With the experience of the leading outdoor education organization in the world today

Staff Symposium

Key Speakers

COLIN MORTLOCK

Biography

Colin Mortlock was born in 1936 and educated at Bemrose Grammar School, Derby, and Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated in Modern History. A keen athlete, he went on to Loughborough College to take first class honours in Physical Education and Education.

After teaching at the Royal Wolverhampton School and Manchester Grammar School he became, in 1965, Warden of The Woodlands Outdoor Centre in south Wales. This centre for school children from the city of Oxford soon became recognised as one of the country's leading adventure centres. In 1971 he was appointed Director of the Centre for Outdoor Education, Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside, in the Lake District. Over the next twenty years the Centre became renowned both for its degree courses and especially for its one-year International Adventure course for experienced teachers.

Apart from a lifetime in Outdoor Education, Colin has acquired a considerable reputation for his own adventures. In the 1960s he was one of Britain's top rock climbers, and was probably the first to devise and use a climbing wall. He led an Oxford Expedition to Norway and was on the successful Trivor Himalayan Expedition. He later went on to discover Pembrokeshire sea-cliff climbing and wrote the initial guidebook. After several years of white-water canoeing and small-boat sailing off the west coast of Britain he began sea kayaking. In 1975, he was awarded a Churchill Scholarship for leading a pioneering six-man kayak expedition along the arctic coastline of Norway and round the North Cape. This was followed in 1979 by a two-man kayak expedition along the Alaskan coastline from Prince Rupert to Sitka. In 1981 he returned to Sitka and made a 650-mile solo kayak journey to the north, including Glacier Bay. In the following years he spent a considerable time establishing and working as Chairman for the Ambleside and Area Adventure Association and the Lakes Community Outdoor Project. Together these charities provided outdoor experiences and sports resources for the local community. He returned to the mountains of Europe in 1988, and since retirement in 1991 has covered over 15,000 miles trekking in the wild, often alone.

Colin Mortlock was founder and first chairman of the National Association of Outdoor Adventure Education. He is currently chairman of the Adventure & Environmental Awareness Group. He has written extensively on outdoor education and has an international reputation as a keynote lecturer on adventure and values.

www.cicerone.co.uk

PRESENTATION

Colin,now in his 70’s, will look at the meaning and implications of adventure both in its broad sense as an approach to life ; and in its more conventional sense in terms of experiences in wild nature. His third book, The Spirit of Adventure”, is to be published this year and is particularly concerned with the potentially huge importance of outdoor experiences, especially expeditions, solos and frontier adventure in an increasingly disturbed modern world. The presentation, like the book, is in the great tradition of Kurt Hahn : “Education (or learning) is, or should be, concerned with the development of the individual in the pursuit of truth”.

WORKSHOP

An exploration of the implementation of the ideas and values as expressed in the new book and how they relate with current practice in Outward Bound schools.

SEPPO KARPPINEN

Principal in special education in Oulu Finland

MA Education

PhD Education (University of Oulu)

Outdoor activities

Experiential Learning (theory and practice)

Special education

Problem behaviours, mental and special needs

Since 1980 I have worked as an special education teacher in the public sector. For the past few years I have been working as principal in Oulu Hospital School, there are pupils with mental difficulties. I am interested to use alternative, mostly experiential and outdoor methods and approaches in teaching and learning-cultures. My own PhD is titled “Outdoor adventure and experiential learning as a method for challenging pupils” (2005). link: http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514277554/. This investigation looked at the alternatives that public school could offer for pupils with social-emotional problems. I am a member in the Finnish outdoor and adventure network organization and have published articles and books (in finnish) related to outdoor learning. My hobbies are cross-country skiing, clarinet playing and sustainability. I live in the country with my the wife and 4 children.

In the presentation I concentrate to open out-of-door education paradigms, which often lack a clearly defined educational or philosophical framework where practical activities are theoretically grounded. This presentation explores some philosophical and practical ideas or programmes where the primary aim involves the concept of outdoor learning activities. The purpose is to look at ways in which experiences out-of-doors can act as a powerful and an alternative stimulant to encourage learners to consider their own perspectives and ability to act towards mentally balanced lifestyles.

Kristof Geysemans

° 12 april 1977

I've studied Socio-cultural work in Brussels. Graduated in 1999. Worked 6 months as a volunteer with street-children in Chennai, India. Worked 2,5 years in a centre for drug-users. Worked as snowboard instructor in Austria during 2 winters, in summer I worked as an outdoor sports instructor. 5 years ago I started to work at Outward Bound Belgium. Right now I work as trainer and I am responsible for the custom designed train the trainer programs. For the moment I am participant in a 3 year long counselors-training at FMS (2nd year). I am passionate about my 5 months old daughter Jakobe, and the cargo-tricycle I've build by myself.

I like balance sports like snowboarding, surfing and slacklining.