Abstract

Most previous research on residential outdoor environmental education (ROEE) programs has focused on the outcomes associated with student participation in these learning experiences. In contrast to these previous studies, this research takes an interpretivist approach to understand how work as a short-term instructor in a ROEE setting may also uniquely support learning and development for this population as well. A sample of former short-term instructors across the developmental period of emerging adulthood were interviewed to retrospectively explore the meaning that work in a single ROEE program holds in their current lives. Inductive analysis found social practice theory effectively aligned with the meaning former short-term instructors associated with program involvement. These findings suggest that short-term instructor work influenced individuals’ identity development processes in both a social-emotional and pro-environmental manner. Moving past their ROEE experience, former short-term instructors attempted to live out meaningful practices associated with these program-related identities, such as sharing the outdoors with others. Implications for both professional development in a ROEE setting and future research are discussed.

摘要

以前对住宅户外环境教育 (ROEE) 计划的大多数研究都集中在与学生参与这些学习体验相关的结果上。与之前的这些研究相比，这项研究采用解释主义的方法来了解在 ROEE 环境中作为短期讲师的工作如何也可以独特地支持该人群的学习和发展。采访了一个跨越新兴成年发展时期的前短期教师样本，以回顾性地探索在单一 ROEE 计划中工作对他们当前生活的意义。归纳分析发现，社会实践理论与与项目参与相关的前短期讲师的含义有效地一致。这些发现表明，短期讲师工作以社会情感和环保方式影响了个人的身份发展过程。超越他们的 ROEE 经验，前短期讲师试图活出与这些与项目相关的身份相关的有意义的实践，例如与他人分享户外活动。讨论了 ROEE 环境中的专业发展和未来研究的影响。