An Outdoor Education

Code of Ethics

Outdoor Education Australia recognises that the professionals working in this field are entrusted with a significant responsibility to nurture the wellbeing of the students and other participants in their care.

The following Code of Ethics articulates the guidelines which the state and territory associations that make up Outdoor Education Australia encourage their members to adhere to.

Background to the Code of Ethics

As part of his Masters of Outdoor Education undertaken at Griffith University, Innes Larkin was encouraged by former Australian Outdoor Education Council President, Jackie Kiewa, to facilitate the development of a Code of Ethics for the Outdoor Education profession.

After a period of research Innes presented his proposal to a gathering of south-east Queensland Outdoor Education professionals at Gregory Terrace Outdoor Education Centre. Through a qualitative approach this group arrived at a basic outline of the core values/ethics that were important to them. From there Innes took their outline and worked it into a cohesive document for presentation at a Queensland Outdoor Education Conference. At this conference the Code of Ethics was further refined.

Following further consultation within Queensland, Innes was encouraged to bring the Code of Ethics to the National Conference in South Australia (2003) where another workshop further refined the document. At then end of the conference a final draft was presented to each state Outdoor Education body to take to their constituents and approve or provide recommendations. Positive responses were received from Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.

Feedback on the Code is welcome.

Ethical Guidelines:

• The Outdoor Educator will fulfil his/her duty of care
• The Outdoor Educator will provide a supportive and appropriate learning environment
• The Outdoor Educator will develop his/her professionalism
• The Outdoor Educator will ensure his/her practice is culturally and environmentally sensitive

The Outdoor Educator will fulfil his/her duty of care

An Outdoor Educator has a duty of care for the participants under his/her charge.  This duty of care revolves around the principle Lord Denning stated in Donaghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 580, “ You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour… (that is) persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation”.  When applied to the education field, the High Court in Geyer v Downs [1977] (138 CLR 91) moved away from this definition to a more school orientated definition, “ It is now a proper working assumption that the standard of care is that of the reasonable teacher, having regard to the formal and acquired expertise of teachers, and the reasonable school authority, having regards to its resources.”

In fulfilling his/her duty of care, the Outdoor Educator will: 

• Maintain as a first priority the mental, emotional, physical and social safety of those under our duty of care.
• Understand the concept of duty of care as outlined by the legislations and precedents below:
  • Criminal Code Act 1995
  • Workplace Health and Safety Acts (each jurisdication has its own legislation)
  • Principles of Negligence
  • Comply with professionally accepted practice
  • Comply with organisational policies or legislation

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The Outdoor Educator will provide a supportive and appropriate learning environment

An Outdoor Educator is committed to providing learning experiences for his or her participants. A learning environment must be planned with clear learning goals in mind.  The programme then needs to be developed and implemented with the participants’ physical, social, mental and emotional maturity in mind to safely achieve these learning goals. Flexibility within the learning environment allows for responsiveness to the situation, or participants.

In providing a supportive and appropriate learning environment, the Outdoor Educator will:

• Ensure that the learning environment is appropriate to their level of expertise.
• Ensure that the learning environment is appropriate to the participants’ maturity, experience, and developmental stage.
• Understand and apply a variety of leadership and learning models to suit the learning environment.
• Employ inclusive and equitable practices for participants.
• Contribute to a just and humane society through the facilitation of participants’ understanding of themselves and their relationships with the diverse biophysical, social and cultural environments.

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The Outdoor Educator will develop his/her professionalism.

An Outdoor Educator is committed to providing a high standard of professional service and contributing to the profession.

In developing his/her professionalism, the Outdoor Educator will:

• Demonstrate passion and commitment to the ideals of the Outdoor Education profession.
• Provide services in accordance with his/her education, training and experience.
• Demonstrate commitment to maintaining professional development.
• Contribute to the Outdoor Education body of knowledge and practice.
• Demonstrate mutual respect for colleagues and celebrate the diversity of practice within outdoor education professional practise.
• Engage in professional reflection and critique on a regular basis.
• Encourage and support the development of other Outdoor Educators.
• Promote public awareness and understanding of the Outdoor Education profession

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The Outdoor Educator will ensure his or her practice is culturally and environmentally sensitive.

An Outdoor Educator is committed to caring for the earth and its inhabitants.

In practising cultural and environmental sensitivity the Outdoor Educator will:

• Promote critical reflection on the ecological consequences of both local and global behaviours.
• Personally model culturally and environmentally sensitive behaviours.
• Encourage a greater understanding of the natural and constructed environments through quality interpretation.
• Maintain a positive balance between the learning goals of the programme and the environmental impact. This could be achieved through
• Utilisation of the most appropriate environment that allows the programme goals to be achieved
• Maintaining group size to a level appropriate to the environment
• Educate participants in the use of environmentally sound practices.
• Care for the local environment through action projects.
• Encourage respect for the diverse cultural beliefs and practices.

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Bibliography

• Donaghue v Stephenson [1932] AC 562
• Fox, K and Lautt, M. 1996, Ethical Frameworks, Moral Practices and Outdoor Education. In Coalition for Education in the Outdoors, Third Research Symposium Proceedings, Bradford Woods, Indiana, Jan 12-14,1996
• Geyer v Downs [1977] 138 CLR 91
• Gregory, Mueller and Taylor, 1976, Periodic recertification of CPA’s: New labels on old packages, University of Washington Press, Seattle.
• Havens, M.D. Learning from Ethical Dilemmas, Journal of Experiential Education V10 (1), pp12-15.
• Haynes, F. 1998. The Ethical School. Routledge, London
• Hunt, J. 1990 Ethical Issues in Experiential Education, The Association for Experiential Education, Boulder, CO
• Hunt, J. 1991.  Ethics and Experiential Education as Professional Practice.  Journal of Experiential Education, 14 (2), pp14-18.
• Hunt, J. and Wurdinger, S. 1999, Ethics and Adventure Programming. In Adventure Programming, Miles, J. and Priest, S. (eds), Venture Publishing, Pennsylvania
• Johnson, B.L. and Fredrickson, L.M. 2000, “What’s in a good life?” Searching for ethical wisdom in the wilderness. The Journal of Experiential Education, 23 (1), pp 43-50
• Martin, P. 2000 Outdoor Recreation and Outdoor Education: Connections and disconnections. Horizons, 71, pp 22-28.
• Priest, S. 2000 Introduction. In Miles, J. and Priest, S. (eds), Adventure Programming, (p xiii-xiv), Venture Publishing, Pennsylvania
• Mitten, D. 1996 The Value of Feminist Ethics in Experiential Education Teaching and Leadership. In Women’s Voices in Experiential Education. Kendall/Hunt, Iowa
• Phipps, M. 1995.  Moral and Ethical Decision Making. JAOEL 12(3), pp18-19.
• Priest, S. & Gass, M. 1997, Professional Ethics. Chapter 23 In Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, Human Kinetics, Champaign
• Strike, K. & Soltis, J. 1998, The Ethics of Teaching. Teachers College Press, NY.
• Strike, K. & Ternaski, P. 1993. Ethics for Professionals in Education. Teachers College Press, NY