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Abstract
It has been said that wilderness survival is the doorway to the Earth. If
this statement is true, then wilderness survival should be a very effective
way to teach outdoor education. Whether you are teaching children or college
students, wilderness survival skills can be used to bring people closer to
the earth. For example, the "bow drill" fire will teach you about the trees;
cordage from plant fibers will teach you about the world of plants; tea made
from leaves, roots, bark, or needles will also teach about plants; and,
sleeping in a debris but will teach you about the animals. This paper will
outline how to incorporate wilderness survival skills into outdoor education
programs and how to implement teaching through questioning.
Introduction
We often think of wilderness survival from a fear or emergency point of
view; it is something only to be used when your life is on the line and you
have no other hope to stay alive. In this paper, we will look at wilderness
survival as an enjoyable way to become closer to the earth and as primitive
living skills. We will focus on how to use these skills as a teaching tool
for outdoor education.
Outdoor education is many times administered through games and activities
such as nature hikes or observing an ecosystem within a one-foot circle on
the ground. Often, the end result is that the participants look more closely
at the earth only for that brief moment. The use of wilderness survival
offers another way to get to the same end result. It offers a skill that
will encourage the participants to become more interactive with nature by
observing it and participating in it. This method permits the participant to
walk away from the experience with something to show or teach to others.
Environmental outdoor education programs, as well as adventure outdoor
education programs, will find that by using wilderness survival skills such
as bow drill, a primitive fire-starting technique, participants will not
only learn to use a knife properly and to make fire by friction, but also
they will learn the trees around them in a much more personal way. The
smell, touch, look, and location of a certain tree will become very much a
part of this lesson. Many of the lessons taught in wilderness survival tend
to reach far beyond that of the initial lesson. Wilderness survival provides
opportunities for students or participants to develop a deeper relationship
with the earth through guided observation and participation in the natural
world around them.
Learning how to care for major needs such as shelter, water, fire, and food
in the wilderness can give individuals a strong sense of security wherever
they are.
As an outdoor educator, teaching people about the outdoors can become a
lesson in itself. A common question asked of outdoor educators is "What tree
is that?" or something similar. The outdoor educator reveals the answer,
only to be asked the same question again and again. We, as outdoor
educators, can use these questions to teach our students how to learn.
Answering questions with questions can do this very effectively. The
question that you ask the student should help them find the answer on their
own. The process of teaching with questions is discussed later in this
paper. Examples of how to integrate wilderness survival skills into outdoor
education activities help to articulate the significance of this perspective
in the field.
Wilderness Survival Skills Integrated Into Outdoor Education Activities
Essentially outdoor educators are attempting to teach participants about
science, history, empathy, respect, and a host of other lessons about the
natural environment.
Different activities will fit the needs of outdoor education programs, and
it becomes the educator's responsibility to identify what activity meets
these needs. As discussed above with the bow drill fire, many lessons can
come from one activity. The same is true with many of the survival skills.
These activities or skills help the participants to develop relationships
with the natural world all around them. These relationships allow the
participant to see into a world they have not been accustomed to in their
daily lives.
When first starting with a group that is not accustomed to the natural
environment, it is very common to notice that the participants have
difficulty seeing the difference between common plants or trees. Many people
refer to this as the "wall of green" or not having "plant eyes." With time
participants can learn to see the differences between the plants, trees,
birds, and animals, but first we must find ways to connect them to each
through the activities that we provide. A good way to start developing this
relationship with the plants is to make cordage, or rope, from plant fibers
or the inner bark of a tree.
Trees and Plants
At the end of their growing season, many plants send their energy back down
to their roots or seeds for next season to grow again. During the winter
months the stalk of the plant will remain. Many of these stalks such as
Dogbane, Milkweed, and Stinging Nettle are easily found and great to use
with groups. The outer fiber or bark of these plants can be stripped off and
twisted into cord. The same can be done with many types of trees such as
Poplars, Aspens, Walnut, Basswood, and many more. This fiber within trees is
found under the bark and is best found on dead-down wood. Participants
learning cordage discover that plants can offer great things to them. Many
will make jewelry or other gifts with their cordage. The lesson in this
activity reaches far beyond learning how natives made rope. It can be used
to discuss respectful harvesting of plants and giving thanks for what we
use.
Now that the cordage has been made we have developed a relationship with
that plant and potentially a need to look for it again and again. There is
now something that sets that particular plant apart from the rest. Other
activities that work well in developing relationships with the trees and
plants are one match fire, primitive fire, basket making, and other types of
crafts like dream catchers, god's eyes, and making tea from pine needles,
mint, spice bush, or other similar sources.
