Experiential settings hold great potential for empowering participants. Beginning with an overview of how empowerment has been defined and conceptualized in the literature, this article examines the construct of empowerment in experiential education settings as a process and an outcome. A summary of how empowerment has been applied and measured in experiential settings is described through a review of the research in this area. This article concludes with recommendations and implications for researchers and practitioners in the field of experiential education who seek to understand ways in which programs can facilitate and foster the development of empowerment.
Although most providers of adventure education experiences would likely agree that the adventure education process can be "empowering," empirical examination of empowerment is relatively limited in the literature (Angell, 1994;Autry, 2001;Sklar & Gibson, 2004).While theories of empowerment (both processes and outcomes) have been advanced, the context in which empowerment is developed and acted upon, must also be understood (Narayan, 2005;Spreitzer & Doneson, 2005;Zimmerman, 1995). Thus, understanding how participants perceive their adventure experience is critical to understanding how a sense of empowerment is developed. This study takes the perspective that an adventure education experience not only affords opportunities for participants to develop empowerment (process), but also facilitates the development of an empowered state (outcome). Using a mixed method approach, quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to examine how adventure experiences can serve as a mechanism through
This study examined the impact of an afterschool program on resilience in youth at an elementary school in Central NY. The goals of the program were to: (a) increase resiliency among participants, and (b) reduce the occurrence of aggressive behaviors (i.e., bullying) in 5th and 6th graders. Of the 79 students who completed the survey, 19 participants were able to be matched with pre- and posttests. In the study, 13 as participants in the afterschool program, and six as non-participants. Results of paired samples t-tests indicated that those who participated in the afterschool program showed a significant increase (p= 0.05) in resiliency scores. The program also had a positive impact on decreasing discipline-related referrals.
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics developed the Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK) program to teach children the seven Leave No Trace principles. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the PEAK program. A significant increase was found between the pre-test (M = 3.41, SD = .34) and the post-test (M = 3.61, SD = .36) with the post-test scores being significantly higher, F(1, 140) = 11.15, p
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