Great Experiences, Experiential Capital, and Education: Findings From the Field of Adventure

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Toward a Wider View of Cognition, Experience, and Method

Abstract

Using the method of educational criticism and connoisseurship, I interviewed and observed 41 participants attending three separate adventure education (AE) programs: a backpacking expedition, a challenge course, and a multi-activity adventure program. Through these efforts, the quality of great experience was revealed. In this work, this quality is characterized as it manifest in AE through three criteria: 1) enjoyment, 2) significance, and 3) value. The relationship of great experience to conceptions of educational experience is explored and the implications for contemporary schooling are offered.

Author

• Benjamin C Ingman, Center for Rural School Health & Education, Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver