Examining the Fruits of the Outdoor Education Tree from a Gender Perspective.

This paper describes a longitudinal study of a residential outdoor education school program in Australia. Specifically, the research tracked 409 ninth-grade students for up to 24 months to determine the impact on boys and girls of an extended-stay outdoor education program. The program is located at Timbertop, a coeducational school in a wilderness setting that serves the entire Year 9 student population (average age 14-15) of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. While totally immersed in an isolated spartan setting, the students engage in outdoor education while simultaneously maintaining a normal Year 9 academic curriculum. Students are assigned to self-contained living quarters of 15-16 students, are totally responsible for domestic chores and maintenance, and are denied access to telephones and television. Parents are permitted to visit every 10 weeks. The research project administered various questionnaires and interviews to students, parents, and teachers before, during, and after program attendance and at 12-month followup. These measures examined autonomy, interpersonal relationships, social responsibility, health and physical aptitude, environmental sensitivity, academic and cultural achievement, appropriateness of curriculum, teaching quality, and school spirit. Timbertop provides a unique comparison of male and female students since the curriculum is presented in a gender-neutral fashion. Evidence suggests that girls were successful and were more positive than boys toward social and personal dimensions of the experience. Contains 34 references. Research results are not included. (SV)