I commonly get asked the question ‘What does Lindley Educational Trust do?’
The answer isn’t easy as we have a variety of products and services and work with different age groups. It is made more complex as the same products and services are often known by so many different names.
For schools and youth groups, teachers and youth leaders might use the following terms;
Outdoor Activities, Outdoor Education, Adventure Education, Learning Outside the Classroom, Outdoor Pursuits, Team Building, Outdoor Learning, Adventurous Activities and the latest terms are Learning Away and Brilliant Residentials.
For Young Employees, our customers enquire about;
Teambuilding, Development Training, Personal and Social Development, Leadership Development, Character Building, Outdoor Management Development and of course Outward Bound.
Plus there is added confusion when we talk about specific outdoor activities. Bushcraft, Forest School, Survival Training and Backwoodsmanship might all be used to describe the same thing….. or are they?
Even our locations cause confusion; are we in the Peak District, the Peak, the Peak National Park, the Dark Peak, Derbyshire, High Peak and Hope Valley.
No matter what you call it, quality time in the outdoors has positive outcomes
If you are to derive most value from an experience in the outdoors targeted at changing knowledge, skills or general approach then we believe there are some key elements you should consider:
- How does it strengthen other learning activity?
- What planned activity before and after the outdoor activity will maximise its impact?
- Can you clearly see how targeted changes are achieved?
- Is there clear scope for progression for the learner?
- Can the activity lead to further self led learning and development?
- What’s the role of the appropriately qualified and experienced outdoor staff?If you’d like to explore how to derive most value from learning and development that draws on the outdoors, whatever you call it !, call us at Hollowford or contact our Head of Centre Mark Williams mark@hollowford.org
Author: Mark Williams
