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Being active in nature carries many benefits and there are a number of ways to design and deliver outdoor programs so that young people can realize these benefits. This paper provides an environmental scan of the outdoor education (OE) programs currently offered in public school, grades 6-12, across British Columbia (BC). The environmental scan methodology involved (a) a review of academic literature related to OE in Canada and BC, and (b) an internet search of programs in each school in BC. The results of the scan outline the wide-ranging outdoor learning activities being conducted in each of the 63 school districts in BC. Analysis of the literature and websites revealed eight main categories of OE programs: (a) physical and health education courses; (b) programs with an Indigenous focus; (c) interdisciplinary programs; (d) unique content programs; (e) annual trips; (f) district programs; (g) school-wide initiatives; and (h) community partnership programs. This environmental scan has implications for educators, administrators, non-governmental organizations wishing to partner with schools, BC Boards of Education, the provincial Ministry of Education, and other provinces and countries regarding creation of programs and resource allocation for outdoor learning.

The long-standing challenges and issues associated with girls' disengagement from secondary school physical and health education (PHE) are serious and well documented. This disengagement has provided the incentive for the examination of alternative strategies to facilitate girls' engagement in PHE. This paper discusses the first phase in a formative research process designed to develop a resource manual to help teachers utilize nature-based physical activity (NBPA) as a means of fostering relatedness for girls in PHE. Participating teachers collaborated and generated specific NBPA ideas and pedagogical strategies during an all-day planning session. Four focus groups with the teachers (N = 20) were used to identify ways to develop NBPA interventions. Five broad topics are reported: (a) defining NBPAs, (b) specific NBPAs to use in PHE, (b) how NBPA can foster relatedness, (d) how NBPA in PHE differs from outdoor education, and (e) barriers to implementing NBPA in PHE. This paper emphasizes the valuable contribution of formative research to the integrity and fidelity of an intervention as well as to quality practice in the implementation of theory-based PHE initiatives.

This study examined the influence of a 4-month intervention on students' motivation in Grade 10 physical education and enrollment in elective physical education. Health Promoting Secondary School Physical Education (HPSS PE) was designed to improve students' psychological need satisfaction in physical education, based on self-determination theory. A matched comparison pre-post design was used with 10 schools (5 intervention, 5 usual practice). Students (N = 373) completed questionnaires that assessed perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and school personnel provided enrollment information. Results indicated that HPSS PE was not effective in increasing participants' psychological need satisfaction; however, female students receiving the intervention were significantly more likely to enroll in elective physical education. Insights contribute to the evidence about creating need-supportive environments in physical education and improving enrollment rates in elective programming.

The purpose of this investigation was to gain insight into the features of 32 senior physical education courses from 22 school districts in British Columbia that have successfully maintained high enrollments of female students. Analysis of course outlines, interviews with teachers, and student questionnaires were used to collect data. The following themes emerged: (a) focus on lifetime physical activities, (b) student involvement in course development, (c) authentic assessment, (d) gender as a course design feature, (e) value added options, and (f) positive and respectful class environment. Findings offer considerations for the design of physical education courses to address the learning needs of female high school students.

The aim of health and physical education (HPE) is to help children and youth develop physical activity and health behaviors that will benefit them throughout their lives. However, adolescent girls are often disengaged in HPE. Girls place considerable importance on having a socially supportive learning environment. Therefore, teachers should try to promote relatedness establish a supportive environment in which students have opportunities to develop healthy relationships with others in and beyond HPE. This article describes a school initiative, Girls in Action [GIA], created to provide girls with the opportunity to be active in a supportive environment. Designed by two high school HPE teachers, GIA has the goal of empowering young women to have a voice in planning physical activity events and participate in these events with other women outside of HPE. Steps on how to implement a program like GIA in a school are presented.

School physical education (PE) aims to develop students' knowledge and skills for lifelong participation in physical activity (PA). Unfortunately, many PE teachers report that motivating students is a significant challenge. The purpose of this study was to explore PE teacher perceptions about the effectiveness and acceptability of three self-determination theory-based motivational strategies on students' PA, motivation, and learning during PE lessons. Thirteen PE teachers from five schools in Western Sydney, Australia, participated in this study. We carried out semi-structured post-lesson interviews with PE teachers to gather information about the perceived effectiveness and acceptability of the three intervention strategies and whether these were sustainable teaching methods: (1) explaining relevance; (2) providing choice; and (3) complete free choice. Analysis of interview data revealed that teachers believed each strategy successfully enhanced student PA, enjoyment, motivation, and student learning. The findings also showed that our motivational teaching strategies were acceptable when embedded within certain PE contexts. Overall, the results have implications for future pre-service and in-service PE teaching practice.

Background: Comprehensive School Health models offer a promising strategy to elicit changes in student health behaviours. To maximise the effect of such models, the active involvement of teachers and students in the change process is recommended. Objective: The goal of this project was to gain insight into the experiences and motivations of teachers and students involved in a choice-based Comprehensive School Health model--Health Promoting Secondary Schools (HPSS). Setting: School communities in British Columbia, Canada. Design and methods: HPSS engaged teachers and students in the planning and implementation of a whole-school health model aimed at improving the physical activity and eating behaviours of high school students. The intervention components were specifically informed by self-determination theory. A total of 23 teachers and 34 school committee members participated in focus group interviews. The minutes of planning meetings were collected throughout the intervention process. Results: Analysis of the data revealed five themes associated with participants' experiences and motivational processes: (a) lack of time for planning and preparation; (b) resources, workshops and collaboration; (c) teacher control impacts student engagement; (d) teacher job action inhibited implementation of HPSS action plans; and (e) choice-based design impacts participants' experiences. Conclusion: Findings from this study can facilitate future school-based projects by providing insights into student and teacher perspectives on the planning and implementation of school-based health promotion programmes and implementing choice-based educational change initiatives.

It was of interest to determine if earlier research findings, where female students were particularly advantaged by the Team Building Through Physical Challenges (TBPC; Glover & Midura, 1992) program in a coeducational setting, would still be observed in gender-segregated physical education classes. A total of 260 female (n = 127) and male (n = 133) middle school students were assigned to either treatment (participate in one TBPC activity every second week) or control (no exposure to TBPC activities) conditions. Assessments of six self-conceptions were collected before and after a five-month intervention period. Data were analyzed using a 2 (control/treatment) X 2 (pre-intervention/post-intervention) X 2 (female/male) repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance. Examination of the results suggested that the TBPC program continues to somewhat advantage female students in gender-segregated classes, although the overriding finding was that the program is associated with beneficial outcomes for both female and male students. (Contains 1 table.)