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RATIONALE
Given today’s social milieu, there is no denying that the nature of life experiences youth are facing has drastically changed in recent decades. According to Patrikakou and Weissberg (2007), such changes make it critical that schools work together with families to address children’s academic, social, emotional and character development. In this study, outdoor adventure education will be explored as a possible intervention strategy for the facilitation of emotional intelligence.
According to the findings of an international review conducted by Barwick (2004), the benefits of outdoor adventure education may include increased self-control, powerful effects on self-esteem, increased problem-solving skills and improved interpersonal skills, such as social competence, cooperation and interpersonal communication. These skills all form part of emotional intelligence. Andrews (1999) maintains that outdoor adventure education programmes could be among the most intensive forms of experiential learning as they allow participants to actively construct knowledge, skills and values from direct experiences in a wilderness setting.
This change of setting, from the comforts of home into challenging physical and social environments, enhances an individual’s potential for learning (Fabrizio, 2005). An example of an outdoor adventure education programme in South Africa is “The Journey”, which was introduced by a private high school for boys in 2005. Locally, the idea was first implemented by Somerset College as the “Somerset Trek” in 1999. It was based on an international trend after a girl’s school in Melbourne Australia had implemented their first highly successful 33-day “Wilderness Trek” in 1994 (St Alban’s College, 2009).
I am currently involved with this private high school for boys as a consultant psychologist. “The Journey” is one of their flagship initiatives and is a 23-day outdoor adventure education programme for Grade 10s. “The Journey” was designed to provide an opportunity for the boys to gain a greater sense of responsibility, independence, leadership skills, tolerance, cooperation, confidence and a deeper awareness of self and others, and it has received praise from boys, teachers and parents alike.
Besides the aspect of adventure education in the outdoors, the focus also falls on rites of passage for these boys. Through the ages, in many cultures, societies have used rites of passage to facilitate the transition from childhood into adulthood (Gavazzi, Alford & McKenry, 1996).
CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION TO RESEARCH STUDY
1.1 ORIENTATION
1.2 RATIONALE
1.3 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.4.1 Secondary research questions
1.4.2 Research hypothesis
1.5 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS
1.5.1 Outdoor adventure education
1.5.2 Experiential learning
1.5.3 Emotional intelligence
1.5.4 Adolescence
1.5.5 Rites of passage
1.5.6 “The Journey”
1.5.7 Design elements
1.5.8 Sustainability
1.6 BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW
1.6.1 A brief overview of emotional intelligence
1.6.1.1 Approaches to emotional intelligence
1.6.1.2 The facilitation of emotional intelligence
1.6.2 A brief overview of outdoor adventure education
1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.8 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.9 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE
1.10 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
1.10.1 Mode of inquiry
1.10.2 Research sites and samplin
1.10.3 Data collection and analysis
1.10.3.1 Collecting and analysing quantitative data
1.10.3.2 Collecting and analysing qualitative data
1.10.4 Quality assurance, including validity and reliability
1.11 ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER
1.12 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.13 LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
1.14 KEY WORDS
1.15 CHAPTER PLANNING
CHAPTER 2: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 THE ORIGINS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.3 APPROACHES TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.3.1 The Mayer and Salovey ability model of emotional intelligence
2.3.2 The Goleman model of emotional intelligence
2.3.3 The Bar-On model of emotional intelligence
2.4 DEFINING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.5 THE FACILITATION OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.5.1 Can emotional intelligence be improved?
2.5.2 Improving emotional intelligence
2.5.3 Exploring the impact of emotional intelligence
2.6 THE ASSESSMENT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.6.1 Performance measures of EI
2.6.1.1 The Emotional Accuracy Research Scale (EARS)
2.6.1.2 The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA)
2.6.1.3 The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)
2.6.2 Self-report measures of EI
2.6.2.1 The Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI)
2.6.2.2 The Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI)
2.6.2.3 The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i)
2.6.2.4 The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (EQ-i:YV)
2.6.3 Performance measures of EI versus self-report measures of EI
2.7 CRITIQUE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.7.1 EI as different constructs
2.7.2 EI and personality
2.7.3 Critique against self-report questionnaires
2.7.4 IQ and EI
2.8 CRITICAL OVERVIEW OF MY LITERATURE REVIEW PERTAINING TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
2.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 3: OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.2.1 Exploring the roots of outdoor adventure education
3.2.2 The development of outdoor adventure education and related programmes
3.3 DEFINING OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.4 COMPONENTS OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.5 EDUCATIONAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.5.1 Experiential learning and outdoor adventure education
3.5.1.1 The foundations of experiential education
3.5.1.2 David Kolb and the experiential learning cycle
3.5.2 Rites of passage as part of outdoor adventure education
3.5.3 Adolescence as a developmental phase
3.6 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.6.1 Stretch-zone theory
3.6.2 Optimal arousal theory
3.6.3 Social cognitive theor
3.7 THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR ADVTURE EDUCATION
3.7.1 The impact of outdoor adventure education on adolescent identity development
3.7.2 The impact of outdoor adventure education on adolescents’ social development
3.7.3 The impact of outdoor adventure education on adolescent self-concept development
3.7.4 The impact of outdoor adventure education on adolescent cognitive development
3.8 CRITIQUE ON OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION
3.8.1 Character building – fact or fiction? 64
3.8.2 The assessment of outdoor adventure education programme outcomes
3.9 CRITICAL OVERVIEW OF MY LITERATURE REVIEW PERTAINING TO OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATI
3.10 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4: CONCEPTUAL ORIENTATION, RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 PARADIGMATIC FRAMEWORK
4.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
4.3.1 Kolb’s experiential learning cycle
4.3.2 Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory
4.3.3 Bar-On Model of Emotional Intelligence
4.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
4.5 STRATEGY OF INQUIRY
4.6 MODE OF INQUIRY
4.7 RESEARCH SITES AND SAMPLING
4.8 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
4.8.1 Collecting and analysing quantitative data
4.8.2 Collecting and analysing qualitative data
4.9 QUALITY ASSURANCE INCLUDING VALIDITY A RELIABILI
4.9.1 Psychometric properties of the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version
4.9.1.1 Standardisation of the Bar-On EQ-i:YV
4.9.1.2 Validity of the Bar-On EQ-i:YV
4.9.1.3 Reliability of the Bar-On EQ-i:YV
4.9.1.3.1 Internal reliability
4.9.1.3.2 Test-retest reliability
4.10 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5: RESULTS OF THE PILOT PROJECT AND RESEARCH PROPE
CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS
CHAPTER 7: FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
