Friluftsliv, Outdoor Education and Recreation or a both unique and by far the best course at University ever
The following is my personal report about the course that we had to write as an assignment. [Daher ist es auch auf Englisch ;)]
I want to begin this report about the course Outdoor Education and Recreation at Örebro University in spring semester 2019 with a quote from Albert Einstein: Education is not the learning of facts, it’s rather the training of the mind to think. Education nowadays is often focused to learning of facts especially in my field of study Business Administration. In this course education is conducted differently with the nature as a trainer of the mind to think. In the following I will describe how we can learn from nature and what activities we did in order to do so.
This course was taking place in spring 2019 during five weeks and is offered to international students being on an exchange semester at Örebro University but also open for Swedish students counting for 7,5 ECTS. As a result the participants came from eight different countries (Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, USA). The focus is on outdoor life and therefore major parts of the course were taking place outdoors either in nature reserves surrounding Örebro or on three different trips. The first one took place in the region Härjedalen in the north of Sweden where we spent four nights in an apartment and went cross-country skiing every day. On the second trip we visited Urnatur located at the lake Visjö in Ödeshög and learned about fire-making and other survival techniques. We slept in a big kåta when the temperature was around zero degree. During the third and last trip we climbed and repelled as well as rode Icelandic horses and we slept under the open sky.
Overall we had been very lucky with the weather conditions for the whole course period, in the mountains it was sunny with a balmy breeze and temperatures between minus and zero degrees, during the other trips it was sunny with spring-like conditions. For the most part of our group all the activities were new and they have for example never done skiing or horseback riding before. I had previous knowledge for most of the activities nevertheless I made some new experiences and also learned a lot. At the end we organized an outdoor day for pupils of the fourth and fifth grade at Sörbyängsskola in Örebro.
If you want your mind to train to think you need to get some background knowledge as a basis. Theory and practice belong together (Svenning, 2009), that is why we often first had theoretical explanations and afterwards the opportunity to try it. During the skiing tour we learned that a wind sack is a fast and efficient way to shelter when a blizzard is occurring. It is important to dig a sufficient hole in the snow where all persons as well as all equipment have space. We tried to open the wind sack and experienced that it is necessary to hold the tarp at any time tightly and also to sit on the edges to have a protection against wind and snowfall. On the second trip we got some theoretical background about fire-making before we could try the techniques ourselves. Generally, a fire needs oxygen, heat and fuel. To start a fire it is therefore important to have some tinder (something that burns fast such as birch bark or dry pieces of wood). You need to assemble your tinder not to tight in order to let the fire get oxygen. As fuel and a lighter you can either use matches but also fire steel or a flint stone and even friction. It is always important to prepare everything you need to get a sufficient fire because in the first minutes the fire is like a newborn child which you should not leave alone. Education in the outdoors involves the person as a whole, with all senses present (Svenning, 2009). Among different factors influencing the attention of a human being I want to describe three in detail. For example fear can be a reason that not all senses are present. To make all members of the group feel comfortable and not be afraid we started with a group activity, an ice breaker. We made a circle, joined hands and walked around in the circle while singing. This so-called funny dance might look from the outside really funny but when participating you feel immediately part of the group.
Being with all senses present also means that you are not stressed. The schedules of the trips allowed us to have free time in order to learn more about techniques being demonstrated or to enjoy and meet the nature. I was very interested in the tree houses at Urnatur and the building techniques and I got the chance to explore it further in the morning after breakfast with my friend. Besides the tree houses there are both blog and bole houses but no matter Håkan Strotz, the founder and owner of Urnatur, builds everything himself manually. As part of his preservation approach he only rents machinery when needed. Guests can come to sleep in the wooden houses and cook with ingredients solely produced organic in the garden as well as on the farm.
We also had the chance to go to the lake Visjö with a canoe. We only had less than half an hour but it is an evidence what are the benefits of activities in the nature: Your senses are activated, you hear, feel and smell better when you get oneself into the nature and you can concentrate on yourself. As positive outcomes you are more concentrated and able to focus on your next tasks. Canoeing is just one example of a variety of outdoor activities which have in my opinion the same effect such as biking, climbing, hiking, riding, skiing or just a walk. When it is a demanding activity where you need to bring yourself to do it you might also strengthen your self esteem and self-confidence. A useful exercise to sharpen your senses is the snapshot game we did during the course: In a team of two leads one the other on the shoulder and shows them a spot. When he says click the other one opens the eyes just for a moment and try to remember the spot to show it later. As already mentioned it enhances the connection to the nature but builds also trust to your team member.
