The Backcountry Classroom: Lessons, Tools, and Activities for Teaching Outdoor Leaders [Paperback]

Jack Drury (Author), Bruce Bonney (Author), Dene Berman (Author), Mark Wagstaff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

This unique collection of lessons represents not only the fundamentals but the very foundation of leadership and outdoor skills. No outdoor students, educators, or leaders should be without a copy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Backcountry Classroom is a valuable reference work for every outdoor professional." Jim Gould - Adirondack Mountain Club

"This is truly a user friendly volume. The Backcountry Classroom serves as an excellent resource for those involved in instructing others about how to survive in, take care of, and enjoy the wilderness." Robert Osgood - Visiting Assistant Professor of Education

From the Back Cover

Tools for Training Tomorrow's Outdoor Leaders

If you are teaching future outdoor leaders the basics of running a safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound expedition, let The Backcountry Classroom be your companion. It's designed to train instructors and students in the essentials of outdoor leadership based on the Wilderness Education Association's (WEA) nationally recognized eighteen-point curriculum.
A valuable resource in the classroom as well as in the field, the book is formatted into forty-eight chapters that describe the learning outcomes, the body of knowledge, and the materials needed for teaching about a specific topic within the curriculum. This second edition expands its coverage of outdoor topics, plus it contains all-new chapters intended to develop teaching skills, good judgment, and decision-making abilities. New hands-on exercises-called "Challenges"-transform the lessons into engaging and memorable interactive learning experiences.
Topics Include:
" Teaching and Learning
" Backpack Fitting and Packing
" Campsite Selection
" Canoeing and Sea Kayaking
" Considerations for Top Roping
" Crisis Management
" Introduction to Knots
" Decision Making
" Environmental Ethics
" Expedition Behavior
" Food Protection
" Group Orienting and Monitoring
" Hiking
0" Interpretation of Natural and Cultural Environments
" Introduction to GPS
" Leadership
" Map Interpretation
" Trip Planning
" Waterfront Safety

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 2nd edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762728205
• ISBN-13: 978-0762728206
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Critique of The Backcountry Classroom, March 19, 2001

By 

Heather Purichia (Carbondale, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Backcountry Classroom: Lesson Plans for Teaching in the Wilderness (Paperback)

This book is a good beginner's guide to the topics covered by the WEA's 18 point curriculum. It is easy to read, provides a simple structure for instruction of the lessons, and provide tips for implementing the instructional content, appropriate times for such, and extended activities. A couple of problems abound with this book and its content. Many times, the information that one would expect to find in this book is omitted. It leaves the reader with more questions than answers, forcing them to look elsewhere for, what in many cases is, pertinent information. It provides a general structure, but the subject matter is consistently lacking insight. As an instructional guide, it is mediocre. If not used as part of a WEA course, but rather a stand alone resource, it could benefit from more adherence to instructional design principles. It is somewhat confusing, at times, as to the type of content that is being covered. It follows well the WEA pedagogy of inform, demonstrate, and provide practice. An example of the short comings of this book can be viewed by a review of Chapter 26, Food Identification. The title leads one to believe his is going to gain insight into the ways to use sensory information to identify food he has in his food stuff sack, within his pack. However, only one small outline heading is devoted to such, and it only touches on such as a corollary item. Anyone who has ever mistakenly used brownie mix, instead of beans, or the like, has understood well the need to know how to use the various senses to identify food, without labeling. Additionally, using labels does not always end up being practical. As trips progress, people like to reorganize food into smaller or different bags, to maximize pack space. The field isn't the place to spend valuable instructional time on relabeling food. The rationale for food identification, suggestions for using memory tactics based on sensory information was omitted, yet was necessary. Many similar omissions can be found in other chapters. The book is compact, thereby making it easy to carry along on a teaching expedition, and provides a brief refresher to those who have previously acquired the knowledge in its full complexity and only need a job aid, and is consistent in its chapter format.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it's worth the weight, May 15, 2006

By 

Rachel Collins (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Backcountry Classroom: Lessons, Tools, and Activities for Teaching Outdoor Leaders (Paperback)

