Journal article
What additional skills and knowledge do Australian university graduates gain when learning to lead bushwalking by engaging with the National Outdoor Education Threshold Concepts?
Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, Vol.29, pp.573-595
2026
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.
Details
- Title
- What additional skills and knowledge do Australian university graduates gain when learning to lead bushwalking by engaging with the National Outdoor Education Threshold Concepts?
- Authors
- Scott Polley (Corresponding Author) - University of South AustraliaJosh Ambrosy - Federation UniversityLucas Bester - La Trobe UniversityIan Neville - Victoria UniversityBrendon Munge - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary AccessDaniel Anderson - University of South AustraliaGlyn Thomas - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Publication details
- Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, Vol.29, pp.573-595
- Publisher
- Springer
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1007/s42322-025-00207-6
- ISSN
- 2522-879X
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991116852502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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