Self-Concept and Adventure Education: A Study of Adolescents Engaged in Outdoor Adventure Activities

With the goal of educating the ¿whole¿ student, including a student¿s self-concept, schools are searching for and initiating programs and activities to enhance self-concept, especially with adolescents. Many of these programs are offered through outdoor adventure education activities in the context of traditional academic settings such as high schools and colleges. These programs have used a number of approaches based on several theoretical models that affect self-concept, and research studying the outcomes of these programs has reported mixed results. Outdoor adventure education programs use experiential activities such as backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, and other outdoor recreation activities to achieve various goals and objectives. This study examined the changes in self- concept of adolescents enrolled in outdoor adventure education courses offered at a traditional college preparatory high school and explored how gender influenced changes in specific domains of self- concept.