change of time when in outdoors, different from normal society *Be aware of what creates a sense of place for a person/ recognise if I develop a connection and when/why/how

Other
Woodcock, R. (2006). City Slickers: Let the cattle speak for themselves. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 10 (1), 3-10.
Too much facilitation/debriefing/discussion in outdoor education Learn from experience Thinking about an experience may be key to learning from it though people think without assistance Steering members to focus on things may lose them the opportunity to learn something special/unique/meaningful to them Language has its barriers eg. words cannot describe Outdoor educators are not psychologists or therapists so they shouldnt try to be *Debriefing is a useful tool but it should be used carefully and only when certain goals need to be met, otherwise allow people to get what they want out of an experience