Adventure education: a curriculum designed for middle school physical education programs.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gather, compile, formulate, and prepare materials, including lesson plans for adventure education, which will serve as a curriculum and instructional manual for instructors who teach physical education at the middle school level. It was felt that such a program would constitute a valuable contribution to the intellectual, psychological, physiological, and social development of the students if included in the traditional curriculum.

The manual consists of six levels. Each level contains a three-week unit. Each three-week unit contains daily lesson plans, using a standard of five days per week. Each daily lesson plan includes the following information: objectives (cognitive, psychomotor, and affective); activity level; equipment needs; warm-ups; description of warm-ups; activities; activity safety concerns; description of activities; and suggestions.

The manual is divided into Section 1 and Section 2. Section 1 includes Levels 1, 2, and 3. Section 2 includes Levels 4, 5, and 6. A necessary distinction was made between Section 1 and Section 2 because of differentiated levels of requisite instructor expertise in adventure education and the need for appropriate facilities in Section 2. Section 1 of the Adventure Education Manual includes games, individual/group trust activities, and group initiatives. Section 2 includes activities pertaining to the ropes course.

In conclusion, research has been conducted regarding the physical, social, emotional, and psychological benefits and learning outcomes of adventure education. However, adventure education continues to be absent from many middle school curricula. Perhaps the only way to change this tendency is to continue to educate both the public and private sectors concerning the benefits and learning outcomes associated with adventure education.