Outdoor Education – Mission and Philosophy
Mission 
The Dunn School Outdoor Education Program is integral to the school's philosophic commitment to the education of the whole person, and as such, participation every year is a curriculum requirement. The program fosters greater self awareness through challenges and experiences in the outdoors and specifically focuses on achieving the following goals:
- Challenge students to raise their level of self-confidence, self-esteem, and trust in others through physical and social growth components.
- Develop mutual support within a group through sequential activities that transfer to the students' academic, social and athletic challenges at school.
- Increase appreciation of one's physical and social self.
- Widen appreciation for the natural environment and the trials one endures when faced with nature's diversity.
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"The view from the top is the reward of the climber." |
"Whatever we have to learn to do, we learn by doing."
— Aristotle |
Philosophy
The Outdoor Education Program takes the students' learning beyond the walls of the classroom. The program provides students the opportunity to work in the realms of feelings and beliefs as well as those of intellect and skill. Through the process of learning in the wilderness, we believe students discover an awareness of self-worth and confidence by participating in activities that challenge old norms and ideas. The students' minds are stimulated, awareness is increased, and physical exertion and the natural world that surrounds them causes the students to reflect on doubts and opinions they have of themselves. This reflection creates an environment for change and acceptance of new behaviors and norms.
To reach the goals of the program, the student must invest him or herself in the process by following the ideas set below:
- Emphasis should be on the learning process and not on the end product or destination.
- One must be willing to inquire, discover, and have fun.
- The focus is on intergroup learning and not on isolated competitive approaches.
- Instructors are seen as facilitators first and teachers second.
- Individuals have unique learning styles and need concrete successful experiences, which assist them in surpassing their physical and mental limitations.
- Students will realize that they have more in them than they think
