Personal development

In terms of personal development and personal growth comments made in student interviews were of the opinion that the activities were pitched at an appropriate difficulty to both challenge and succeed. The quote from Claire goes on to recognise another feature of successful activity the element of competition. Kilpatrick, Hebert and Bartholomew (2005) highlight competition and challenge as very important factors in motivation to participate in sport and exercise. Clear feelings of personal development are highlighted below

‘I think everyone likes a challenge because that’s what it’s all about challenging yourself.’ (Claire)

‘People on the ground were spurring us on, it was me and Geneva from Ireland so it was like Ireland versus England so they were spurring us on which was good,

good motivation so I actually got to the top and won the race.’ (Claire)

Well-structured activities as described by McKenzie (2000) use achievement to develop personal growth and self-efficacy. These clear feelings of personal development are highlighted below.

‘I would say the one day trip was better for the activities I reckon just because it was more hands on like with all the rock climbing and abseiling and the high ropes, it felt like you were just by yourself doing it so you were more dependent

on yourself rather than just everyone else. It felt like you’d accomplished something if you reached the top which was quite good.’ (Bobby)

These feelings of achievement can be aided through competent coaching and support from activity staff but also from other students (Allen, McKenna & Hind, 2012).

‘My friends were quite nice to me they helped so it’s alright in the end. The staff were helpful as well we had this girl called Becky I think and she was nice and helpful. Two of my friends went down and was like helping me from the bottom

and then the rest of them at the top was like go on you’ll be alright so I went down eventually. I was glad I did it but I would probably still avoid it in the future.

I wouldn’t do it again but I was glad I tried it.’ (Rose)

Peer support is good for two reasons, firstly it could show that a relationship has developed sufficiently for the individual to allow someone to help them which for some people can be a big step based on trust (Bell, 2005). Secondly it provides others an opportunity to enhance their self- worth by being competent enough to help others.

‘It was on the abseil when people were really scared because when we were at the top you could obviously see down, everyone was really helpful and tried to

encourage them and to be fair they went down as well so they managed to conquer a fear really but its jus when they got to the top they were quite scared.’

(Bobby)

Self-efficacy and self-worth can be enhanced simply by trying something new and succeeding, below Emma talks of surprising herself, this can only serve to enhance her self-concept. Paxton and

McAvoy (2000) suggests that undertaking, new, novel or exciting activities allows participants the chance to learn that they are capable of overcoming challenges.

‘I surprised myself because I was quite good at archery, I’d never done it before.’ (Emma)

Whereas the following quote from Steve indicate that for some individuals challenge can go too far and become negative aspect of experience on an outdoor activity trip. This is in stark contrast to the research of Priest & Gass (2005) who state participants are more likely to retain the lessons learned from successfully completing the activity or task if the challenge is extremely difficult.

‘The day was more challenging which got a lot of people not involved, for one the wall climbing one I was in a particular group that had a lot of worries and it was a more physical challenge for them in every aspect, they didn’t want to do it, they didn’t want to go up the wall, they didn’t want to get to the top and abseil down,

which meant with them not being involved, it’s not a topic you can talk to them about you just feel bad for them. I just feel less people got involved because it was

more of a challenge.’ (Steve)

The challenge Steve speaks about in his interview was not evident for all students. The number of activities and pace with which groups moved round allowed a wide range of activities, people will be naturally more competent in some rather than others.

‘Probably the labyrinth really which is the one where you had to go underground, that was probably the hardest just because you didn’t know where you were going and it’s like going into the unknown really which is just a harder thing to do

and the lights were off as well but that is the only thing that I felt was difficult or at least more difficult than the others. Other than that I didn’t find a lot of it challenging. Oh I suppose I found the bouldering quite hard actually just because I couldn’t keep my grip, I managed to get to the ceiling on some of them but when I did get to the ceiling and tried to get further I just kept on losing my grip, when you had to reach for it one hand would just slip off at full stretch and id just fall down which was irritating. Those were the only things I found difficult everything

else was fairly simple to be able to do.’ (Bobby)

Despite commenting that it was not challenging further examination of the quote identifies a number of activities that did provide a challenge to the student. Again the range of activities and the differing level of ability to succeed seems to have been a positive of the ‘top up’ activity day.

Professional development

Value was also placed on the way in which the activities were delivered demonstrating practical techniques that could be used by the student’s in the future on OAA activities with young students.

‘On the one day trip especially we learnt techniques we could use, they went through how it would go across into OAA, each one, which skills like leadership, communication and stuff like that which was quite helpful to be fair. They didn’t do that as much in the residential but it’s harder to do with like raft building which is harder to relate to everyday life in a school whereas the one day was a

bit more enclosed, we were all around each other most of the time.’ (Bobby)

In terms of academic development students found greater links between the trip and their academic work. This strength has now been transferred to the OOP for 2016. By linking theory and practice the students also had the opportunity for personal growth in a professional context i.e. learning skills pertinent to their possible career choice.

‘I think the one we have just been on was a bit more relevant to us because we were learning in the lectures about outdoor education so we were learning the theory then going out and doing it so I found it a lot more beneficial, whereas the

first one seemed like here’s a trip lets go have fun, do you know what I mean. I would say you learnt more on this one and what you could do with children or what trips away you might do if you were a PE teacher or whatever so a bit more

educational maybe rather than the first one but it was really good for the university to put them on free of charge as well its brilliant. I gave us a really good

chance to see outdoor education otherwise we might have to do a course in it or something and pay for it ourselves so it’s good the university funds it and gives us

the opportunity to do it.’ (Claire)