Animals
Our society moves at a very fast pace. We walk faster than we need to and
should. We jump from activity to activity or flip from channel to channel
with little time spent moving slowly or sitting still. When we walk in the
forest at this fast pace, the birds and animals get scared and run. We then
see loads of birds flying up and away from us with the occasional white flag
of a deer tail bounding away from us. Many of our participants may believe
that this is the only way that animals act: always running from place to
place.
In reality, animals conserve their energy by walking or moving in what is
called base line, a slow moving gate with intentional movements. A simple
stalking game is an activity that demonstrates this lesson. To do a stalking
game, one person sits on the ground with keys in front of them. The role of
the rest of the group is to slowly and quietly move toward the sitter, take
the keys, and then move back to starting place without being heard. The
sitter must point to those that they hear to send them back to the start
place. Before or after the game is started you can assign animals to small
groups where they research their animals and learn what their major senses
might be and learn to walk as they would walk. For example, bears are pace
walkers, and so they move both left feet forward then both right feet. After
learning how bears walk, participants can use this walking style to get the
keys. Activities such as these allow participants to pretend andsee what it
is like through the eyes of the animal.
Other ways to develop a good understanding and empathy for the animals is to
learn how they live, what type of shelters they use, and how they keep warm
in the winter. A debris but is essentially the same shelter the squirrel
uses. Shelter building is very effective for teaching because the
participant learns by doing the activity. Understanding how leaves and other
natural elements operate to create a warm, waterproof shelter facilitates a
recognition of how animals survive in the wilderness.
Teaching with Questions
Tom Brown Jr., a noted tracker, author, and founder of the wilderness
survival and tracking school that bares his name, often refers to a method
of teaching known as "Coyote teaching." The coyote in much of native lore is
known as the trickster, a very sneaky and under handed character. As an
outdoor educator, you must become the coyote. Many times, participants want
their questions answered the moment they ask, and many times, once their
question has been answered, they will promptly forget it. They have not
invested in their own learning beyond the act of asking.
Participants that are given knowledge do not own that knowledge. Those
participants that work for the knowledge will own it. Thus, there exists the
common saying "knowledge hard won." The process of coyote teaching is
demonstrated in the following example:
When asked "what tree is that," you, an outdoor educator, respond with the
answer. Twenty minutes later that same student turns, points, and asks again
"what tree is that?" You turn and look at the student and think to yourself:
"well, telling him or her didn't work, so what should I say this time?" You
look at the tree, then to the student, and say: "I do not know; let's look
at this for a minute." You then begin to ask the student question after
question about the tree: what does the bark look like, are the branches
opposite or alternate, what type of soil is it growing in, on what side of
the hill is the tree facing. You continue with the questioning and discovery
process and end by handing the student a field guide to trees. The student
looks up the tree and finds that it is the same tree as the first one about
which he or she had asked. The student turns to tell you what it is,
thinking that you did not know, and that he or she is now teaching the
teacher.
You, as the coyote teacher, have tricked the student into learning it for
himself or herself. The student has learned how to answer his or her own
questions (the process) and has the pride of owning that knowledge (the
content).
As educators, we do not need to demonstrate our knowledge of nature by
giving all the answers. As coyote teachers, we can help to bring students or
participants into the experience much more deeply and help them to gain the
pride from hard won knowledge. The coyote teacher role is not only to assist
the participants in finding the answer but also to inspire and trick them
into looking more closely at what is around them. The process of discovery
is also taught. For example, the teacher says "is that poison ivy?" (knowing
that the common vine is Virginia Creeper and has toothed palmate leaves),
and all the student circle around looking at it. Some say yes, and some say
no. To help them (or trick them) more, you point to the hairs on the vine
and how it is attached to the tree, saying "it has to be poison ivy." Then,
they all look at you not knowing what to believe and then back to the vine.
"Can I see your field guide?" one of the group members asks. You hand it to
the group. After a few minutes, the group decides that this is Virginia
Creeper, not poison ivy, and that the teacher was wrong. After a few more
tricks related to that plant, the group now knows two vines very well and
are able to compare them. Both of these examples demonstrate the simplicity
of the coyote teaching process. Coyote teaching provides an alternative
teaching modality to assist participants in gaining outdoor knowledge. It is
a simple and continual process that shifts the responsibility of learning
from the educator to the student.
Conclusion
Outdoor education is a very important part of helping people to understand
more about the natural environment. Whether it is with an adventure trip
program or an environmental education program, wilderness survival can offer
many levels of educational lessons as well as skill development.
Implementing wilderness survival into outdoor education programs creates
multiple benefits for participants. They will not only have a better
understanding and comfort level when lost or in potential trouble, but also
they will receive the same lessons espoused in typical outdoor education
program, if not at a deeper level of understanding when learning about the
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