March 2013

March 26, 2013

Book review: Roots and Wings: A History of Outdoor Education and Outdoor Learning in the UK

Ogilvie, K. C. (2013) Roots and Wings: A History of Outdoor Education and Outdoor Learning in the UK, Lyme Regis, Russell House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-905541-84-3: £39.95 + £1.50 delivery: www.russellhouse.co.uk.

This is a mammoth of a book, with over 800 pages in total. As its title indicates, it has a strong historical focus – and that focus is also very wide, locating outdoor education in the context of wider human history, beginning the story over ten million years ago. As someone who is interested in history, I very much enjoyed that wide sweep and the effective way the history of outdoor education was woven into the picture of human history. However, I fear that those who want to know about the history of outdoor education specifically without much interest in the wider picture will feel unhappy with the page after page of historical detail approach that the author has adopted.

Outdoor learningBut, if you can get past that, there is much of value in this book. It shows how approaches to outdoor learning have changed over time and yet have a strong sense of continuity. It could be argued that you don’t need to know the history of an approach to learning to be able to practise it effectively. However, I would want to argue that having a grasp of the historical context will enrich our understanding and therefore put us in a stronger position to make use of the learning opportunities outdoor education presents.

Fundamental to this book is the recognition that different people learn in different ways. While traditional, classroom-based learning can be very effective in the right circumstances, it is not the only way of promoting learning. Outdoor education focuses on the whole person and recognises that there is much to be learned from activities, particularly those that involve engaging with nature. The author argues convincingly that it is important for children to develop an awareness of, and appreciation for, nature. Much the same can be said of adults, of course, especially those whose fast-paced urban lifestyles can leave them out of touch with the natural world. Perhaps, as a species, we would have more respect for our habitat and pollute it less if we were less disconnected from it.

One of the longstanding criticisms of classroom-based education is that it encourages a narrow, conformist approach to learning and to life more broadly. Outdoor learning, by contrast, has the potential to encourage a broader, more adventurous approach to learning and indeed to how we rise to the challenges our lives throw at us. No one is claiming it is a panacea, but a clear message from this book is that it has much to commend it, much that can be of great value in promoting learning.

This is an important book that documents an important history. It deserves to be widely read by educators of children and adults alike.

Links:

Neil Thompson: www.neilthompson.info 
The Avenue Learning Centre: www.avenuelearningcentre.co.uk
The Avenue Professional Development Programme: https://tinyurl.com/apdpneilthompson
Russell House Publishing: www.russellhouse.co.uk
in Children's Well-being
March 12, 2013

The challenge of leadership

The challenge of leadership

I was recently a speaker at a conference on leadership. It is a topic that has interested me for some time. I have been particularly intrigued by the idea of a leader as someone who influences an organisational culture in a positive direction. The conference chair used a phrase that made an impact on me and which I have already started using in my training on these issues: he described a leader as a thermostat not a thermometer – that is, someone who can affect the ‘temperature’ in a team, section or whole organisation, rather than someone who just reflects that temperature.

Where there is a lack of leadership there will be managers and professionals (and yes, indeed, it is not just managers that can and should be leaders) who become passive victims of the culture in which they are operating. Of course, it has to be recognised that organisational cultures can be very powerful influences indeed on not only group and individual behaviour, but also thought patterns and emotional responses. Such influences can be highly positive (empowering, motivating, supportive, nurturing and energising) and can create a strong sense of shared endeavour and high morale, with a great deal of learning going on. However, they can also be highly negative (disempowering, demotivating, unsupportive, macho and draining), resulting in little real sense of teamwork and a culture of low morale that can be quite destructive for all concerned and which can stand in the way of any real learning taking place.

Of course, leaders do not have complete control over the cultures they inhabit – the reality of organisational life is far more complex than that. However, there are ways and means in which leaders can make their presence felt in shaping cultures in a positive direction. Some people make the mistake of assuming that, because cultures are very powerful, they are all-powerful and that there is therefore little that can be done to affect them. This mistaken assumption can be especially prevalent where low morale is to the fore, as low morale tends to promote negativity, defeatism and even cynicism, which then discourages any challenges to that culture.

In reality, cultures are sets of habits, taken-for-granted assumptions and shared meanings, and so much of their force comes from the dead weight of habit. In some circumstances, cultural change can be a long and difficult process, while in others it can be relatively straightforward. For example, where there is a culture characterised by people not communicating with one another, an effective leader could potentially change that culture fairly quickly by making sure that people start communicating with one another. New sets of (more positive) habits can be formed quite quickly at times.

Of course, leadership involves an important set of skills, and those skills need to be underpinned by a degree of confidence, as we will not be able to serve as a positive influence if we lack confidence in our ability to do so. Herein lies a considerable irony. Cultures of low morale – those cultures that cry out most for effective leadership – are precisely the breeding ground for low confidence. So, where leadership is needed most could very well be where it is least likely to be found or to flourish.

So, while leadership has much to offer we should not see it in simplistic terms as some sort of magic solution. There are many challenges involved in taking leadership forward, but it is to be hoped that the benefits of improved leadership are sufficient to spur us to find ways of building on the foundations we already have. With this in mind, one thing we should be aware of is that, as long ago as the 1920s, Mary Parker Follett was making the vitally important point that one of the primary tasks of leadership was to support the development of other leaders – that is, good leadership begets leadership.

People Management, Neil’s latest book, is due to be published by Palgrave Macmillan on March 22nd.

in Workplace Well-being