What additional skills and knowledge do Australian university graduates gain when learning to lead bushwalking by engaging with the National Outdoor Education Threshold Concepts?

Abstract

The Australian outdoor education sector has diverse qualification pathways. Each pathway must prepare graduates to meet workplace expectations and the capacity to engage in appropriate levels of professional practice. The focus of this paper is to resolve an area of continued confusion—the differences in learning and responsibilities across graduate pathways (vocational and university). Through an analysis of the current Australian Adventure Activity Standards, The Australian Qualifications Framework and the National Outdoor Education Threshold Concepts, we argue that a better understanding of the capabilities of university graduates is possible. Via specific narrative examples from multiple tertiary institutions of the expected professional understanding and capabilities of university-trained outdoor educators in the context of bushwalking, we articulate the clear difference in skills and knowledge of university graduates to those who have been trained through other qualification pathways. This Australian exemplar is intended to continue international discussion about the role of university education to outdoor education.