From a Ryan Brady Photo
Program Mission Statement and Educational Philosophy

Early morning solitude in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Program Overview

The Outdoor Education Program at Northland College has over a 20-year history in the academic arm of the institution and has historically been one of the largest academic programs at Northland College.

Currently the program consists of four different academic majors that lead to baccalaureate degrees, two alternatives for gaining teacher licensure through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, an outdoor education core concentration that can be taken in conjunction with another academic major, and a minor in outdoor education. Additionally, our instructional staff has grown over the years to include full and part time academic appointments, adjunct instructors, work- study students, student teaching-assistants, and contracted providers of instructional programs. 

Program Mission

The Northland College Outdoor Education program prepares socially responsible, ecologically informed professional educators to teach within, about, and for the outdoors.

Educational Philosophy

We believe:

·         Through a highly innovative and experiential undergraduate curriculum, our graduates are prepared to teach environmentally-based, socially-integrated, and effective educational experiences to a wide range of audiences for educational, therapeutic and/or recreational purposes.

·         Socially responsible teachers value, include, and integrate diverse populations into the field of outdoor education regardless of age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious belief, ethnicity, racial, or socio-economic background.

·         Ecologically informed teachers, capable of engaging students in effective and affective education, are an essential ingredient in achieving sustainable interdependency between humanity and nature.

·         Exposure to wilderness, wild lands, and their associated values are critical in the development of ecologically informed teachers. This exposure acts to nurture and guide our students and faculty while providing stark contrast to trends in contemporary society. 

·         Outdoor education professionals share the common responsibilities of building and maintaining competency in content knowledge and technical skills of the field, becoming and continually improving as effective educators, providing ethical and competent leadership, managing risk appropriate to the goals of the experience, and maintaining personal fitness appropriate to his/her duties.

·         Cognitive, affective, social, and psychomotor teaching proficiency includes awareness building, knowledge and content acquisition, critique and synthesis, examination of attitudes and behaviors, and pre-professional practice within the classroom and the broader community.

·         Teachers and students share responsibility within the higher-education environment for the preparation of the student for career or graduate education possibilities.