Outdoor learning and psychological resilience : making today's students better prepared for tomorrow's world

One of the hallmarks of education is to build students’ emotional, psychological and physical resilience (Booth 2015; Haggerty et al. 1996). However, all available indicators suggest what we are doing does not appear to be universally effective (Black Dog Institute 2016; Haidt and Paresky 2019). Rates of mental illness, anxiety, depression, and a myriad of other health issues such as ADHD, obesity and diabetes are rising (Gray 2018a, b; Henley 2010). These modern maladies are in part, linked with our inactive and nature-estranged lifestyles (Kellert and Wilson 1993; Maller and Townsend 2006; Selhub and Logan 2012). Correspondingly, Louv (2011) states that children are suffering from what is commonly referred to as Vitamin N (N for Nature) deficiency. Recent provocations by Braus and Milligan-Toffler (2018) and Truong and colleagues (Truong et al. 2018) carry this viewpoint to further magnitude. A ‘challenge by choice’ philosophy provides one (of many) underlying justification for outdoor learning (Neill and Dias 2001). Advocates for this philosophical model have repeatedly argued that exposure to natural challenge activities can enhance participants’ psychological resilience (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1990; Dickson et al. 2008; Gray and Martin 2012). This paper showcases some of the contemporary research in resilience and discusses how outdoor learning is an appropriate platform for the development of coping strategies and psychological resilience (ACARA 2017; Hayhurst et al. 2015; Hattie et al. 1997; Sibthorp et al. 2008; Taniguchi and Freeman 2004).