From a Ryan Brady Photo
Outdoor Education Risk Philosophy

The Outdoor Education program engages students in educational environments and outdoor pursuits activities involving perceived and authentic risk. We embrace the reality of risk found in many of the class activities and outdoor field trips and believe that the teaching of competent outdoor educators requires us to expose our students to the activities, environments, and populations they will be called upon to address as professionals and recreational users of outdoor environments.  We embrace and justify the presence of these risks for their potential in developing educational, personal, and professional growth in our students. Our risk philosophy is based on the following beliefs:

·         Outdoor Education is a profession where risk is inherent in the acts of immersing students in outdoor environments and unpredictable environmental conditions, teaching outdoor and adventure based skills, increasing proficiency of student skill levels, engaging in outdoor and adventure activities with students of varied levels of commitment, proficiency and ability, engaging students in unpredictable social environments, and providing student teaching experiences in real life contexts.

·         Risk management requires “what if” thinking. This is the practice of continuously anticipating unexpected problems and mentally rehearsing emergency responses while engaging in program activities with the intent of identifying and thereby preventing “worst case” incidents.

·         Risk management requires maintaining a “safety margin” between the level of skill being taught and the level of skill possessed by the instructor(s), the physical energy required and the physical energy possessed, and the knowledge required and the knowledge possessed by the instructor(s).

·         Risk management requires retaining the right of the instructor(s) to discontinue or modify any activity or schedule to maintain the welfare of students or staff.

·         Risk Management in an educational setting requires ensuring that evacuation or rescue is possible and reasonable in any activity.

·         Students must be encouraged to understand and evaluate authentic risks of activities. With this information at hand, students are expected and able to exercise personal decision-making responsibility pertaining to their level of involvement in program activities; this concept is known throughout the industry as Challenge by Choice™

·         Students must be encouraged to assume personal responsibility for their own welfare and the welfare of all group members.

·         Students should be taught appropriate emergency response skills for the activity and the level of risk anticipated.

·         The educational experience must model those real and perceived risks our students will encounter in their professional settings and personal lives. Through actual opportunities to interact with risk, practice assessing and intentionally managing risk in accordance with ethical educational practices, our students will enter the field of outdoor education with better risk management skills and strategies.

·         Engaging in perceived and authentic risk taking in the Northland College Outdoor Education program provides metaphors for our students’ lives, which may help them, develop more fulfilling interactions within our society.  By setting and reaching goals involving risk and attempting to understand them in a larger context, students may understand and acknowledge the presence of risks involved in maintaining healthy personal and professional relationships, in choosing a career path, in furthering their sense of self, and in continuing the development of their intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual lives.

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