ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8665-0770

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Education | Outdoor Education

Publication Details

Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, vol. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Abstract

Outdoor education in Ireland, as in many countries, takes place in a variety of physical locations ranging from urban to wilder, minimally human influenced environments. Irish public outdoor education providers have traditionally placed little emphasis on cultural understandings of the places where learning occurs. Moreover, outdoor education commonly demonstrates characteristics of a McDonaldized experience as opposed to a place-based experience. This paper explores two topics that may help to explain why place is not to the fore in teaching and learning in Irish outdoor education practice: historico-cultural relationships with the land, and the impact of the rationalisation of place on outdoor education. We approach this conversation from the belief that places, as well as people, can teach and that a more conscious pedagogical engagement with place encourages deeper, richer learning experiences. We conclude this paper by outlining how a more place-focused practice may be developed in (Irish) outdoor education.

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