Motivations for outdoor experiences.

Year 11 Outdoor Education

Unit 1.
What motivates people go outdoors?

Class discussion
What is a
motivation?
● Driving force behind a person’s desire to do
something.
○ E.g. to be the first person to accomplish
something.
○ A desire to prove something.
○ To set a record.
○ To seek a feeling of independence.
Motivations
Some of the reasons why we get students to participate:
• To have a break from regular life, to escape stresses, and to relax
• To socialise with family and friends
• To seek independence or to encourage interdependence
• Appreciate natural environments
• To learn about the environment and create connections.
• To be healthy and fit.
• To learn more about themselves - leadership, possible
strengths/weaknesses,
We can break motivation
into 2 main types…
INTRINSIC: Motivations that we get from within
ourselves
• Good feeling/adrenaline rush
• Personal satisfaction – something worthwhile

EXTRINSIC: Motivations that we get from outside

ourselves, which are external to us.
• Money
• Competition
Motivations
● Not all based around a
desire to experience adventure.

● E.g. Hobbies like painting,

bird watching & fishing.
4 Types of intrinsic motivation
• Competence/Mastery

• Stimulus Avoidance

• Socialisation

• Cognitive reward
 You don't have to be a fanta
Competence/Mastery certain things -- to compete.
ordinary chap, sufficiently m
challenging goals.- Edmund

• Being the first to

achieve something
(climbing Everest)
• Setting a record
• Building strength or
fitness through the
activity
Stimulus Avoidance

• Getting away from it all

• Health and well being
Roys Peak, Wanaka
Socialisation

• Feeling of community
• Personal and social
development
• Example: joining a
bushwalking club
Cognitive reward

• Learning
• Exploring
• Experiencing flow
• Adrenaline rush
 Intrinsic or extrinsic?
● Competing for money
● Challenging oneself.
● Get away from it all
● Meet new people
● Adrenaline rush
● To please a coach/ parent
Flow

Being completely
involved in an activity
for its own sake. Time
flies. Every action,
moment and thought
follows inevitably from
the previous one, like
playing jaxx. Your while
being in involved and
you’re using your skills
to the utmost.
Flow
● To experience flow
someone’s level of skill
must match the level of
challenge.
○ If someone does not
have the skill for the
level of challenge
they will find the
activity difficult and
may experience
anxiety.
○ If the level of
challenge is too low
for someone’s skill
level they may
experience boredom
Someone experiencing a state of
flow:
● At one with the world
● Letting go of problems and worries
● Completely focussed
● Satisfied and engrossed in what you’re doing

Similar to mindfulness
De-Motivational factors
List 10 factors that might deter people from spending
time in the outdoors; eg. risk, previous experience, lack
of knowledge, cost, equipment..
 Reflect:
● Have you ever experienced a state of FLOW?
● When and what were you doing?
● Have you experienced other levels of challenge? If
so what was it? And what were you doing?
Human responses to nature.
 Positive Responses to Nature

Feeling/Response Definition
1:A feeling of the outdoors that leads a person to want to do
something or create something.
1: Inspiration
2:A feeling of excitement or happiness, particularly resulting from
2:Exhilaration an outdoor experience.

3:Appreciation 3:Gratitude, awareness & understanding

  of a problem or difficulty

4.Contemplation 4:To think about intently and at length

4. Awe 5:Overwhelming wonder, respect.

5.Curiosity 6:An eager Desire to know, inquisitiveness.

6.Challenge 7:A demanding or stimulating situation.

8: Connection 8: a feeling that we are apart of a place or connected to a place.

Famous adventures - What motivated them??
List 10 famous adventurers and what motivated them to do what they did.
Famous Adventurers

Possible adventurers are;

Edmund Hillary
Marco Polo
Bear Grylls /Steve Erwin
Jessica Watson
James Cook
Neil Armstrong

Present 1 Adventurer:
-Picture x 2
-Explanation of Adventure
-Motivations for adventure.
Human responses to Nature
● Aboriginal’s recoded their
responses through sand
paintings, rock art &
stories.

● Many Australians have

painted, photographed,
kept journals etc. of the
Australian environment.
Let hear from this guy…
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urs
LNBbfKko

“if you risk nothing, you gain nothing”

What do you think his motivation is for

participating in an outdoor experience?