Simon Beames

The University of Edinburgh | UoE · Moray House School of Education

This paper draws on a webinar on digital technology and networked spaces in outdoor education, where three researchers presented their work through responses to two discussion statements: First, 'the use of digital technology in outdoor education is fundamentally contrary to all its values.' Second, 'if we accept that digital technology is embedded...

This paper presents key findings from a study that aimed to critically examine the practice of outdoor education in the Republic of Ireland. It consisted of 10 months of fieldwork across four public Outdoor Education and Training Centres (OETCs). Data were generated through participant observation, informal conversation, as well as centre websites....

Amidst a vast jungle of products, brands, materials, labels, and systems of global trade and production, it has become increasingly challenging to make consumption choices that may be considered "sustainable". This inquiry examines the decision-making process of a team of university outdoor environmental educators, as they puzzled over the most app...

Virtual environments as spaces for leisure are rapidly emerging within the zeitgeist of 21st century leisure practices. One such environment is the Zwift cycling and running app which provides a series of virtual worlds where cyclists and runners can train, race, and socialise with a global community from their own home. As four authors, we are all...

Adventure tourism operators have historically drawn upon a range of broad, multi-purpose sustainability frameworks to provide experiences that are more ecologically and socially just. However, these efforts have been hindered by the need to interpret and translate large volumes of diverse sustainability guidance, which is often unclear or prohibiti...

Alone is an American reality television series on the History Channel. The show features 10 contestants who are vying to outlast each other while living off the land. Notably, there is no camera crew, and the contestants must film themselves everyday; the production team creates a weekly program that marks the journey of each individual. This study...

Background: During transport to and from outdoor education field trips, students experience a period of togetherness and minimal imposed structure. Transport time also appears to align with Oldenburg's third places, where people spend time together without a particular agenda. Purpose: To examine educators' perspectives on the contribution that tra...

This is an unusual article in that it brings together the perspectives of many on this journal’s editorial board, around the issue of contending with COVID-19. Twenty statements showcase a range of thoughts and experiences, highlighting the differences and similarities in the way the pandemic is impacting on the educational practice of outdoor and...

This is an unusual article in that it brings together the perspectives of many on this journal’s editorial board, around the issue of contending with COVID-19. Twenty statements showcase a range of thoughts and experiences, highlighting the differences and similarities in the way the pandemic is impacting on the educational practice of outdoor and...

Nature kindergartens present opportunities to foster a love of natural environments through formative early childhood experiences. Three early childhood education settings – one in Denmark, one in Finland and one in Scotland – provided insight into nature kindergarten provision that has historically attracted a high proportion of male staff. At the...

Explain the masculine, capitalist roots of adventure

Understand the significant impacts of capitalism upon adventure practice

Define the terms risk and hazard

Understand how adventure activities are part of people’s daily lives and social interactions

Use conceptual language to explain how practices can both exclude and include certain members of society

Describe the key historical factors that contributed to the development of tourism in the Global North

Describe the environmental costs that come from adventure equipment manufacture and air travel

Articulate the historical roots of programmes that use adventure to elicit personal and social development (PSD) within their participants

Understand how technology influences adventure practices in terms of access, comfort, safety, performance, as well as communication

Understand six key theoretical elements of identity that are relevant to adventure practice

Understand broad concepts of agency and structure

‘Beames, Mackie and Atencio expertly crystallize the interdisciplinary and interconnected nature of how adventure and society interact with finesse and academic rigour.’ —Tonia Gray, Associate Professor, Western Sydney University, Australia ‘Adventure and Society opens up much needed discussions on the nature and value of adventure in today’s glob...

Experiences of outdoor education are believed to have significant impacts on participants, but research on the lasting influences of extended programmes is limited. Gordonstoun School, an independent residential school founded by Kurt Hahn in 1934, provides a rich legacy of outdoor education against which to explore any enduring outcomes. Drawing o...

Young people's outdoor refuges have been identified as places that provide respite from everyday pressures. Inspired by four concepts of lines, knots, meshwork and wayfaring, as defined by Tim Ingold, this paper aims to contribute with a dynamic understanding of the practices of outdoor refuging in an increasingly demanding and structured everyday...

This chapter examines how urban environmental education can strengthen communities and enhance environmental quality in cities by focusing on three community assets—social capital, sense of community, and collective efficacy—that have been used to understand why some communities fare better than others and why people sometimes act not in their narr...

This chapter outlines a particular theoretical framework called Disneyization and uses this set of concepts to examine leisure patterns. Disneyization’s principal argument is that the characteristics of Disney theme parks are coming to dominate society, as they incorporate performed, themed narratives into consumer service experiences. What disting...

Within our fast-paced, fluid society, it is arguable that outdoor education needs to be innovative to play a useful role in young people’s overall educational enterprise. A critical view, however, would suggest that we must beware of accepting technological innovation for its own sake. Innovations (or improvements) in education can take the form of...

This article discusses the meanings of adventure and its role in learning. An analysis of literature from the fields of education, recreation and tourism suggests that definitions of adventure are constantly undergoing reinterpretation. We highlight how ‘narrow’ views of adventure, which appeal to notions of risk and danger, are paradoxically shape...

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) research has long aimed to explain and understand the inner workings of its programs. However, many questions remain, and the search for sharper methodological tools with which to deepen our understanding of OAE continues. This article is a collaborative autoethnographic investigation of the unpredictable and diffi...

