Outdoor Education Mission
The outdoor education mission is to provide a learning community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to the development of professional outdoor educators who are grounded in the liberal arts tradition at Georgia College[1]. We are committed to exemplary teaching, scholarship, service, and practice that promotes holistic wellness, fosters stewardship of natural environments, and creates opportunities for positive change. We ascribe to the principles of experiential education set forth by The Association for Experiential Education[2] and believe that professionalism is central to the pursuit of excellence.
Core Values
Wellness
We believe in holistic wellness that includes health, effectiveness, and sustainability, and that these aspects of wellness are interdependent. We believe in a systems view of wellness in which our graduates will serve as agents of change that are able to improve the overall wellness of human and non-human individuals and communities.
Natural Environments
We believe that natural environments are powerful teachers and that through interactions with these environments people are changed in ways that are not possible when education is limited to traditional classroom settings. We believe that natural environments provide learning opportunities through direct experience with natural consequences that encourage connectedness and stewardship of the non-human world.
Adventure
We believe that learning should be an adventure that provides opportunities for students to challenge themselves to take intellectual, social, emotional, and physical risks that enhance personal and professional growth. We believe that within the context of learning communities of peers, faculty, and staff, our students will discover their potential to be successful professional outdoor educators.
Experiential Education
We ascribe to the principles of experiential education set forth by the Association for Experiential Education. We believe in the intentional use of direct experience supported by reflection, critical analysis, and synthesis. We believe that our students should be actively engaged throughout the learning process in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and constructing meaning.
Leadership
We believe that leadership in outdoor education must be grounded in a transformational perspective that is primarily focused on envisioning and creating opportunities for positive change. We believe that leadership demands a high level of moral fitness that includes authentic individuals operating out of genuine care for others. We believe that positive change is possible through the creation of an atmosphere of trust in which followers feel safe and supported as they engage in challenging experiences.
Professionalism
We believe that professionalism is an ethical responsibility and that the pursuit of excellence is central to personal and professional growth. We believe that professionalism requires taking pride in a job well done and personal accountability for actions and responsibilities. We believe that professionalism requires maintaining and modeling a positive attitude in the best of circumstances and the most challenging of circumstances. We believe that professionalism is demonstrated by showing respect for self, others, and the environment and continuous engagement in creative and intellectually challenging opportunities for developing personal and professional competence.
Contact Information
Outdoor Education
Campus Box 121
Milledgeville, GA 31061
Phone 478-445-1226
outdoor.ed@gcsu.edu
[1] http://gcsu.edu/about/index.htm (retrieved August 10, 2010).
[2] http://www.aee.org/about/whatIsEE (retrieved August 10, 2010).
