The Elusive Existence of Mis-educative Experiences in Experiential Education
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The Flow of Adventure
Nathaniel E. Johnson
Georgia College & State University
Introduction
So what is it that you DO? This question can be hard to answer for the average facilitator of outdoor adventure experiences. Even harder to answer is the question of how can the experiences offered by the field be improved? There are many different focuses within the overarching field, and each is as different from the others as it is the same. There are several conceptual models that attempt to provide a framework to organize the different organizations that exist. The "swimming pool" model of Webb (1999), Horwood (1999), Hirsch (1999) and Gillis and Ringer (1999) is particularly clear and descriptive, and will be used to catagorize outdoor adventure areas for the purposes of this analysis. These models are useful for describing outdoor adventure as it exists, but not for making recommendations for what outdoor adventure should be. On the other hand, typological descriptions of outdoor adventure are the appropriate tool to use to evaluate the ideal characteristics of outdoor education. The Csikszentmihihalyi's (1999) develop a particularly interesting typology of the characteristics of a good outdoor adventure experience in their article about the concept of "flow". The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how the different areas of outdoor adventure outlined in the swimming pool conceptual framework relate to the characteristics of Csikszentmihihaly’s concept of flow across several of its defining characteristics.
Swimming Pool Conceptual Framework
Within the swimming pool model, outdoor adventure is divided into four progressively "deeper" sections of a pool representing the whole. The "shallowest" section of the pool represents recreational outdoor activities. The next section of the pool represents the educational use of adventure and the outdoors. Deeper still in the pool is the group development area of outdoor education. Corporate use of adventure falls into this category. The final, and deepest, section of the outdoor adventure "pool" is the therapeutic use of adventure and the outdoors. Greater depths of the pool represent greater intensity and meaning of the outdoor adventure experience for the participant.
Flow
Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi (1999) introduce the concept of flow to describe the observable characteristics of the positive physiological and psychological responses to unpredictible and dangerous environments. They propose that this mechanism is an evolutionary adaptation providing the human race as a whole with the ability to cope with novel and dangerous situations. The concept of flow outlines seven characteristics that make the experience pleasurable and worthy of repetition for the participant. A flow experience provides clear goals and immediate feedback, a merging of action and awareness, centering of attention on a limited stimulus field, loss of ego, cessation of worry about loss of control, and autotelic outcomes. For the sake of brevity only clear and immediate feedback, cessation of worry about loss of control, and autotelic outcomes will be used to evaluate the four different areas of outdoor adventure.
An experience provides clear goals and immediate feedback when the participant meets the following:
Knows clearly what must be done, and gets feedback about how well he or she is doing. Goals and means are logically ordered, so that it is possible to foresee the results of alternative actions.... The many ambiguities of everyday life are banished. However in flow there is no pause to evaluate the feedback, the person is too involved with the experience to reflect on it. Action and reaction have become so well-synchronized that the resulting behavior is automatic. This is true even in endeavors that are not as clear cut. (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 154)
The cessation of worry about loss of control is an important element of flow. "People in flow feel potentially in control of their actions and of the environment. Rather than an active awareness of control, one ceases to worry about losing control, as one often does in real life. This feeling is true even in situations where the objective dangers are quite real." (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 155)
Flow experiences are self-rewarding- or autotelic- in nature. "The components of the flow state are usually so enjoyable and physically rewarding that there is a desire to repeat activities that produce the flow experience. Even if initially done for extrinsic reasons, the activity becomes intrinsically rewarding." (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 199, p. 156)
These three characteristics of a flow experience are evident, to some extent, in every descriptive category of outdoor adventure; recreation, education, corporate group development and therapy. The characteristics are expressed differently though, depending on the idiosyncracies of the individual categories.
Flow in the Swimming Pool:
Clear and immediate feedback
Outdoor recreation activities are highest in the dimension of providing clear and immediate feedback. Activities like canoeing, rock climbing, and fishing are good examples where there is no ambiguity to the task- make it past the rapid, get to the top of the cliff, or catch a fish. The feedback is also immediate- how dry am I, how high am I, how many fish have I caught?
Educational adventure activities provide additional clear and immediate feedback due to the presence of a facilitative instructor. (Gonzalez, 2001) Other processes that allow for increased feedback in an educational setting are allowing students to set their own goals, and using small groups. (Lindsay & Ewert, 1999)
Corporate adventure activities are a combination of recreation and education. The activities still provide inherent and obvious goals and feedback. They also still benefit from the presence of a facilitator who helps to provide and evaluate goals and feedback for the activities through front-loading and processing. Corporate adventure is especially about the group process and groups must be viewed as a whole as living organisms that need appropriate feedback. (Wheatley, 1997)
Therapeutic use of adventure is more individual than corporate use, but there is still generally a greater group component than recreation. It is similar to education because the therapist plays the role of the facilitative instructor providing feedback on activities. (Gillis, 1995) The use of natural consequences can provide feedback for participants. (Russell, 2001)
Cessation of Worry About Loss of Control
With some practice, recreational outdoor activities are conducive to cessation of worry about loss of control. The clear goals and feedback allow for mastery and clear use of the necessary skills to minimize the inherent risks in the activities. The presence of risk in the activity is what allows the cessation of worry about the loss of control to begin with. "Close proximity to danger tends to heighten concentration and adds consequence to individual decision making." (Ewert, 2000, p. 21) The individual nature of these activities adds to the ability for the individual to feel in control as well.
