“Sometimes the questions are COMPLICATED and the answers are SIMPLE” (Dr. Seuss, n.d)

Compare and contrast how Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) is run in Australia and Singapore. Focussing on an underlying theme and discuss in relation to the literature.. Sounds like a mouth full doesn’t it. And how does one even start to compare the two? I mean they are both so different right? It would be like comparing apples and oranges for lack of a better analogy. I mean Singapore can fit into Australia over 11,000 times.. and Australia has completely different ecosystems and environments to that found in Singapore. Therefore our Outdoor and Environmental Education has to be completely different right?…. wrong.

This is a concept that I referred to in one of my previous blogs ‘travel with Fin’ The fact that even though we seem different we are kin, in the sense that we believe in the same values and strive towards similar goals. So if the base values and reasons behind why we conduct Outdoor and Environment Education is the same then why does it look so different from the outside?

If you really break it down to the core, the answer is Simple…

The reason they look different, is to make it work.

In Australia we have a strong belief that OEE is about “enabling students to have personal direct experiences of nature” (Martin & Ho, 2009). But when you look at Singapore and their limited access to nature, then how can OEE work in such a place?

Once again the answer is simple..

They focus on a different strand of OEE, the development of ‘Resilience’.

Australia tries to incorporate so many elements into our OEE because we are a large country. Singapore however is quite small and condensed, Martin and Ho state that “resilience is specifically linked to Singaporean history and cultural imperatives” (2009) and it is for this reason I believe that they have narrowed down their focus for OEE to ‘Resilience’.

So why are they run differently? it comes back to one of the most vital components of outdoor education…

Being versatile.

Getting across the same outcomes by taking a different approach.

“Environmental education must stay relevant to the needs and interests of the community and yet constantly adapt to the rapidly changing social and technological landscape” (Hudson, 2001)

So  with all of this in mind, and remembering that Singapore is only 50 years old this year.. I believe that our OEE is quite similar. Yes Singapore has a long way to go and a challenging road ahead, but so does Australia. Being versatile is something that OEE needs to be, especially moving forward into the technological age.

Although we are quite similar in regards to our base values, we could learn a lot from each other. After all isn’t that what outdoor education strives for in our participants?

Learning from experience and transferring knowledge into everyday situations in order to promote a better future.

Thats my take on Outdoor and Environmental Education… Whats yours?

(remember, sometimes the answers are simple)

References

Martin, P., & Ho, S. (2009). Seeking resilience and sustainability: Outdoor education in Singapore. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning,9(1), 79-92.

Hudson, S. J. (2001). Challenges for Environmental Education: Issues and Ideas for the 21st Century Environmental education. BioScience, 51(4), 283-288.