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General Climbing Discussion

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Outdoor Ed excluded from national curriculum 18-Apr-2012 At 10:17:44 AM Doug

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Ultimately, Outdoor Education is about a lot more than a trip to Arapiles. Given that about 85 percent of Australians now live in urban communities, for the survival of our natural environment it's essential to have curricula that directly connects young people to it. Some of this should be through adventure based learning activities, some of it natural history based learning. Both involve kids interacting with the environment in a real and direct way. If there are students at Arapiles - or other crags - who aren't there because they want to be, imaginative educators will find some way to engage them. There's plenty to do at Arapiles other than climb.
I've often wondered if the fact that so many people who fetch up at various crags and treat them like a wide open trash can is a reflection of the fact that they don't feel a part of the environment or connected to it in any way. Unfortunately, Outdoor Education has been getting more and more squeezed out of the picture in recent times with all the shifting of the educational landscape, which has been largely politically driven. If you want things to change, vote Green. They seem to be the only mob who really cares about the environmental future, and who understand the need for people to be connected in a real way to the environment if we are to preserve it.