Outdoor education

The outdoors has an intrinsic connection within the UWC movement, back in 1962 a rule existed in our sister college Atlantic; the rule stated that not less than two afternoons weekly have to be spent out of doors for health reasons. (Röhrs & Tunstall-Behrens, 1970, p.109).

Outdoor Education has come along way since that time, along with finer tuning in research to define those ‘heath reasons’. Alongside this justification also lies the opportunity to explore other areas of our intellectual, physical, emotional, aesthetic, and spiritual development here in a UWC. For example sharing cultural perspectives, connecting with a physical landscape as well as its people, questioning our environmental value or physically challenging ourselves can all count for a richer experience. The outdoors offers a medium for this, not more so than here, where we are deeply embedded in the Sahyadri Hills. It is possible to leave campus by travelling up the hill in walking boots as well as down the hill in jeeps.

This term momentum is building, the development of student led societies for exploration and means for exploration are emerging. The Paddle Association will soon test their first hand made boat for floatation purposes; the Exploration Society are documenting stories of their journey’s and micro expeditions and the Climbing Committee are bolting the first hand holds to the newly built campus climbing wall. In our next issue, we will feature some of these journeys in detail and explore further the purpose behind them.

For more information on learning through outdoor education at UWC Mahindra College visit the website: http://www.uwcmahindracollege.org/how/outdoor-education

Andrew Hepworth
Student Volunteer Outdoor Education