The adventure course – education, challenge, fun

Outdoor education has been defined in a variety of ways throughout its history. Those who influenced the field early on defined outdoor education with the needs of camping education in mind. For example, L. B. Sharp (1943) [1], one of the earliest advocates of camping education, offered the following rationale for outdoor education: “That which can best be taught inside the schoolrooms should there be taught, and that which can best be learned through experience dealing directly with native materials and life situations outside the school should there be learned”. As the field of outdoor education matured, organizations emerged that worked to gain support from school personnel. For example, Julian W. Smith began the National Outdoor Education Project in 1955. Smith elucidated the connection between outdoor education and the school curriculum in his definition: “Outdoor education means learning “in” and “for” the outdoors. It is a means of curriculum extension and enrichment through outdoor experiences” [2].