Life By Leadership | Adventure Education: Frequently Asked Questions

Adventure Education: Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is adventure education? You may have heard of outdoor education programs like Pali Institute. At Pali, our mission is to introduce experiential education to young people by providing progressive learning experiences that extend far beyond classroom walls. Students will experience the thrill of seeing, touching, and learning about the environment and our impact on the world. At Pali Institute, we bring textbooks to life!

We do this by providing hands-on, field-based activities that bring classroom science to life. With a fun and educational science camp feel—in a natural California mountain environment—we introduce students to numerous scientific disciplines through rocket launches, squid dissection, weather experiments, and crime scene investigation. 

Not to mention our outback wilderness journeys (guided by our expert staff) and other outdoor activities focused on leadership and team-building. Students engage with enthusiasm and exit from Pali with knowledge retained to take their study of science to the next level.

Adventure education may be a new concept to some, and we understand that there can be many questions about the topic. If you’re thinking about planning a trip for your child or students and have questions, chances are, others have them too! 

Check out some of our most frequently asked questions about adventure education: 

How can adventure education be incorporated into a physical education program?

Classes like our Advanced Team Building course require students to work together through various challenging courses. These group activities incorporate the insights gained from previous team-building situations, moving on to challenges of greater complexity. 

As the groups complete the initiatives given to them by their instructors, they can move on to more difficult challenges, some of which include a variety of low elements at either of our two low ropes courses. Paired perfectly as a follow-up to Team Building and a great way to challenge a strong group.

This is a great way to incorporate not only team-building but physical activity as well. 

In addition, adventure education often involves hiking, sports, and other physical activities done outdoors that focus on other invaluable skills and lessons. 

What are the benefits of adventure education?

There are a plethora of benefits of outdoor education—the biggest ones being that it: 

  • Connects students to nature
  • Provides the practical experience of classroom learning
  • Improves childhood development
  • Improves student engagement 
  • Improves health and overall well-being in children

What do you do in adventure education?

There are a variety of activities students can participate in during adventure education. These activities often include wilderness journeys such as: 

What is the difference between outdoor education and adventure education?

Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place outdoors. lessons on the environment, and how we impact it as humans, but any lesson that is taught outdoors is considered outdoor education. 

Similarly, “adventure education programs, which also take participants into the outdoors, use real-world experiences to achieve their learning goals.”

So, while adventure education is a form of outdoor education, adventure education is focused on gaining real-life experience, often in the wilderness. 

What is the meaning of adventure education?

Adventure education is “learning through adventure-centered experiences. It includes various activities like outdoor sports, excursions, explorations, events, and even indoor activities.”

It’s a form of learning that demands active engagement from the students by incorporating all five senses within the activities, which helps to better retain the information being taught. 

What are the similarities between outdoor education and adventure education?

Outdoor education and adventure education are similar in that they both occur outdoors. While any education experience that happens to take place outdoors can be considered outdoor education, typically, both outdoor education and adventure education have a strong focus on lessons about the environment and how we as humans affect it. 

In addition, they both generally involve hands-on activities and lessons, rather than focusing solely on concepts and theories, to provide a better understanding of the materials. 

See It in Action

Now that some basic questions about outdoor education have been answered, come see it in action! If you’re wondering how you can implement experiential learning into your child’s or students’ curriculum, check out Pali Institute to learn more. 

Browse their classes to start planning your trip today, and feel free to reach out to them directly with any additional questions.