Motivations and values of outdoor education students: Perspectives from North Karelia, Finland and Minnesota

A Plan B project submitted to the faculty of the graduate school of the University of Minnesota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Education, May, 2013. This item has been modified from the original to redact the signatures present.This study explored pre-service and alumni outdoor education students’ motivations for studying outdoor education and their values of the field of outdoor education. Student and alumni perspectives from one American and one Finnish institution of higher learning were investigated through electronic surveys and semi-structured interviews. Data was collected and analyzed using a concurrent mixed methods research design. Findings indicated that respondents’ motivations and values are seldom singular, but rather a combination of factors. Prominent findings across study sites indicated that students were motivated by the combination of recreational pursuits in the outdoors with a job and by past experiences in the outdoors. They perceived outdoor education as valuable in providing people with meaningful experiences in the outdoors that benefit both people and the natural world, and in helping counteract a societal disconnection from nature. Implications for practitioners and for research are discussed, and specific recommendations for each site are provided.University of Minnesota Duluth. College of Education and Human Service Profession