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Education on the Appalachian Trail: What 2,000 Miles Can Teach us about Learning
Abstract
Rather than dwelling on why too many men don't succeed in college, trekker Karen Arnold examines the features of an experience in which many men do excel: the long hike from Georgia to Maine. Educators can learn why accomplishing this feat may be more rewarding than college.
... The motivations, experiences, perceptions, and behaviours of hikers on a route or trail are full of meaning and significance, often resulting in a conceptual difficulty in discerning between the various motivations and purposes for the activity on the one hand, and the patterns of experience and behaviour while hiking on the other hand (Solnit 2000;Arnold 2007). In an attempt to distinguish between these aspects, the universal motivations for hiking, and the universal behavioural, experiential, and socio-temporal aspects of hiking, will be discussed below in two separate subsections. ...
... A final motivating factor noted by the literature is 'communitas', which refers to the intense community spirit, feeling of solidarity, and sense of togetherness and equality that allows a community to share a common experience, usually through some kind of 'rite of passage' (Turner 1969). Other researchers have defined hikers on long-distance trails as a 'community' or a 'travelling community' (Slavin 2003: Arnold 2007Turley 2011). Proponents of walking with companions stress sociality and the importance of meeting people, the development of friendships, the formation of unique walking communities, and the opportunity it provides to share thoughts (Turley 2011). ...
... Thru-hikers commonly claim that successfully completing a thruhike is 80 per cent psychological. Indeed, hikers must adapt to different lifestyles and environments along the trail (Arrellano 2004;Turley 2011), and to do so they engage in spatial, gestural, visual, auditory, and ecological literacies to read and interpret their physical connection with the surroundings and use multiple forms of intelligence and experimental learning (Arnold 2007). ...
The main aim of this study is to better understand why people hike the Israel National Trail (INT) and the behavioural, experiential, and spatiotemporal phenomena that accompany this activity. In this explorative study, we assumed that hiking the INT encompasses both universalistic aspects of hiking, in its capacity as a mobility system shared by hikers of long-distance trails worldwide, and particularistic aspects of hiking, that can be identified through the scientific research of hiking using concepts such as ‘place attachment’, ‘sense of place’, ‘state and nation building’, and ’socialisation of civic consciousness’, within the particularistic framework of Israeli nationhood, culture, and history. The first stage of our research was the formulation and distribution of a questionnaire aimed at assessing hiker motivation and the nature and features of their hiking mobility on the route, including spatiotemporal dimensions, experiences and behavior, and place identity and sense of place. Altogether, 210 questionnaires were completed by hikers on the INT over a one-year period, from March 2013 to March 2014. Overall, our analysis of the findings through the lens of Parson's particularism vs. universalism pattern variable revealed hiking the INT to be a mobility system characterized by many of the general, universalistic aspects of hiking, but also, and perhaps most notably, by a number of particularistic aspects that are key to understanding the unique role of hiking in Israeli society.
... From a broader perspective, prior research surveying thruhikers have used means-theory [28], place attachment [38], and other meaning construction frameworks [61], to understand motivations, reasons for perseverance through the hike challenges [4], and expected lessons from thru-hikes [29]. Surveying thru-hikers adjustment to life post-hike was also found to be important in understanding re-integration and elements of culture shock [20,23]. ...
... Once plans are in place, it is typical for the would-be thru-hiker to announce their plans to undertake the hike, either publicly or pseudo-anonymously on social platforms. Previous work has rationalized this as a way for the hiker to "reinforce motivation to succeed" [4]. From the data, we find that while there is a noticeable spike in registered hikers corresponding to the hiking season, a lot of discussion on /r/AppalachianTrail occur right before and at the beginning of the season. ...
A months-long hike of the Appalachian Trail often involve long-term preparation and life-altering decisions. Would-be hikers leverage institutional knowledge from literature and online forums to physically and mentally prepare for such an arduous hike. Their use of social platforms provide useful insights on motivations for undertaking the thru-hike, how they deal with unexpected conditions on the trail and understand choices made in conditions of scarcity. By analyzing over 100,000 Reddit posts and comments in r/AppalachianTrail and applying a Sense of Community theory, we sought to understand hikers' identity as community members, how their emotional and practical needs are met, and how they evolve. We found that the role and language of thru-hikers change as they progress from pre-hike, on-hike, and post-hike stages, from a questioner early on, to an expert post-hike. We conclude with design recommendations to support offline communities online.
... Researchers have defined hikers on long trails as a 'community' and as a 'travelling community', and the benefits of hiking alone have been identified as promoting self-development, communion with nature, self-reliance and harmony of body and soul (Arnold, 2007;Edensor, 2000: 89;Amato, 2004: 102;Slavin, 2003: 11;Turley, 2011). Maddrell (2013) explores pilgrimage walks within the broader context of recent work on 'therapeutic' landscapes and environments, issuing a call for better understanding of the role of the spiritual in therapeutic landscapes. ...
