AFTER an Outdoor Education Activity

Before participating in [name of outdoor education activity], we spoke of creating a culture of safety-mindedness.

• Think of three ways that you demonstrated a culture of safety-mindedness
  throughout the activity.
• Think of a situation where you may not have paid enough attention to your safety or that of the people around you, and describe what you would do differently next time.
• What safety-related aspects of today’s activity did you take responsibility for?
• What safety-related aspects of today’s activity did the group take responsibility for?
• What safety-related aspects of today’s activity did the teachers and monitors take responsibility for?

Have students choose a particular incident that occurred on the trip or during the activity that can be used to generate good conversations and reflections to deepen their learning about risk management. These conversations can be a challenge but are invaluable in reducing risks during future activities. Identifying lemons and near misses allows students to discuss safety and consider future actions without anybody feeling blamed for any one incident. If an incident merits being reviewed and discussed but has the potential to be controversial, have students write confidentially about the experience in their personal journal.

Have students prepare an imaginary “emergency kit” based on their trip experience. They can choose real items, pictures from the Internet or magazines, or metaphorical items that represent something they had or wished they had on the trip. Their kit can represent equipment, general (soft) skills, or specialized (hard) skills that they had or wished they’d had on the trip, individually or as a group, to help them in various situations. Their kit can also include items they would bring the next time in case of future emergencies. Ask each student to present their kit to the class. Seeing what everybody put in their kit can help foster great discussions.

During most trips, the class is divided into smaller groups. Choose a trip experience common to all the students (for example, a thunderstorm while at the campsite or on the water). Have students work in pairs (one from each of the smaller groups) to establish a timeline of the responses to the incident. Have them compare their responses in terms of leadership, group reaction, equipment used, techniques used, choices made, communications, etc. Record these in one column of a chart. In a second column, record students’ descriptions of the ideal responses. Once finished, have each pair of students compare their answers with another pair.

After experiencing the first field trip of the season, outline the next field trip. Give students headings for a typical risk management plan that you, as a teacher, would have to provide to your administration. Have students prepare their own risk management plan for the next trip. This will allow them to reflect on their first experience and apply their new learnings to the next trip.

Based on their experiences over the course of the semester, have students create fictional risk management scenarios for an upcoming field trip and share them with the class. What kinds of activities and risks should they consider? What might students think of or do on a trip that may pose a risk? What can the teachers or monitors do − or not do − that might pose a risk?