If you're always prepared as a leader the others will never learn how to make it. As a good leader you know when you should give some extra support and information to prepare your group. For instance bringing the right equipment for certain outdoor situations is very important especially when sleeping outdoors. I found the most essential is a sleeping back which holds you warm even when the temperatures are around zero degree. Otherwise you will have an unrelaxing night with difficulties to sleep. To be well rested is a third requirement to have all senses present. In other situation it is better to give no information to let the members of the group find a solution or their personal outcome. During the first trip in the winter conditions we had a practice where we should be alone for one hour. We could climb with our cross-country skis a mountain or walk around and just enjoy the nature. This activity showed me that it is refreshing to be for a certain amount of time absolutely independent and free, just you and the nature. I developed in the way that I developed self-competence, be more myself I belief more in my abilities. Additionally, others want to learn from me and in this way I can be a leader. Especially for the cooking which was during the trips a group activity. I discovered that there are mainly three reasons: Firstly, if everybody brings its own food different utensils and fire settings are needed and one is interfering another because space on and around the fire is limited. Secondly, especially when cooking outdoors there are some preparations like chopping wood and starting the fire involved and it is better when everybody helps together because this takes time. Last but not least cooking in a group improves the team spirit. I found these outcomes when reflecting on it afterwards, beforehand I and also some others were a bit annoyed because we were expected to cook in random groups. But I not only learned to be a leader but also to listen to others and learn from them. For example I wanted to try to chop wood with an axes and it was not working well. Drew demonstrated it and explained the main points like standing brought for safety reasons, hold the axes with both hands and get power from above the head. With the next try it worked perfectly. Since my family has a farm I have seen often people chopping wood or heard how to do it but never tried it before. I see it as a evidence of the How we learn theory of William Glasser. Namely, we learn only 50% of what we see and hear and 80% of what we experience personally but 95% of what we teach to someone else. I therefore learned that the exchange with others is always highly valuable to learn new techniques or from other views. Due to the fact that our group consisted of eight different nationalities it is interesting to get insights from other cultures. As a result I am more open-minded.
I also learned to be more flexible to different and changing situations. One of the Germans typical trade is that they want to plan everything to have all in order. Before the course I was more like the typical German but I noticed that you can experience exciting moments when you just live in the moment, open your mind and be spontaneously. During the course we got not all information about what is going to happen at first sight because sometimes you cannot know what will happen, the weather can change etc. Moreover, it is difficult to explain certain situations, you just have to see the surroundings and then you will understand immediately what is the idea. Referring to the cooking I made a plan what to cook but had to adopt some of my long-kown recipes due to the fact that we are staying outdoors with no fridge available and also limited utensils. Some ingredients are in addition in Sweden not or not in the same type available for example I had to find Marsán as a substitute for vanilla pudding powder. To some extend you need to be willing to think differently. For a desert we made I was inspired by a cheese-tray-cake recipe. We put the filling into squeezed oranges and add the actual dough in the bottom of the cake as crumples on the top. We cooked it in aluminum foil over the fire. I was pleased that my idea of preparing it worked so well and that everyone liked it. During the course I got to know an extremely useful device for cooking and baking on the fire, namely the Reflector Oven. Whatever you can make in an electric oven you can make it in the reflector oven. Invented in Sweden, it comes as a space-saving flatpack which can be expanded. It is coated with light metal to reflect the heat when putting it at an angel of 90 degrees to the fire. We used it to make a pie with broccoli and brie as well as for an apfelstrudel.
Summarized you can say nature demands your creativity to cope with the special conditions. Linda Naiman (2014) describes “creativity [a]s the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing.” According to this definition the dessert we made on the fire was some sort of creativity. There is another example for creativity in nature from the course. When we spend the week in Härjedalen to experience winter conditions we had the possibility to build snow caves. What started with digging of simple holes turned into a snow adventure park with slides and underground tunnels. Since we were a group of three girls we did not have enough power to dig deep although some other guys were helping us. Anyway, we decided to build a “honeymoon suit” (thinking) and created a cave in the shape of a heart (producing). When we visited the fireplace we were supposed to use for the outdoor day with the kids I found one of the iron cauldron painted with silhouettes. This coal painting inspired me to produce coal chalk made out of sticks to paint rocks at the outdoor day with the kids (thinking). We did it by putting small sticks into a can with tiny holes in the cover and placing it directly into the embers of the fire (producing). After 15 minutes under the absence of oxygen in the can the sticks became coal pens.
New ideas involve however a risk of failures and unsteady progress. That is one reason why some companies especially in Germany scotch deviance and therefore creativity (Manager Magazin, 2014). In nature you can learn by making mistakes and be yourself, the nature does not judge you even when you are different.
Overall the course is highly recommendable to everyone regardless which field. The conception of the course with the preparation of an outdoor day for pupils as a final work might focus students from the field of education but it is of value for everyone. As described early if you open your mind you are able to find yourself in the nature. Therefore, you learn what are the benefits of spending time outdoors and how you can recreate in simple ways for instance with a walk in the woods. After the course it becomes obvious that everyone should appreciate natural environments more especially when they are right on your doorstep. In your familiar surrounding you often take the nature for granted but you should see the access to it as something special. A good advice is to show your gratitude with consideration and care. I also found the multinational group very inspiring to get to know different cultures and habits. Anyhow, the group spirit was very positive and nobody was expelled at any time. It was kind of special that I was the only German and even German speaking in the group but I appreciated it.
Obviously, there is not much improvement for the course. It is very well conceptualized and probably unique at Örebro University. The learning objectives and outcomes are fulfilled perfectly. There have a lot of opportunities for activities or learning been given and to some extend everybody could decide how much effort to take. Since I had previous experiences with skiing in general and I was one of the first to be down the hills in the evenings I just practiced the technique by going for some extra rounds on the tracks. A suggestion to get a deeper connection to the nature and what it means to survive in the wilderness as yet would be to go on a hiking, skiing or canoeing tour without returning every evening to a “base camp”.
I want to close as I started, with a quote from Albert Einstein which summarizes the course objectives in a good way and could also be an everyday advice for everybody:
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
After the course I think about doing a holiday program for kids when I am back home in Germany showing them how to use the fire for cooking or baking and use the knowledge and insights I got from the course.
