The value of participating in British exploring society expeditions: a three year multi-cohort study

A primary aim of many expeditions is to facilitate personal development of young people and while there is much anecdotal evidence to support this aim, there is limited empirical work of varied quality that explores the specific nature of such benefits. This research examined nine summer BES expedit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AUC KINANTHROPOLOGICA
Main Authors: Pete Allison, Russell Martindale, Tim Stott, Shirley Gray, Christine Nash, Kotryna Fraser, John Wang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Karolinum Press 2018
Subjects:
expeditions
personal and social development
wilderness
youth development
adventure
experiential learning
values education
British Exploring Society
Sports
GV557-1198.995
Sports medicine
RC1200-1245
Norway
Finnmark
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2018.1
https://doaj.org/article/b661b350c77846398674aa0744d5045f
Description
Summary:A primary aim of many expeditions is to facilitate personal development of young people and while there is much anecdotal evidence to support this aim, there is limited empirical work of varied quality that explores the specific nature of such benefits. This research examined nine summer BES expeditions (Norway, Namibia, & Amazon in 2012; Finnmark, Ladakh, & Namibia in 2013 and 2014) involving 58 young people (aged between 15 and 22) who completed three on-line questionnaires to collect qualitative (open ended questions) and quantitative (Likert scale) data. Measurement of four psychological attributes associated with effective character development were used: mental toughness, coping skills, GRIT and leadership skills. Surveys were completed at three stages; 1) pre-expedition, 2) immediately post expedition and 3) three months post expedition. Results indicated that the expeditions impacted positively on the psychological attributes of young people, with lasting short terms effects (three months after expedition). For the 58 participants, there were statistically significant improvements and small positive effect sizes in mental toughness (P = 0.006; ηp2 = 0.167), leadership skills (P = 0.004; ηp2 = 0.18), and GRIT (P = 0.001; ηp2 = 0.218). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) or effect size for the application of coping strategies. Qualitative data provided insights into how the learning took place and individual perspectives on the overall value of the expedition in relation to narrative understanding.

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