Using Adventure Education as a Means of Marking Transition Into Adulthood: Leadership Training with Graduating Steiner School Students

This is a functional research paper on the development of an adventure education-based pro-gramme for graduating elementary school students in southern Finland during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2021. The Steiner-Waldorf school commissioned a course that used leadership training modalities to enhance students’ wellbeing and meta-skills. The course culminated in a small camping expedition where the course skills were put to the test. After a process of community-based ideation sessions, the following objectives of the school were identified: the need to mark the transition out of childhood and towards adulthood; to re-connect with nature; and to enhance social skills. In particular, students’ competencies in teamworking, self-confidence and communication skills were targeted as key learning objec-tives. These issues were researched and framed within a wider context of societal issues, namely: alienation; nature deficit; and a lack of rites of passage to mark life transitions. Adventure pedagogy and how reflecting and learning take place were research topics. Qual-itative data collection methods were employed, including: observation; semi-structured in-terviews; feedback and a survey. The design and implementation of the entire programme are evaluated, and the results indicate at least partial success: some students did learn in the targeted areas; whilst others benefitted less so. Reasons for this are discussed with a focus on the conditions surrounding the course, as well as improvements to the programme suggested. Finally, the transferability of the programme into the wider field is argued, with the need for young men to have more guidance and support highlighted