| Summary: | There is growing concern throughout the world for human survival. Outdoor education in the regular school system has been identified by many educational systems, including that of Ghana, as a potentially effective means of meeting this general concern. In order to introduce outdoor education into the curriculum,
The need to train teachers has become apparent to many organizations and individuals.
Much confusion currently exists in the literature on outdoor education; there is a plethora of possible components for inclusion in teacher-training programs. In an attempt to assist the planners of outdoor education
programs, particularly in Ghana, this study investigated
those aspects of outdoor education which experienced outdoor-educators in North Vancouver School District considered as important components of a teacher preparation course.
The study conducted is a type of descriptive survey, centering on the collection of judgmental data on various components of an outdoor environmental education course. Opinions were obtained through a questionnaire administered to all elementary school teachers in the North Vancouver School District who could be identified by their principals as having had a one-week, outdoor experience with children at the North Vancouver Outdoor School. The questionnaire was made up of a Likert-scale and a modified form of Q-sort.
The data were collected in June, 1978, and the rate of response was: Schools 94% (N=35); Teachers 67% (N=109). The U.B.C. computer LERTAP and a special Q-analysis program were used to analyse the data.
The results indicated that:
a) The teachers were undecided on what the single most important component of an outdoor training
program should be. They considered all 3 components presented to them as important;
b) The respondents suggested about 20 additions to the list of proffered components;
c) The respondents ranked the top ten proffered components, in decreasing order of importance as follows:
1. Ways of making students aware of the impact
of humans on their environment;
2. Ways of helping students understand the need to conserve the natural environment;
3. The objectives of outdoor education;
4. Methods of ensuring the safety of the students;
5 . A philosophy of outdoor education;
6. Methods of integrating classroom teaching
with outdoor education;
7. Carrying out the program in an outdoor setting;
8. How to preserve the outdoor educational
9. Teaching strategies specific to outdoor education;
10. Facilitating social interaction amongst children. === Education, Faculty of === Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of === Unknown
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