Outdoor & Experiential Education (OEE)

The Outdoor and Experiential Education Program is committed to preparing passionate and skilled educators who can enrich the lives of their students through the development of a deep appreciation for the Earth.

For complete information on entrance requirements and steps to applying for the OEE Program Track, please click here.

Queen's Faculty of Education offers both courses and a program track in Outdoor and Experiential Education (OEE).

OEE Courses

The two courses offered are available to education students as part of their educational studies course choices. These courses are available within the regular Consecutive and Concurrent programs for candidates not enrolled in the OEE track.

• EDST 407 — Outdoor and Experiential Education, Practice and Theory
• EDST 406 — Open Country Exploration

OEE Program Track

The OEE Program Track is intended to facilitate the integration of conventional teacher education and preparation for leading dynamic school and community-based outdoor, nature-oriented education activities. Courses are based on experiential education theory with emphasis on methodologies appropriate to a variety of environmental contexts and to all teaching subjects. Emphasis is placed upon the development of leadership skills required to implement innovative outdoor and experiential programs through examining the skills required to propose, administer, evaluate and teach such programs.

OEE candidates are required to take three OEE courses:

• FOCI 260 — Outdoor and Experiential Education
• EDST 442 — Principles and Programs in Experiential Education
• EDST 417 — Educational Uses of the Environment

FOCI 260 introduces a wide variety of outdoor and experiential activities. Students concentrate on ways to develop their own leadership and facilitation skills in outdoor settings that will allow them to offer dynamic experiential curriculum. (e.g., How can I incorporate snowshoeing, field trips and camp lore into the curriculum?)

EDST 442 emphasizes learning to express and critically examine the rationale for designing, proposing and implementing OEE programs in a variety of settings.

EDST 417 is a field camp run in early September before the start of the regular education year. This course allows OEE students to begin to create their own community through which they will experience the value derived from learning and living with others in an outdoor setting. Field Camp is a mandatory requirement so it is expected that students relieve themselves of summer responsibilities in order to attend. Part of this course also involves the opportunity to create a practitioners workshop as part of one of their teaching practicums. Practitioner workshops have traditionally taken various forms. Examples include: three students designing and completing their own winter-travel guide training program, arranging a tour of integrated OEE programs across Ontario or visiting various boat-building schools through the northeastern states to see how boat building can be a path for learning.

The OEE program track requires an extra 1.0 credit for Primary-Junior candidates and an extra .5 credit for Intermediate-Senior candidates, and there are additional charges for food and transportation. This is slightly above the weight of other education students due to the field camp component. The three OEE courses also have additional charges for food, transportation, special equipment and reading manuals. There are a number of other details connected to the program that you will be informed of after your arrival. Important requirements for graduating from the program with honours are current certificates in the following three areas:

1. Standard or Wilderness First Aid
2. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
3. Aquatic Life Saving: (one of the following certificates is required)
   • Bronze Cross,
   • Bronze Medallion,
   • Swift Water Rescue or National Lifeguard (NLS).

OEE Program History

Queen's University has offered outdoor and experiential education courses since the founding of a professional school in 1968. Since these early days, the courses have taken on many forms including open country and personal growth courses, whale boating experiences on Lake Ontario, the development of the first ropes course in Ontario at the barn, Nomads North a canoe-based Outward Bound-style course, Walden II an intentional community, a traveling program in comparative studies of alternative educational programs in the northeastern states, a co-op program and more.