Hallie Wunsch
November 3, 2006
EnEd 5165
Environmental Education 5165: Analysis of an OE, AE, or EE program
National Outdoor Leadership School
“Creating a climate for change” (NOLS website)
Background information:
The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational
institution. It is funded through donations to an annual fund, fundraising, and program
costs/student tuition. A Board of Trustees guides school policy, while administration,
instructors, and support staff handle the programs and day to day business. According to
the Wikipedia article entitled “National Outdoor Leadership School,” which is referenced
and hyperlinked on the NOLS website, “NOLS is a non-profit school in the United States
dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, and leadership on
extended backcountry expeditions. NOLS runs courses on five continents, and has
courses for almost all wilderness environments and for almost any age group.” The
following information is taken from the official NOLS website: www.NOLS.edu.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the National Outdoor Leadership School is to be the leading
source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the
environment.
NOLS was founded one year after the Wilderness Act (1964) was passed. Americans
were beginning to grow more aware of and concerned with the environment. According
to the website, NOLS was created by Paul Petzoldt “to train leaders. He wanted to help
people learn to care about and protect the wilderness.” The first NOLS program began in
Wyoming. Over the past 42 years NOLS schools have spread to Idaho, Alaska,
Washington, Arizona, Mexico, Chile, and Canada, with programs on five different
continents. Each program location has a base camp/ headquarters, but all programs are
“centrally administered and locally operated” (NOLS 2007).
Programs and Services
In order to accomplish their mission, NOLS has developed many different programs.
Though these programs focus on different, specific issues, every program is based on
NOLS overarching commitment to “wilderness, education, leadership, safety,
community, and excellence.” The following program information is taken directly from
the NOLS website.
Specific programs
 Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI): The WMI’s goal is to provide the
highest quality education and information for the recognition, treatment, and
prevention of wilderness emergencies.
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NOLS Professional Training: provides seminars, customized training,
consulting services and program reviews to outdoor educators and programs
around the globe, including NASA
Leave No Trace Training (LNT): NOLS partners with the national education
program Leave No Trace in order to provide a curriculum for LNT training, the
capstone of which is a five-day Master Educator Course through NOLS for land
managers, outfitters and outdoor educators.
Adult Education Training: Adult learners come to NOLS to learn wilderness
and expeditionary skills, spend time with others with similar interests, and to have
fun in some of the world's most incredible outdoor classrooms.
Educator Training: These courses are designed both for people who are already
educators and want to expand upon existing knowledge, or for aspiring educators
who want to learn more about the field. NOLS expects graduates of these courses
to be able to go home and run a great outdoor program or enter the field of
outdoor education/guiding with the tools and abilities to be an outstanding
teacher.
IC training: The Instructor Course (IC) is specifically designed for people
interested in working as field instructors for NOLS. IC's are intensive training
experiences in outdoor education and all of them include in-depth review and
expansion of our "core curriculum" in five fundamental areas: Safety and
Judgment, Leadership and Teamwork, Outdoor Skills, Environmental Ethics, and
Wilderness Education Skills.
Semester/January Term: College Credit Courses at NOLS provide an
opportunity to spend a month freed from the confines of the classroom, involved
in hands-on education dictated by reality, not a syllabus. With NOLS' focus on
wilderness skills and leadership, students will return to campus for the spring
semester with skills that will enhance your life in and out of the classroom.
Custom Courses: Courses are designed specifically for your group. Current
courses: Wildland Firefighter Leadership Training, Medicine in the WildMedical Student Elective
NOLS bus: Powered by recycled vegetable oil (RVO), solar power, and
sponsored by Stonyfield Farm, the makers of organic yogurt, this educational
program on wheels provides an active, environmentally conscious way to learn
about the outdoors and celebrate leadership in your community.
Logic Model
We employ Logic Models in order to understand the relationship between the different
aspects of a program. Logic models also help us to visualize how different theories fit
into our programs. As a tool to help assess the need for our program as well as how our
program is implemented, Logic Models promote recognition of external factors and
underlying assumptions that may limit our program’s effectiveness in achieving the
intended outcomes (Class 1).
Situation: After the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, there was an environmental
enlightenment. NOLS’ mission statement makes clear the need for leaders who have
wilderness skills and an appreciation for the environment in order to blaze a trail of
environmental consciousness and responsibility. (NOLS 2006)
Inputs: donations into the Annual Fund, student tuition/program fees, staff salaries,
donations into annual fund, over 800 staff (administration, instructors, support staff),
outdoor gear, vehicles, food, available land, base camps/headquarters buildings in 14
worldwide locations, labs/classrooms, food storage/supply areas, gift shop, gear storage
facilities, communication technology, partnerships with over 400 colleges and
universities as well as with USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land
Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, state organizations, and international land
management agencies.