In 1992 the first edition of The Backcountry Classroom leapt into Wilderness Educators backpacks and was welcomed with open arms and praise. Paul Petzoldt commented that the book was "invaluable for confirming one's own expertise as well as discovering voids." The second edition of the same work is no exception. This new edition of the The Backcountry Classroom has more than doubled in size and is packed with wisdom from Jack Drury, Bruce Bonney, Dene Berman, and Mark Wagstaff: four of the leading Educators in this field. During their tenure, each has developed a system of teaching, as well as knowledge and skill sets that they passed on to the rest of the growing field. The Backcountry Classroom serves as a resource guide for all who want to live well in the backcountry. Its layout makes it easy to navigate with its outline layout. Its outlines make it easy to navigate and each knowledge set is accompanied by teaching strategies. Quickly any student or teacher can access the information that is needed to teach a lesson on a specific skill, approach a problem or simply double check that all the pieces of a lesson are covered.
As a recent graduate from an Outdoor Education program, I have found that most of the books that we used in our classroom were heavily based in theory, history, and the more philosophical aspects of outdoor programming. What made the The Backcountry Classroom unique to our library is that the book also has some very practical concepts for students. Those new to the program and others that have been in the outdoors for years can come together under a common language and have a reference for all of the elements that make up an outdoor trip. In talking with other students in my program, they agreed. Pedro Mauras, a junior at Gordon College in Wenham, MA said, "I love and still use it practically in everyday circumstances."
One of the great advantages of putting things like "Backpack Packing" and "Trip Planning" and "Weather" down into words and outlines is that across the many programs that we work with in this expanding field there is a common language that we can all use. As people move from program to program, and come from different instruction backgrounds, we find in this and other texts the beginnings of a consistent terminology.
The Backcountry Classroom not only covers technical skills, but also it gives outlines and models for teaching and facilitation. No matter how great the information, educators that cannot convey that information to their students in an effective manner will not succeed in growing their students. One of the big additions to the second edition is the chapter on SPEC learning and teaching. This Student Centered, Problem-based, Experiential and Collaborative method gives us a model by which to truly meet the needs of the students we work with from a holistic vantage point.
As educators in the backcountry we find ourselves in the unique position of living with our students, for a few days, weeks, or months. We are a part of their lives, and take the time to know what their needs really are. This means that understanding a student-centered model of teaching is critical to what we do in the backcountry. Also, by using a problem-based approach, we give students the judgment skills and reasoning capabilities to drive their own learning when the course is over and they are out in the field, on their own, or with their own students somewhere down the line. The The Backcountry Classroom introduces teaching methods and basics in wilderness travel skills, ethics, and methodologies through this SPEC lens. Now that I am teaching in the outdoor field I am coming to my classes with fresh eyes, but with little concept of what works well and what doesn't. Having the The Backcountry Classroom on my bookshelf means that no matter what topic I am teaching on in the curriculum, I have a resource to direct my teaching through the Instructional Strategies and the Outcomes that I encourage my students to set for themselves.
After attending the National Conference in February and talking with others about the book it seems somehow inadequate of me not to mention the one comment that I heard over and over about the book: "It's great, but it's huge!" The new Backcountry Classroom does require a bit more creativity in figuring out how to get it into the backcountry. Some suggestions to date: copy the chapters that you know you'll end up using often in the field and just take those, or take it to a printer and have them take the margins off for you and put it in a binder (or just think about how much stronger you're going to be after having it in your pack for a few weeks!) If you haven't already acquired a copy of this resource for your own collection, it comes highly recommended for students and instructors alike as a tool for whatever classroom you find yourself in.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comments from the author, July 20, 2004

By 

J. Drury (Saranac Lake, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Backcountry Classroom: Lesson Plans for Teaching in the Wilderness (Paperback)

The second edition of The Backcountry Classroom was a tremendous undertaking and we think you will like the results. There are eight additional chapters; Collaboration, Crisis Management, Groups: Orienting and Monitoring, Interpretation of the Natural and Cultural Environments, Knots, GPS, Rock Climbing: Leadership considerations for Top Roping, and Travel Technique: Canoeing and Sea Kayaking. There are also over 75 new tables and illustrations.

We have been conducting workshops focusing on the 2nd edition of the book throughout the country and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The chapter that has generated the most excitement is the Teaching and Learning chapter. Here, we engage in an extended discussion of our current thinking about the characteristics of high quality teaching and the role that teachers play as architects of high powered learning experiences - both in and out of doors. In this chapter we also introduce you to S.P.E.C. (Student-Centered, Problem-based, Experiential, and Collaborative) the short-hand acronym we use to remind us of the fundamental attributes of our approach. Throughout this book, you'll see that we've appended "challenges" to various lessons that we hope will serve as useful models to those who want to try out some aspect of our SPEC methodology.

The only negative feedback we have received is that the book is too damn big! We accept responsibility for that and actually have a few suggestions if you want to take the book into the field. I have taken a copy to my local printer and had him trim the binding off and trim the sides making sure that he didn't trim the page numbers or graphics. It did two things. It has made the entire book lighter and smaller but more importantly in my mind it allows me to take just the chapters I want out into the field. This allows me to lighten my pack even more. He also put holes in the book so I can put it in a binder if I want or use loose-rings to hold the book/chapters together. I'm sure you can do the same thing at little or no cost if you plan on taking the book into the field. If you do take the book in the field please share what creative steps you take to make it lighter.

If you purchase a copy please feel to contact me and let me know what you like and don't like about the book.

By the way, here is what some of the experts have said about the book:
"The book continues to be the industry standard for outdoor leadership." C. Ben Woodard, Assistant Manager of Outfitter Services, L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools

"The ultimate book on how to safely organize and lead expeditions in the field." Dr. William Forgey, wilderness medicine expert and author