What does it mean to be a professional Adventure Educator?
Reflection by David Cote
There is a lot to learn as a future adventure educator. The modern day adventure educator has so many skills and new technologies that they must be proficient in, in order to be a well rounded, experienced teacher in a backcountry setting. There are GPS skills, map and compass orienteering, stove cooking, travel techniques, reading the weather, bear attacks, water purification, campsite selection, Leave No Trace training, and so much more. Now it’s one thing to know all of these skills, but to teach them while out on an expedition can be difficult. Luckily, the wilderness has a way of presenting some great teachable moments and provides adventure educators with a very diversified classroom.
Being in the backcountry for the first time can be a very new and uncomfortable situation for most clients. It is the job of the adventure educator to put their client’s fears and doubts to rest by showing proficiency in their skills and confidence in their teaching. They must not show a false bravado because either the clients will see right through it, or it will fail them when the “defecation hits the oscillation!†A leader must have a reassuring and positive self-image of themselves as Adventure Educators. Knowing your core self and living that personality to the fullest really sets a leader up for success.
On our first Immersion Semester backcountry expedition the students were basically acting as clients while Christian and Jamie were our leaders. They took advantage of almost every teachable moment ranging from plant identification along the trail to pooping LNT style in the woods. During our first 72 hours in the field there was barely any let up on the instruction because there is so much to go over. One of my observations was of Jamie and Christian’s ability to work together as well as complement each other’s differing teaching styles. They would share and sometimes swap off different lessons depending on who had more experience or whoever was up next.
One particular lesson that Christian taught us while hiking was proper traveling technique, related to foot placement, rest-step, and not putting weight on your toes, but staying flatfooted. When this class occurred we had already climbed a decent amount of steep trail and Christian could tell we were struggling a bit. I like how he waited to see how we would handle this section of trail before he stopped us and gave us the “tricks of the trade†to help us complete our ascent. By the time he taught us the proper technique we were all ready to give it a try since we’d tired ourselves doing our old stepping techniques. That was a very memorable teaching moment for me that Christian properly assessed and then taught, right when his clients needed it!
The other great way of teaching is to show your true passion and excitement about the topic and get everyone interested because it means so much to the leader. I witnessed this teaching style a lot when I was with Jamie, especially the Poop Talk! Jamie was very animated and intense in his teaching style. Even after a full day of hiking, teaching, campsite setup and dinner, we all were fully enthralled at his lesson because of its energy and also silly topic! This was great placement for a lesson and it seemed to stick with everyone quite well.
One of the biggest parts of being an adventure educator is knowing when you can let your clients start operating on their own, or with very little guidance. The goal of an educational backcountry expedition is to teach your clients to be more comfortable in the wilderness and proficient in the necessary skills to stay out there. After the first couple days of instruction and hiking, by the last day Christian and Jamie started to let us be self- sufficient. We would set the pace, and do the orienteering with just a little bit of help when necessary. At this point in the expedition the leaders would fall back in the line and watch us lead as well as make mistakes. Most of the time they would let us make mistakes and learn the hard way from them. I know I have always learned the hardest lessons by making mistakes and working through them. It is extremely difficult for an educator to keep their mouth shut and not intervene while a wrong turn is being made, or the water is boiling too slowly. All it would take is a quick word or wisdom to right the mistake, but they want to see the clients figure it out for themselves and solidify their training.
After four days and three nights in the field filled with instructional material and life lessons, I know I’ve chosen the right profession. I love watching people learn and appreciate the outdoors and as an adventure educator I will have the best position to do that. The lessons that I’ve been taught and all the others still to come will serve me well when it’s my turn to carry the torch of adventure education. I can’t wait to exercise my new-found knowledge and skills in the backcountry.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:35 pm
This is a comment to David’s posting, as well as all of the essay’s in PSU’s Adventure Education Blog. I am so happy this site is up and running!
I agree that it is hard sometimes to explain to people what it is that we do, and why we think we can make a living out of it. …”Adventure Education? What’s that?!…”
It’s hard for me to explain our field because i think there is so much to it. I can not explain all that we are trained to do, and what we study in all of our activity class and theory classes in a brief conversation. To do it justice i need to talk about it for a few minutes. For people who do not spend time in the woods it’s hard for them to comprehend an education in and about the back country.
Thanks for posting your ideas on the topic, and allowing me to send ‘questioning’ people to a legit site.
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:27 pm
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