Outputs
(Activities/Products):
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Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI), NOLS Professional Training, Leave No
Trace Training (LNT), Adult Education Training, Educator Training, IC training,
Semester/January Term, Custom Courses, NOLS bus, curriculum, displays,
posters, NOLS memorabilia, NOLS catalogue, website.
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(Participation): college/university students, adult learners, programs for ages 14
and up, oldest participant was 78 years old, over 750,000 graduates in past 42
years
Outcomes:
 Short Term (learning): participants in NOLS courses grow more aware of the
fragile ecology of the environment. They learn leadership skills and their
attitudes toward and opinion of the environment are positively impacted by their
experiences. They find more value in environmental education experiences.
 Medium Term (action): NOLS graduates act with more responsibility toward the
environment. They become participants and leaders in increasing social
awareness of environmental issues. They take their learning experiences and
acquired behaviors and share them with their families, students, and peers.
 Long Term (conditions): NOLS participants, having developed their leadership
skills, rise to positions from which they can positively impact environmental
policies and support environmental education.
External Factors: donation totals, political stability, travel options, ability of
participants to work together, weather.
Assumptions: NOLS participants are doing the program because they are interested in
how they can have a positive impact on the environment, and not simply because they
want an adventure. NOLS participants will have positive experiences. Leadership skills
are best developed through immersion and hands-on experiences. NOLS participants who
develop leadership skills will use those skills to benefit the environment.
Evaluation of Program
NOLS has a strong reputation as the “premier teacher of outdoor skills and leadership”
(NOLS 2006). To this effect, I believe that the program accomplishes its goals. However,
NOLS also claims to develop an environmental awareness and environmental ethic in its
participants (NOLS, 2007, p. 6, 21). This is an area in which I believe NOLS falls short,
thereby not reaching their desired ultimate outcome. In this evaluation I will focus on
NOLS’ assumptions, analyzing each in light of different theories that may provide
support or illustrate weaknesses in the assumptions. I will continue with suggestions to
improve the program’s efficacy, and finally predict the future of NOLS.
The NOLS website states:
We believe that leadership is a skill that can be learned and practiced.
With students and staff, we encourage the evolution of judgment, personal
responsibility, and awareness of group needs-key leadership traits-through
practical experience and timely feedback. We value integrity, experience,
accountability, and humility in our leaders (2006).
The first major assumption NOLS makes is that these leadership skills will be developed
through immersion and hands-on experience. The NOLS courses fulfill what Kaplan lays
out as “three aspects of information processing that on evolutionary grounds would be
expected to have strong behavioral and motivational implications” (Kaplan, 2000, 498).
First, people are motivated to understand what is going on in an attempt to avoid
disorientation. In NOLS, this motivation manifests itself in the acquisition of the new
skills, which are highly relevant to the participants’ experiences. The second aspect is
that people are motivated to explore and seek answers to their own questions. In NOLS,
many of the questions being asked will be born of the participants’ current program and
involve practicing and learning skills. Finally, people hate being incompetent or helpless.
This provides a strong motivation for NOLS students to actively participate in learning
the leadership skills. In light of this theory, NOLS will be highly successful in imparting
the leadership skills they strive to teach.
It is important, however, that NOLS carefully weigh the participants’ abilities and
the level of challenge presented. The assumption that leadership skills will be learned is
based on another assumption: NOLS’ second assumption is that participants will enjoy
the experience. According to the Competence-Effectance model, if the challenge is too
great, participants will be anxious and worried (Ewert, 1989 p. 89). NOLS takes
precautions in ensuring participants’ abilities, however, by asking specifically for
information about and a commitment to applicants’ regular physical fitness activities, as
well as requiring detailed mental, physical, and emotional health information (NOLS
2006). It appears as if NOLS takes measures to ensure that its environment is conducive
to learning the leadership skills.
More support for the assumption that NOLS courses will successfully teach
leadership skills through immersion and hand-on experience can be found in the methods
through which the program fosters a strong intrinsic motivation and internal locus of
control. Learning occurs when the program focuses on intrinsic motivation, which stems
from three main characteristics of a program (Class 2). First, the NOLS program
inherently presents productive tension. Participants meet with program staff in an exotic
location, are thrown together with people they do not know, and are asked to rely on
skills they may not yet possess. Second, the program includes a high task value, as the
students learn skills that are immediately put into practice. Finally, the program focuses
on self-efficacy and control beliefs by giving the participants experiences to gain personal
accomplishment.
According to the Self-Efficacy model, the confidence and leadership skills gained
may transfer because the course provides continuous performance and accomplishment
experiences, emotional experiences (with peak performance and arousal), verbal
experiences (through communication and debriefing during the course with instructors
and peers), and vicarious experiences (watching the instructors or other students lead).
However, the environmental knowledge and intent to act may not (Ewert, 1989 p. 91-94).
