Outdoor Recreation in Education and the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme
Outdoor recreation plays a huge role in education with many schools having it placed high up on their list of priorities. The benefits of children partaking in outdoor recreation were pioneered by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn in the 1930s. In 1934 he founded Gordonstoun School in Scotland. His educational philosophy was based around the theory that education of the mind and the body should be conducted together and not separately. The school promoted the importance of physical fitness and the use of expeditions Some of Hahn’s beliefs were extreme such as daily cold showers and “punishment runs”, and would later be taken off the school’s curriculum. However, some of his beliefs inspired other schools and led to the introduction of the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme in 1956. He greatly believed that children benefited from being taken out of their...
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