Adventurous Learning interrogates the word ‘adventure’ and explores how elements of authenticity, agency, uncertainty and mastery can be incorporated into educational practices. It outlines key elements for a pedagogy of adventurous learning and provides guidelines grounded inaccessible theory. Educators can adapt and tailor these guidelines for in...

If one were asked to call to mind the world’s iconic mountain, it is likely that an image of Everest, the Matterhorn, the Eiger or similar would be projected into our imagination. More than likely the image projected would have a composition that suggested grandeur, enticement, graceful immensity and wistful foreboding. Illuminated in soft moonligh...

Limited research exists that considers the usefulness of outdoor learning as a legitimate pedagogical approach for the delivery of a mainstream secondary school curriculum. To address this shortcoming, we investigated the ways in which mathematics and geography teachers and students from three secondary schools in Scotland responded to the Outdoor...

This paper examines the frequency and nature of outdoor learning provision in Scottish schools, with specific attention paid to teachers’ approaches to learning outdoors, and it considers what further support and professional development teachers need to progress their practice. This enquiry is timely as limited data has been gathered over the past...

Youth expeditions are associated with a range of benefits for participants. More young people are participating in overseas expeditions than ever before as vacation and gap year choices are diversified by a rising number of expedition providers. To date there has been no systematic research effort to draw together and evaluate the evidence that und...

Youth expeditions are associated with a range of benefits for participants. More young people are participating in overseas expeditions than ever before as vacation and gap year choices are diversified by a rising number of expedition providers. To date, there has been no systematic research effort to draw together and evaluate the evidence that un...

Mountain Guides and International Mountain Leaders (IMLs) have achieved cross-border recognition of their professional awards. This allows them to work internationally and provides a rare example of an established, state-sanctioned and respected professional group operating within the tourism industry. As it grows, this industry is increasingly loo...

Fifteen years ago Loynes expressed concern that market-place values were detrimentally impacting on the provision of outdoor education experiences. As tertiary educators with an interest in the impact of globalization on outdoor education, we have sought to extend Loynes’ use of McDonaldization by drawing on Bryman’s conceptual framework of Disneyi...

This chapter focuses on the work of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. During his career, Bourdieu wrote prolifically on a remarkably wide range of issues in society. As examining all of his work in one chapter is not possible, we will focus on three of Bourdieu’s concepts that will enable us to see the social world through his eyes: habitus,...

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) has a long history of being credited with the personal and social development (PSD) of its participants. PSD is notoriously difficult to measure quantitatively, yet stakeholders demand statistical evidence that given approaches to eliciting PSD are effective in their methods. Rightly or wrongly, many stakeholders w...

Learning Outside the Classroom outlines theory and practice that will enable and encourage teachers to systematically and progressively incorporate meaningful outdoor learning opportunities into their daily teaching activities in a wide variety of environments and with diverse populations of pupils. This is the first textbook based around the curri...

There is growing support for education that is cross-curricular, locally-relevant and involves a high degree of student responsibility. This investigation examines the perspectives of students who have participated in an outdoor learning programme that is theoretically underpinned by the above themes. Outdoor Journeys involves learning about the so...

Scotland’s new Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) appears to support learning outside the classroom but there remains no statutory requirement for Scottish pupils to learn outdoors during their school careers. Commentators have asserted the apparently strong resonance between CfE and outdoor learning but there has been little explanatory argument to s...

Over the last 15 years, the body of literature surrounding the subject of social capital has witnessed steady growth. While sociologists have extensively discussed how social capital can be created and sustained within local communities and national contexts, there is little evidence of the social capital discourse within the outdoor education sect...

Outdoor education literature has a recent history of examining its practice through a variety of sociological, philosophical, psychological, and anthropological lenses. Following this trend, this paper explores the face-to-face social interaction of a fictional introductory rock-climbing course. The analysis of this creative fiction draws on Erving...

Raleigh International is a British youth development charity that offers structured overseas expeditions ‘to inspire young people…to discover their full potential’. The expeditions involve three different projects: adventurous activity, community service and environmental conservation. This paper examines the experiences of a group of venturers who...

This paper explores how 14 British youth were influenced by a 10-week expedition to Ghana with Raleigh International. It employs a theoretical framework based on the symbolic interactionist writing of Blumer (1969), Mead (1934), and Cooley (1962, 1964). The framework helps to understand how the meanings that participants held for different physical...

This paper examines the development of outdoor education in Hong Kong from its colonial roots to the challenges of its uncertain future. The scene is set by a synopsis of Hong Kong's geography, history, economy, and culture. Next, we trace the history of organised outdoor education from the early 1900s to the present day. This is followed by a crit...

This paper examines to what degree a 10-week expedition to Ghana, West Africa may be considered a rite of passage for its British participants. A case study method was adopted to interview 14 British youths two months before leaving on expedition, three times on expedition, and six months post expedition. Thematic analysis was employed to identify...

Much of the research in outdoor education has focused on participant outcomes rather than the aspects of the experience that elicited those outcomes. This study explores the key elements of a 10–week expedition to Ghana with Raleigh International. Data collection involved five rounds of interviews with 14 British participants over a one–year period...

Guidelines for beginning adventure education instructors include preparing to effectively manage accidents by identifying all risks associated with an activity, leading only those adventure activities in which one feels competent, and establishing goals in order to make good decisions in the field and approach programs with clarity and purpose. (LP...