Outdoor Education in the School System

Where we are now and where it is all going…

Ross Cloutier

www.adventurestudies.ca

www.bhudak.com

rcloutier@tru.ca

Watershed Moments

• Temiscaming drownings – St John’s School 1978

• Lost Coast Trail drownings – Calgary School Board 2000

• Connaught Creek avalanche – Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School 2003

• 15 passenger van accident – Bathurst High School 2008

• $87 million toilet paper fire – Brandon School Board 2008

SchoolAdministration

SchoolBoard

OETeachers

BoardSpecial

Committee

AlumniStudents

ParentsOf the

Survivors

ParentsOf the

Deceased

CoronerSchoolBoard

Attorney

InsurerAttorney

Insurer

Reviewer

The Review Process

Topics of Interest

1. Tolerance for risk

2. Communication with parents

3. Influences on decision making

4. Trip leading

5. Standard of care

6. Governance

7. Thoughts for going forward

Tolerance for Risk

• “Adventure” sport activities have inherent risks that are different than “athletic” risks

• The language of “outdoor education” can be different than “adventure education”

• A program’s tolerance for risk can change over time• There is a need to consider catastrophic risk potential• Teachers bring their personal values into tolerance for risk

decisions

• Schools should not decide risk tolerance for families – the families should

• Most parents have no idea about the activities• But some do• The onus is on the school to clearly communicate what activities

are being conducted, but also, what the risks are• Detailed information packages, parent meetings, consent forms,

videos…• Parents must also exercise their responsibilities

Communication with Parents

• Grade effect• Curricular or non-curricular• Peer and teacher pressure• School schedule restrictions• Historic use of an area• Recreational and commercial use influences• Organizational culture

Influences on Decision Making

Organizational Influences on Decision Making

– Tolerance for risk– Communication

effectiveness– Schedule limitations– Curricular vs non-curricular– Influences of commercial &

recreational user groups– Staff interests

– Grade effect– Competitiveness– Institutional ego– Institutional culture– Governance– Compliance– Supervision style– Staff morale– Fatalism.

• Leader qualifications• Terrain choice matching leader ability• The need for local knowledge• Group size management• Leader-student ratios• Decision-making: single leader versus group consensus• The need for conservative decision making• Accounting for the use of volunteer and parent leaders

Trip Leading

Standard of Care

• The standard is not well defined in law• Teachers and the “careful parent” standard• A higher standard if participating in specialized activities• The standard of public opinion• The commercial operator standard of care • School versus commercial standard• Schools and catastrophic risk potential

Commercial Recreation Standard of Care

• Pre-trip information• Acknowledgement of risk process• Legal release forms (waivers)• Trip plans• Safety talks• Medicals• Industry operating standards• Leader certification• Trip leader emergency response protocols• Record keeping protocols• Emergency response plan• Insurer/attorney/adjuster/risk manager response team• Participant medical insurance

Governance

• Program planning and design material?• Philosophy of broad access or quality control?• Activity – age suitability?• Activity and trip approval process?• Staff, Administration & Board level decision making?• Adequate funding, maintenance, staffing? • Decision making: adopting an activity or site, annual decisions,

operational decisions, proximate decisions, and on-site decisions

Thoughts for Going Forward

• You don’t need lawsuits to be the number one story

• Most of a School’s actions and decisions will be done long before any threat of lawsuit arises

• The public is hypersensitive to field trip deaths

• An educated media is developing

• The mediation-review process can work not only to provide objective advice, but as a mitigation strategy

• Applying commercial guiding standards to the delivery of school OE programs is inappropriate

Thoughts for Going Forward

• The institution Administration need vision, confidence and leadership – in a time of great stress and scrutiny – to direct the process

• There are varying interests at play – insurer, legal, coroner, public, board, parents, students – and decisions must be made in this climate

• The context for outdoor education has changed and the expectations have risen significantly