%0 Journal Article
%T Canoe Trips: An Especially Good Place for Conversation About Student Transition
%A John Hannah
%J Journal of Experiential Education
%@ 2169-009X
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1053825918784630
%X Background: Many postsecondary institutions offer outdoor programs to incoming students as a form of orientation or transition event. Positive outcomes for students are shown to result from these interventions but less is known about the mechanisms leading to these outcomes. Purpose: This article argues that conversation is one of these mechanisms and suggests canoe trips are an especially good intervention in which to generate conversation about student transition. Methodology/Approach: Insights emerging from our own outdoor orientation program called Portage lead to a hypothesis that canoe trips create three conditions ideal for the generation of productive conversation about student transition: the emergence of communitas, more egalitarian and communal relationships, and a rich source of metaphor. Findings/Conclusions: The Portage experience shows promise as a way to help students explore their educational and transition experiences through conversation. Implications: The intentional generation of conversation through metaphor on canoe trips may offer a useful space of pedagogical possibility to help students contemplate and pass through their transition more productively
%K higher education
%K adventure education
%K college orientation
%K transition
%K conversation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1053825918784630