OAEP

The Outdoor and Adventure Education Programs Professional Group aims to connect practitioners and organizations with a commonwealth of theoretical and practical information, resources, and networking opportunities. The broad umbrella of OAEP covers a variety of programs and ideas as well as being a component of the historical roots of the Association for Experiential Education.

The significance of participant and educator exposure to experiential learning methods and practices through outdoor and adventure programs is priceless to the promotion, acceptance and integration of experiential education into the mainstream. The experiential process of action, reflection and application is easily recognizable as a distinct method in our programming and may be a strong introduction or example to learners and teachers when presented with skill and expertise. Raising the bar of excellence in programs and facilitation is therefore paramount for experiential education’s success and the OAEP professional group serves as a platform for the continuing development of its members. Abolishing the overly simplistic slogan of “Learning by Doing” and transitioning to a more appropriate expression of action, reflection and application will lead to stronger, more precise programs in outdoor and adventure settings and beyond.

The goals of OAEP are to provide a network for those involved with outdoor and adventure programs, for smaller programs to have a place to express their voice, a forum for the sharing of best practices, advocacy, and enrichment through pre-conference and workshop offerings at international AEE conferences.

For more information or to submit ideas or comments, please contact us:

Graham Prather, graham.prather@mnsu.edu
Ali Lien, alien@ymcagreenville.org
Michael Ackerman, michael@learnoutdoors.com