Hiking is a system of spatial behaviour. This study explores hiking
as practiced along the Israel National Trail and posits that hiking
and the hikers’ community together constitute a ‘social world’. Our
study asked three primary research questions: As the mobility of
hiking is typically contextualized within the social world of the
pastime, how has the conceptualizations of social world and
mobility contributed to the research? What are the characteristics,
features, processes and constructs of the social world of hiking a
national trail? What is the role of culture, sociability, nation, place
and place identity in this specific social world?
The study was implemented using two complimentary methods:
the quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaires and a
phenomenological method of participant observation and 60 semistructured
in-person interviews conducted over 20 days of hiking
between 2015 and 2016, as one of the authors hiked the trail.
The combination of these methods allowed a deeper understanding
of the hikers’ social world. The major finding was that
Israeli hikers reflect distinct features of a social world, including
involvement, commitment and sense of place. A comparison of
our findings with other studies and theories of hiking highlights
the prominence of place identity in hiking.
... Analysis of the motivations, benefits and consequences of hiking indicate two venues of actor-object relationship: universalistic and particularistic. The long list of universalistic motivations and benefits discussed in the leisure and tourism literature includes escapism, curiosity, solitude, spirituality, religious and cultural motivations, physical and mental well being, exercise, skill acquisition, health, self-reflection, reflexivity, self-development, nature, environment and landscape as a venue for walking, relaxation, and, finally, interacting with others, or ''communitas" (Turner, 1969;Turner & Turner, 1978), companionship, camaraderie and identification with a group (in some societies, this final motivation is particularistic in orientation) (Amato, 2004;Arnold, 2007;Goldenberg, Hill, & Freidt, 2008;Hill, Gomez, & Goldenberg, 2014;Kyle & Chick, 2004;Kyle, Graefe, Manning, & Bacon, 2003;Solnit, 2000;Svarstad, 2010;Timothy & Boyd, 2015). ...
Background: Research shows that participation in outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs can confer individual educational, psychological, and social benefits that relate to college student thriving. Purpose: This qualitative study examined the experiences of college students who took a semester's leave to backpack the Appalachian Trail (AT) in order to understand how self-guided and immersive outdoor experiences can facilitate traits related to college student thriving. Methodology/Approach: We employed a longitudinal phenomenological approach and experience sampling to gain a holistic understanding of four college students’ experiences thru-hiking and transitioning back to college. The two primary sources of data included audio diaries and semi-structured pre-, mid-, and post-hike interviews. Findings/Conclusion: We found the self-guided and immersive nature of thru-hiking enabled participants to deal with immediate tasks while engaging in deep self-reflection about life on and off trail. Additionally, participants discovered how to integrate individual and broader group goals while also developing self-efficacy, self-confidence, and resilience when dealing with unforeseen circumstances. Implications: Our study suggests that providing opportunities for intensive and prolonged student-led and student-chosen outdoor experiences can meaningfully contribute to the development of traits related to interpersonal, intrapersonal, and academic components of college student thriving.
שביל ישראל- דוח עבור משרד התיירות
An Adventure in Service-Learning argues that education can provide not just knowledge and skills but it can also encourage the development of values and responsibility. It does so by discussing a relatively new teaching method called service-learning. Where a lecture operates through presentation and explanation and a tutorial, through discussion, questions and answers, service-learning is different.
Service-learning is a teaching method that allows students to use their classroom theory to help others through relevant service or volunteering activity. In so doing, it gives students the opportunity to use the experiences of helping others to strengthen their understanding of subject material. The volunteering or service activity thus becomes an integral part of the curriculum and learning process.
This method can be used to teach any subject from architecture to zoology. In project management, for example, students are provided with project management theory in the normal class environment. However, they are then required to manage a volunteering project so as to help strengthen their subject knowledge and skills and encourage the development of responsibility and values.
In heritage studies, on the other hand, students might be asked to classify the heritage resources in an area and provide the results to the local community through an exhibition or report. Similarly, zoology students taking a communications module could be requested to provide presentations for local schools on the importance and excitement of zoology.
Service-learning is therefore like a bridge that connects the curriculum with the outside world. It can breathe life and clarity into any subject and better prepare students for life after college.
This is a well written and easy to read book. It introduces the newcomer to service-learning and provides the seasoned practitioner with an important analysis of this most interesting of teaching methods. Its discussion of learning and the role of higher education will interest educationalists and its consideration of service will be important to those who are concerned about community.
