Field Studies

Adventure Education has long been used as a way of promoting personal growth and self-discovery.  Human-powered outdoor pursuits require knowledge, judgment, decision-making skills and strong interpersonal and intra-personal skills.  Feedback is immediate; both successes and failures provide valuable learning to the individual and to the group as a whole.  The whole experience is often a great metaphor for life.  It opens individuals up to discover things that they never thought were possible about themselves and about the places and people they engage with while participating in the activities.

Open Space Education offers Adventure-based Global Field Studies throughout the year.  These expeditions are more than just an outdoor adventure or physical pursuit: they immerse students in the local and natural world, fostering a deeper connection of place; they encourage environmental literacy through that connection and via planned research and happenstance teachable moments; and, quite simply, they provide a much-needed chance for our youth to get outdoors.  In an age where the phrases Nature-Deficit Disorder and No Child Left Inside have become commonplace, this intentional return to the woods is a welcome relief from the standard education establishment practice of shorting our kids on play and outdoors time.

Our expeditions are led by guides certified by the leading industry standards, such as the American Mountain Guides Association and the American Canoe Association. While proper risk management ensures that students are never really at “real” risk from engaging in adventure-based learning activities, the “perceived” risk that one experiences during these actives can heighten awareness and learning opportunities. Students learn from a whole body approach and gain tangible skills such as leadership, cooperation, and self-reliance. They also make measurable gains through what is known as “transfer” of learning, when insights from the adventure setting are able to be applied to the real world.

Stay tuned for the 2019-2020 Field Studies Schedule.

Get your mind out of the box.,