Social Justice Training for a New Generation of Outdoor Leaders :Theory to Practice

 

Bill Heinrich                      Sarah C. Woodside

Michigan State University       University of California - Santa Cruz

Introduction

Calls for the development of social justice and diversity training for outdoor leaders have riddled the field of outdoor education and leadership (Warren, 2002). One of the major challenges of providing effective training for outdoor leaders is the lack of training protocols or trainers with the background to teach “Race, gender, and/or class-sensitive outdoor leadership.” (Warren, 2002, p231). The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Recreation Department began to include social justice training as part of the Experiential Leadership Program (ELP)**, which helps develop campus leaders including student organization; employed; and Outdoor Leaders. Recognizing that social justice training needs are present at the individual level and the organizational levels, the Recreation Department demonstrated readiness. But the Recreation Department did not have internal capacity to implement social justice training for individuals. The authors helped to develop capacity by trading some time and expertise to develop and implement a workshop.

Rationale

We think providing social justice training for collegiate outdoor leaders is important for two reasons. First, through inclusive programming, the benefits of outdoor recreation and adventure programming would become available to more students (Bell, 2006; Shellman & Ewert, 2010). Certain U.S. populations have historically underused outdoor/adventure recreation (Cavin, 2008), and we believe the same holds true in our context (Helms & Cook, 2005). Therefore our students were missing out! Second, peer-to-peer leadership has the power to make positive change in campus or department culture and in individual behavior among college students (Ender & Newton, 2000; Hunter, 2004). Our focus on student Outdoor Leaders combines social justice training with peer leadership in outdoor programming.

Social Justice training is helpful for many kinds of leaders, and we chose to focus on outdoor leadership because a contextual, specific outreach was needed to affect the atmosphere of social justice awareness among student leaders at UCSC. By working with individuals, social justice workshops aim first to augment and influence current skills, and ultimately aim to redefine an organization by changing individual perspectives. A shared assumption by trainers and hosts was that the culture of student leadership could change with social justice training, and the culture of the organization would necessarily respond to support students. Because the organization was embarking on a major new inclusive leadership initiative (ELP), the timing was right to offer this workshop.

Learning Outcomes

Institutional, departmental, and workshop goals were aligned when making decisions about learning outcomes. Our workshop learning outcomes were identified through literature on the topic and aligned with ELP outcomes: communication, resilience, confidence, competence, and group tone and management. ELP uses a modified version of Astin & Astin’s (1996) Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCMLD) so we mirrored social justice outcomes language to reflect organizational congruence within the programs (see Table 1). 

 

Outcomes and Alignments

By starting with outcomes in mind, we developed criteria for success that are appropriate for social justice training and organizationally relevant. We aligned our activities so each component of the training was developed to help participants meet one of the outcomes. We addressed Awareness, Confidence, Competence, and Resilience outcomes through various activities that were developed specifically for UCSC Outdoor Leaders (Table 1).

For example, a values clarification exercise in workshop #1 allowed participants to build awareness of their own values as they related to the experiences and values of others around them (learning outcome #1, and SCMLD # 1-3). In workshop #2, we created an experiential learning opportunity for participants to identify their own competence with topics of privilege and oppression. Through workshop outcomes #2 and #3, and SCMLD #4-6, we continue to surface assumptions, confront bias, and clarify values. Workshop #3 addresses the need for resilience in social justice practice since there is no one “right” way to be a social justice ally, and feedback is constant (learning outcome #4, and SCMLD #6).

We articulated our successes through alignment, competence development, and organizational embeddedness. First, we aligned activities to the SCMLD (Astin & Astin, 1996), ELP goals, and UCSC institutional goals (Table 1). Our next category for success was competence among participants. We currently see evidence of utilization and application of these concepts by Outdoor Leaders on their trips. In conversations with leaders, we find out how they integrate knowledge, skills, and behavior from the workshops. Finally, knowing that social justice takes considerable time to develop competence, we were cautious about expecting deep changes in individuals in three workshops. Instead, we hoped to engage the host organization (ELP) by providing workshops that are grounded in relevant theory and backed up with good practice to create inclusive outdoor programming. We conduct workshop evaluations assessing workshop climate and outcomes.

The three-part/three-week series was implemented in Spring 2010 and each Spring thereafter as a regular offering in the Experiential Leadership Program. For 2.5 hours each session, (7.5 total contact hours), students are challenged to participate actively and hold respectful, ‘Brave Space’ for one another as they approach a new set of ideas and actions.

Outputs and Implications

Conversations about social justice in the field began at an introductory level, but quickly became deeper among participants We emphasize that the introduction to social justice topics we offer are intended to be integrated throughout the organization, creating an expectation of use among student leaders. Student leaders are expected to use the training they receive by their supervisors, so this expectation is not a stretch. As a metric, we ask how student leaders experience difference differently on their trips after training.

Participants demonstrated a piqued awareness of the presence of cultural difference as well as a sense of empowerment to include different voices in the conversations while in the field. For example one participant from 2012 offered:

“I learned that there are ways to lead groups (and the world) towards positive social outcomes by recognizing the social injustices that currently exist and learning more about my treatment of others on a personal level.”

Peer-to-peer conversations are extremely important in delivering benefits of outdoor programming. Students on trips need to feel integrated in the experience for the transfer of academic and social benefits to persist beyond the trip (Gass, et. al, 2003). Some of the benefits (socialization, problem solving, resource development) could be especially helpful for students who may enter college underprepared (some students of color, some low income students). One concern of outdoor program managers is that social justice training (or any non-technical training) would interfere with safety training. But no role confusion has been reported by program managers or student leaders due to social justice training co-existing with safety protocols. Our evaluations show that our workshops build knowledge and awareness of self and others noted here in the words of a participant, (Spring 2012): 

“...This definitely helped me become more aware of my actions and who I am as a person”

Our next step, a qualitative evaluation and a survey, will help determine how social justice messages are spreading in the ELP and UCSC Recreation organization. Because of the high turnover with student leaders, it is possible to lose institutional knowledge, But it is also possible, with consistent messaging, to change a student culture in three to four training cycles.

Conclusion

In this project we are focused on developing potential benefits to students from underrepresented groups in outdoor and adventure activities by training outdoor leaders in social justice knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Outdoor leadership is a field with a high number of perceived barriers to entry (e.g gear, training, cultural expectation) (Cavin, 2008), so we worked specifically with the Outdoor Leaders. After access, cost, and invitation were addressed by the Recreation Program, we sought here to address social justice knowledge, skills, and behavior directly by training students to make an impact in the lives of other students. UCSC Outdoor Leaders lead a student population that is diverse along lines of race, class, and first generation status. The Outdoor Leaders responded by engaging directly in social justice conversations and improving the opportunities for more kinds of students in collegiate outdoor recreation.

References

  

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