Education can provide cessation of worry about loss of control when teachers develop individual and group problem solving skills. (Lindsay & Ewert, 2001) Developing skills allows for participants to feel in control of the situation. Facilitators can assist this process by developing existing knowledge towards the desired subject, instead of starting at an arbitrary point and assuming all students have the necessary background. (Lindsay & Ewert, 2001) When participants feel supported by their teacher in an adventure education setting, they are more likely to feel in control. (Gonzales, 2001)
Corporate groups using adventure are similar to educational groups in that the facilitator can assist the group to feel in control of the situation. These groups are more likely to have difficulty feeling in control, since it is likely that they are not used to being totally in charge of themselves.
The achievement of cessation of worry about loss of control can be an important objective in a therapeutic use of adventure. Allowing participants to experience a flow like feeling of being in control in an adventure setting may allow them to feel more in control in other aspects of their lives later.
Autotelic Outcomes
There is little question of the autotelic nature of outdoor adventure activities, they would simply not exist if they were not intrinsically rewarding for their participants. The motivation for starting an activity can vary but, "even if initially done for extrinsic reasons, the activity becomes intrinsically rewarding." (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 154) This is especially true once a basic level of mastery is achieved, allowing cessation of worry about loss of control to begin.
Educators can assist participants to develop an autotelic response to learning by trying to make the learning process flow. The facilitator might consider letting the participants set their own goals so that they learn the positive feeling that comes from completing personal goals. (Lindsay, & Ewert, 1999) If facilitators can get peer groups to recognize the skills that the members have, it helps spur further use of those skills. (Demas, 2000)
The ideal autotelic outcome for a corporate group would develop from the positive feelings associated with the successful completion of difficult tasks. That group would then desire to achieve more together simply for the sake of accomplishment of something meaningful.
Therapeutic use of adventure can be autotelic because of the active and fun role that the therapist can play. (Gillis, 1995) Completing progressive challenges provides positive feedback and a sense of accomplishment that will reinforce the desired adaptive behavior. (Russell, 2001)
Conclusion
Aspects of flow are present in all the areas of outdoor adventure as described in the swimming pool conceptual framework of outdoor adventure as it exists. Flow best describes individual activities like in the recreational setting, but elements of it can still be found in the group activities common to adventure education and corporate adventure. Many of the adventure activities used in education, corporate development, and therapy exhibit aspects of flow because they are derived originally from individual recreation activities. Experiences that create flow for participants can be powerful tools for education in any of the four areas. Even when full flow can not be achieved, striving to achieve as many of the characteristics of flow as possible will help to create a more enjoyable and productive experience. Future research could investigate the existence of flow at the group level. Unless group flow is proven somehow mis-educative, facilitators should still attempt to create flow experiences for their individual and group participants whenever possible and appropriate.
References:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Csikzentmihalyi, I. (1999). Adventure and the flow experience. In J. C. Miles & S. Priest (Eds.), Adventure programming (pp. 153–158). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Demas, K. (2000). What we know. Zip Lines. Summer, 20-23.
Gillis, H. (1995) If I conduct outdoor pursuits with clinical populations, am I an adventure therapist? Journal of Leisurability. Vol. 22, No. 2, 5-15.
Gillis, H. L., Jr., & Ringer, T. M. (1999). Adventure as therapy. In J. C. Miles & S. Priest (Eds.), Adventure programming (pp. 29–37). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Gonzalez, L. (2001). Expeditionary Learning: an alternative teaching method for physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Vol. 72. No 3, 31-33, 47.
Hirsch, J. (1999). Developmental adventure programs. In J. C. Miles & S. Priest (Eds.), Adventure programming (pp. 13–27). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Horwood, B. (1999). Educational adventure and schooling. In J. C. Miles & S. Priest (Eds.), Adventure programming ( (pp. 9–12). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Lindsay, A. & Ewert, A. (1999). Learning at the edge: can experiential education contribute to educational reform? The Journal of Experiential Education. Vol. 22, No. 1, 12-19.
Russell, K. (2001). What is wilderness therapy? Journal of Experiential Education. Vol 24. No. 2, 70-79.
Webb, D. J. (1999). Recreational outdoor adventure programs. In J. C. Miles & S. Priest (Eds.), Adventure programming (pp. 3–8). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Wheatley, M. (1997). Engaging with life. Ziplines. Fall, 14-19.