NOLS’ third major assumption is that the participants’ program experiences will
result in a concern for the environment. There is support for this idea in research
conducted by Stephen Kaplan and discussed in his article “Human Nature and
Environmentally Responsible Behavior.” According to Kaplan, there is
“coexistence of the strong concern for preserving the natural environment
and the desire to have such settings available for one’s own joy and peace
of mind […] participants wrote of their feelings of ‘wholeness’ and
‘oneness’; they considered the wilderness experience to have been
transforming […] Their clear concern with protection of the natural
environment was deeply personal and closely tied to their hopes for the
availability of such transforming experiences in the future” (Kaplan 2000,
p. 496)
Presumably, the NOLS course would provide participants with a durable motivation to
protect the environment, if only for self-interest. However, the NOLS program must be
sure to give the participants the tools they need to foster responsible environmental
behavior.
According to the Environmental Citizenship Behavior Model,
“[…] before individuals can engage in responsible citizenship behavior,
they must understand the nature of the issue and its ecological and human
implications. When individuals have an in-depth understanding of issues,
they appear more inclined to take on citizenship responsibility toward
those issues” (Hungerford and Volk 1990, p. 12)
Though the NOLS program gives people a strong internal locus of control and
strengthens self-efficacy, preparing its participants for action, the program may not as
successfully impart the depth of environmental knowledge or a comprehensive
understanding of environmental issues that is required to procure responsible
environmental behavior. Furthermore, though a high relevancy and task value exist in
the program, by basing the programs in exotic locations many of the lessons learned or
environmental literacy may not contain enough personal relevancy to encourage the
participants’ to continue environmentally responsible behavior in their home
communities: “elements in the students’ learning environment should be similar to
elements likely to be found in future learning environments” (Gass, 1999, p. 230). How
effectively will environmental ideas learned in Baja transfer to the typical American city?
Applying the Environmental Citizenship Model to the NOLS program reveals
further weaknesses in this second assumption. The NOLS program very obviously
strengthens its participants’ internal locus of control, thus increasing the likelihood of the
participants feeling empowered and taking action. However, because the participants do
not necessarily come to the program with any empathy for the environment, and the
program’s focus is not knowledge of specific issues but leadership training, according to
the Environmental Citizenship Model the actions taken are more likely to be effective
leadership strategies than the hoped for environmental action strategies.
In conclusion, there is high probability that leadership skills will be learned in a
NOLS course. The strength of this program is its ability to foster intrinsic motivation and
encourage an internal locus of control. The weakness of the program exists in its third
assumption, which results in the programs inefficiency (and perhaps inability) to reach its
desired ultimate outcome.
Suggestions:
In order to reach its ultimate desired outcome, NOLS must focus on environmental
education. According to the National EE Advisory Council’s 1996 definition,
EE is the interdisciplinary process of developing a citizenry that is
knowledgeable about the total environment in its natural and built aspects
and has the capacity and commitment to insure environmental quality by
engaging in inquiry, problem solving, decision-making and action (Class
3).
Though NOLS encourages development of these skills, they must ensure participants are
able to use these skills to foster environmental stewardship and responsible
environmental behavior.
According to Transfer theory, there are certain techniques that NOLS could use to
increase probability that a transfer of learning will occur. In order to better work toward
their desired outcomes, NOLS should first ensure that environmental knowledge is being
addressed, reviewed, and put into action during the programs. The TBLISI Objectives,
discussed during UMD Class 3, reveal goals that NOLS could work toward in order to
encourage environmental education in their programs: NOLS should focus on ways to
provide its participants opportunities to develop awareness and understanding of the
environment and its problems by working to apply the leadership skills learned in
programs toward identifying, resolving, and presenting environmental problems.
After having provided these opportunities, NOLS can ensure transfer by
providing students with the opportunities to practice the transfer of learning while still in
the program. Just as leadership skills are taught and put into practice, NOLS should
encourage responsible environmental behavior during the program. It has begun this
process by following the Leave No Trace policy, but further incorporation of
environmental behavior into the program would be highly beneficial. (Gass, 1989, p.
231).
NOLS can further ensure transfer by developing processing techniques to use
during the program. Though leadership skills are highly transferable, responsible
environmental behavior could be encouraged by debriefing before, during, and after
environmental knowledge is acquired, problems are identified, and solutions are
brainstormed. (p. 233).
Finally, by providing follow-up experiences to the general program, NOLS could
encourage continued communication, offer post-program activities, and encourage
reflection, which would also aid the transfer process (p. 233).
The Future:
The future of NOLS seems assured. The program is strong and popular. Participants
who apply are looking for and receive adventure experiences that will build leadership
and outdoor skills. However, if NOLS wants to describe itself as a program that builds
environmental awareness and fosters an environmental ethic, and if they want to fulfill all
aspects of their mission, they must begin to aggressively include aspects of
Environmental Education in their program.