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We face a cultural battle too. In a world where life is fast-paced, and the next thrill can be accessed at the touch of a screen, training has to keep up to maintain the attention of its participants. The research is divided as to how long a person’s attention span actually is, but suffice it to say, we can recognise the limitations to classroom teaching. AT limits the time spent in a classroom so as to maximise kinaesthetic learning experiences. Indeed, a study over 13 years demonstrated the lasting positive impact on self-concept (how we view ourselves) of a single mountain summit experience in a group of adults. It would appear that AT is indeed memorable as well as having a direct transfer of learning to other domains. This transferability is possible when we become more experienced at overcoming obstacles, by facing failure and growing more resilient. Mastery only comes with experience, so we must expose ourselves to new experiences in order to develop the capacity to reflect, overcome problems and transfer any learning to the next experience.
Does AT meet its objective? Does it meet the three aims? Research in this particular stream is limited and would be an interesting and beneficial path of enquiry. Until then, we must draw on the extant literature which quite clearly demonstrates the positive impact of AT in the outdoors on participants. ‘’The only question we have to answer is this – is there any other type of training that has been shown to develop its participants as AT does?’’
‘’If we want to develop and retain cohesive, more resilient personnel, who are more effective as leaders, then AT is definitely more than just a week away from the office.’’
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