Kurt Hahn Consortium for Values and Experiential Learning

Over the last 80 years, young people around the world have participated in outdoor expeditions and programs through Outward Bound. Research has shown that outdoor experiential education like the programs offered by Outward Bound help people develop teamwork, self-reliance, leadership and other positive attributes that can collectively be termed "character." A new, $1.4 million award from the John Templeton Foundation will enable researchers from Penn State, the University of Utah, Outward Bound International, and Clemson University to study the commonalities and differences in Outward Bound Schools around the world and their impact on character development in different cultures and geographies.

Outward Bound operates in 34 nations, and its programs differ due to those cultural and geographic differences. Similarly, even though character generally means the same thing around the world, different cultures may have different values that are incorporated in their definition of character.

This three-year project aims to reveal how outdoor experiential education can most effectively build character and how to develop character in a multicultural setting while remaining sensitive to the communities served by Outward Bound and participants in their programs.

How do teens benefit from participating in Outward Bound Expeditions? Is it advantageous to wait a number of years before gathering data about the impact of expeditions?

RPTM graduate student, Scott Fairley, is exploring these questions for his Master's Thesis research advised by Dr. Allison. This fall, Scott is conducting retrospective interviews with alumni (aged 20-29) who participated in Outward Bound Teen Expeditions between 2012 and 2019. Interested alumni, who meet these criteria, can contact Scott directly at sjf5729@psu.edu to participate.

For almost a century, expeditions—group trips into wilderness areas where people face physical, mental, and emotional challenges—have been used as an educational tool. Expeditions were initially intended to create a new generation of all-male explorers for the United Kingdom. Today, that rationale may seem as dated and irrelevant as the clothes and equipment used on those early trips.

Why, then, have these trips grown more and more popular over the subsequent decades? Research indicates that expeditions foster personal growth in participants. Pete Allison, associate professor of recreation, park, and tourism management, has spent almost three decades examining how expeditions help people grow into more confident and purpose-driven adults.

“Many times, I have heard the cliché that an expedition changed someone’s life,” said Allison. “I wanted to research whether this was true, and if so, how, and why.”

Outward Bound International (OBI) is the coordinating organization for all Outward Bound Schools in 35 different countries around the world. OBI provides the quality reassurances and sharing of best practices as well as promotes the work of OB Schools in political and international contexts. Outward Bound was started in 1941 in the UK by educator Kurt Hahn and business man Lawrence Holt to develop character and compassion in young people. In 1962 the ideas migrated across the Atlantic and the first Outward Bound School in the USA was opened in Colorado (still in operation today).

Penn State University (PSU) is the home for the Kurt Hahn Consortium for Values and Experiential Learning (KHCVEL) which is a collective of passionate academics and practitioners interested in supporting the work of Hahn legacy organizations.

OBI and PSU have signed a Memorandum of Understanding as an indicator of their commitment to collaborating with each other. This is primarily aimed at collaborative applications for research funding to examine character, develop capacity in OB schools around the world to share good practices and also develop research capacities in OB schools.

Sarah Wiley of OBI said … “Outward Bound International is thrilled to be collaborating with Penn State University on a variety of research initiatives. Our partnership with PSU will support and further OBI’s global research agenda; helping the Outward Bound global network of schools to continue to develop and deliver high-impact outdoor learning programs for young people around the world. “

Dr. Pete Allison, director of KHCVEL commented, ‘we are delighted to collaborate with OBI as the leading provider of outdoor education worldwide. We are excited to partner in research which will directly and indirectly positively impact the quality of educational experiences people will have outdoors.’

The Penn State Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management and the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) have formally committed to a collaborative relationship to develop curriculum, research and opportunities for study.

Penn State Professor Pete Allison has been named one of the 14 inaugural British Exploring Society Fellows at the Royal Geographical Society.

As part of Penn State’s ongoing effort to develop academic and research partnerships around the world, the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and Outward Bound Oman have committed to a collaborative relationship with a signing at University Park and at a royal ceremony in Muscat, Oman.