2010 Keynote Speaker
Keith C. Russell, Ph.D., Western Washington University
Keith C. Russell, Ph.D., is an associate professor in Recreation at Western Washington University with an emphasis on Outdoor Education and Youth Development. He has been a wilderness educator for more than twenty years in the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, and New Zealand, specializing in wilderness therapy for youth and expedition leadership in paddling sports, especially sea kayaking and whitewater paddling. His research and teaching specialties cover the areas of adventure education and therapy, human relations, research methods, and the application of counseling and mental health practice to recreation and outdoor education settings.
Dr. Russell has published over 25 refereed and professional publications focusing on the design, implementation and evaluation of educational and therapeutic programs for youth. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, the Journal of Groups in Addictions and Recovery, Child and Youth Care Forum, the International Journal of Wilderness, the Journal of Experiential Education, and the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning.
In 1999, he established and currently directs the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Research Cooperative (OBHRC), with a primary aim of independently researching and evaluating wilderness treatment programs for special needs youth and their families. Results from his work are routinely communicated to the public, academicians, mental health professionals, federal and state agencies, through a wide range of media including the BBC, New York Times, and Washington Post.
Presentation Overview
As we “embark on our new journey,” it is critical to examine the relevance of experiential education as a field. This presentation explores what is characterized as an emergent dualism between the body and soul of EE. The body of EE, manifest in theory, research and current practice, appears to be moving towards validation and acceptance by mainstream schools of thought in education and mental health practice.
Whether this is in reaction to increased public and governmental oversight, an evolving sense of what ‘adventure’ and ‘risk’ means in contemporary society, or due to other causes, the end result seems to be a focus on research, best practices, assessment, and licensure and accreditation of programs and practitioners. Concurrent with this movement is the growing perception by many that the very essence of EE is being lost in this process, and subsequently that the field of EE is in danger of losing its “soul.” This inherent dualism in how EE is practiced in schools, recreation settings, outdoor education centers, and in mental health settings seems to be present in discussions heard at conferences, on listserves, and in the literature, and has deep roots embedded in the soil of debate on whether mountains do indeed speak for themselves. And if the mountains do not speak for themselves, then who does as EE practice embarks on its new journey outside the box, and into the very near and uncertain future.
Key questions to be addressed include:
Does movement toward assessment, standardized practice, licensure, restrictive accreditation standards, and increased risk management practices move EE farther and farther away from that which makes it special and unique?
And consequently, could be losing the opportunity to better understand and tell the story about the theory and the core elements of EE that make it truly unique?
