A phenomenographical study of the qualitative variation of adventure / wilderness programme experiences among adolscent high school participants in the Western Cape

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African adolescents live in a transitional society during a life stage in which they seek tostabilise their identity. They face a heritage of widespread violence and poverty, the lived impact ofHIV/AIDS and substance abuse, incessant bombardment by media modelling leisure and vice, anerratic education system, and strained family and social bonds. Noting these challenges SouthAfrican psychology seeks to become more socially relevant and provide formalised opportunitiesfor positive youth development, supporting the growth of strengths and virtues, and making highhuman potential actual. Psychologists should seek to provide interventions that can turn the tide ofsocial degeneration towards individual and community flourishing. Schools provide an optimalcontext for such interventions, with adventure programmes providing a valuable mechanisms bywhich holistic development, flow, interdependence, competence, and modelling of pro-social valuescan be experienced.This study sought to investigate the different ways in which one such school-basedwilderness adventure programme was experienced and the specific aspects of the programmeresponsible for variation in outcomes using the methodology of phenomenography.Phenomenography is a research method used to map the qualitatively different ways in whichpeople understand, perceive, or experience various aspects of a specific phenomenon. Byunderstanding the different ways a phenomenon can be experienced, and identifying the criticalaspects responsible for more or less powerful ways of experiencing the phenomenon,phenomenography provides a powerful tool for improving educational delivery but had yet to beused as a method to study psychological interventions. Phenomenographic analysis of thedescriptions of the 27 day adventure programme, in which participants covered 360km on foot,bicycle and canoe, and engaged in group debriefs, journalling, and a 30 hour solo, revealed fourconceptions of the programme: (a) long gruelling school hike, (b) school initiation / rites of passage programme, (c) once-in-a-lifetime group adventure, or (d) multifaceted learning and developmentopportunity. These categories of description are structured hierarchically, from least to mostpowerful, and are directly related to the perceived outcomes of the programme. At the lowest level,perceived processes and outcomes are largely physical, whereas at the highest level participantsdescriptions are more complex, and focused more on learning and developmental change that wasaccrued during the programme and could be transferred to the participant's home and social context.There are six major dimensions of variations that were identified in the data that help to understandthe hierarchical relationships between the four identified categories of description. These include (a)the overall characterisation of the programme, (b) the nature of group interactions and processes, (c)the nature of the interactions and emotional connection participants had with their adult leaders, (d)the depth with which participants engaged with their experiences on the programme, (e) thepersonal relevance that trials, interactions and accomplishments had for participants, and (f) thetype of growth and learning that was perceived to have accrued as a result of the wildernessadventure programme. These findings have important implications for both adventure programmingdesign and implementation, and for research on psychological interventions.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University