It examines service-learning in project management, leadership and management consultancy and provides the reader with an understanding of how the method can work in any subject or discipline. In considering the nature of service it clarifies the need for community and discusses the nature and possibilities of what it means to be human.
The book is permeated with a passionate belief in education and its possibilities and will help renew and reinvigorate practitioners, policy makers and the education system as a whole.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Building on previous conceptual and em- pirical work, the purpose of this investigation was to examine place attachment's effect on several variables purportedly related to the con- struct. The place attachment construct has been used by recreation researchers and managers to explain a variety of leisure behaviors (e.g., recreationists' setting preferences, management preferences, activity par- ticipation). While place attachment has been examined by researchers within a variety of disciplines, most definitions focus on the bonds that humans share with specific settings. In the leisure literature, most conceptualizations have focused on two dimensions of attachment: place identity and place dependence. Place dependence is said to capture recreationists' setting attachments that are instrumental and goal related, particularly with regard to the setting's ability to facilitate desired leisure experiences. Place identity, on the other hand, captures recreationists' emotional and affective bonds with the setting. Data (N=1,879) were collected from hikers along the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, a linear hiking trail stretching from Georgia to Maine in the U.S.A. Confirmatory factor analytic procedures confirmed that the two dimensional conceptualization of place attachment was appropriate for these data. Respondents were clustered into three distinct groups using their mean scores on the two dimensions of place attachment. The three groups differed with regard to their level of attachment to the trail. These three groups were then examined in relation to several variables (e.g., demographics, visit motivations and preferences, activity involve- ment). A profile of the different segments of users was constructed to document how place attachment affects and is affected by these variables. Overall, the nature of respondents' attachment to the trail was largely affective (i.e., place identity). Variations among groups based on level of attachment were observed for trip motivations, evaluations of setting conditions (resource and social), evaluations of management actions, level of experience (setting and activity), and level of involvement with the activity of hiking. The findings provide further evidence of the validity and reliability of the two-dimensional conceptualization of place attachment. For managers, these findings demonstrate that place attachment can be a useful tool for better understanding visitor behavior and assisting with management decisions.
In an attempt to explore a broad view of literacy and text, this article describes the variety of literacies demonstrated among a group of "thru-hikers" walking the length of the Appalachian Trail (Georgia to Maine, USA), between March and October 2001. Data sources include ethnographic field notes and archival data, as well as interviews with thru-hikers and other members of the Appalachian Trail community. Analysis of these data showed the presence of multiliteracies and the use of "ecological literacy," the ability to interpret the natural surroundings. Some suggestions for putting a broad view of literacy into practice in classrooms are provided, including using movement as a prewriting strategy and learning about neighborhood and classroom contexts.
Intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation have been widely studied, and the distinction between them has shed important light on both developmental and educational practices. In this review we revisit the classic definitions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in light of contemporary research and theory. Intrinsic motivation remains an important construct, reflecting the natural human propensity to learn and assimilate. However, extrinsic motivation is argued to vary considerably in its relative autonomy and thus can either reflect external control or true self-regulation. The relations of both classes of motives to basic human needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness are discussed.
The dimensions and consequences of college student attrition and features of institutional action to deal with attrition are discussed. Patterns of student departure from individual colleges as opposed to permanent college withdrawal are addressed. After synthesizing the research on multiple causes of student leaving, a theory of student departure from college is presented based on the work of Emile Durkheim and Arnold Van Gennep. The theory proposes that student departure may serve as a barometer of the social and intellectual health of college life as much as of the students' experiences at the college. The quality of faculty-student interaction and the student's integration into the school are central factors in student attrition. Attention is directed to features of retention programs, including the time of college actions and variations in policy necessary for different types of students and colleges. It is suggested that effective retention lies in the college's commitment to students. The content, structure, and evaluation methods for assessment of student retention and departure are considered, along with the use of assessment information for developing effective retention programs. (SW)
The movement to enhance the freshman year experience by changing the way institutions treat, welcome, assimilate, support, and inform freshman students is discussed and illustrated. The potential importance of the movement to admissions officers and registrars is emphasized. (MSE)
Howard Gardner's conception of individual competence has changed the face of education in the two decades since the publication of his classic work,
Frames of mind. Educators, parents, and researchers all over the world have explored the practical implications and applications of his Multiple Intelligences theory--the powerful notion that there are separate human capacities, ranging from musical intelligence to the intelligence involved in self-understanding. This new edition of
Multiple intelligences covers all developments since its original publication in 1993, and stands as the most thorough and up-to-date account of the theory and application of Multiple Intelligences available anywhere. Completely revised throughout, it features new material on global applications and on Multiple Intelligences in the workplace, an assessment of Multiple Intelligences practice in the current conservative educational climate, new evidence about brain functioning, and much more. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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