Talking out loud. [Review of Outdoor experiential leadership: Scenarios describing incidents, dilemmas, and opportunities.]

Outdoor leadership as a field of study is part of the legacy left by Paul Petzoldt (Wagstaff & Cashel, 2001). In the early 1960s, when Paul was the chief instructor for Outward Bound in the United States, he testified at a congressional hearing concerning the Wilderness Act, calling for an educational component of the act (Cassidy, 1995). Although this dream never reached fruition, his goal of teaching outdoor leadership did. In reaching this goal, Petzoldt went on to be a founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1965 and the Wilderness Education Association in 1977.

With the view that outdoor leaders are teachers, Petzoldt (1984) discussed the process of teaching outdoor leadership skills. To make quality judgments, Petzoldt stressed that students should be encouraged to learn the whys of outdoor pursuits by making decisions, asking and answering questions, and following “the teacher’s thought process” (Petzoldt, 1984, p. 54).

Consistent with Petzoldt’s approach to leadership training, Smith and Allison have compiled a compendium of 64 thought provoking outdoor scenarios that involve “value-based decisions, dilemmas, critical judgments, and interactions problems” (p. 4). An example is Scenario 18, “Frosty Trip” in which two outdoor leaders of an early winter canoe trip are unable to decide whether to cancel the trip or head off downstream.

All of the scenarios were sent out to reviewers for their comments and questions. The list of reviewers is an impressive array of leaders in outdoor education. Comments on “Frosty Trip” included thoughts concerning hypothermia, starting fires with wet wood, the goals of the trip, clothing selection, the weather, and the difficulties of co-leadership.

Similarly, each scenario is followed by a list of questions asked by the reviewers. For the “Frosty Trip” scenario, questions posed to the reader ranged from the practical (“Should a group always take some fuel-fed camp stoves along?”) to the theoretical (“On what basis can one line of action be considered as more ‘conservative’ than another?”). The beauty of this book is that one can reflect on these situations without having to have lived through them. Thus, one need not face hypothermia in order to reflect on the “Frosty Trip” scenario.

Two potential issues concerning this volume are noteworthy. The first concerns the intended audience for this volume. It is purportedly a training guide for classes, training programs, and group discussions. It is also intended to be a tool for individual reflection. To pose such questions as this book does: Is it best suited for classes or training programs? For groups or individuals? There is some contradiction, however, when the authors later state that the book is “to stimulate reflective thought and peer group discussion” (p. 6).

The second issue to be raised relates to the amount of experience that one needs in order to get the most out of these scenarios. As the authors state, there are no right or wrong answers for most of the scenarios and, furthermore, there are sometimes contradictory comments from different reviewers for the same scenario. To arrived at informed responses to these scenarios, readers should have at least a basic foundation in outdoor education to sort out their own resolution of the dilemmas. Thus, it would seem that at least some basic familiarity with the pursuits and experiences described will put readers in the best position to grow from considering the scenarios.

Combining these two issues, peer group discussion and individuals with at least minimal experience, leads to the recommendation that this volume will be of most value for training purposes, perhaps for students studying outdoor education. Further, in the footsteps of Paul Petzoldt, these scenarios are best considered in the presence of an experienced instructor who can help students see that while there may be no right answers, there are some answers that are better than others. The presence of such an experienced instructor allows students to ask their own questions to experts rather than only focusing on answering questions that experts have posed to them in this volume.

Cassidy, K. (1995). Introduction. In P. Petzoldt, Teton tales and other Petzoldt anecdotes. Merrillville, IN: ICS Books.

Wagstaff, M. & Cashel, C. (2001). Paul Petzoldt's perspective: The final 20 years. Journal of Experiential Education, 24 (3), 160-165.

Dene Berman, Ph.D., is a psychologist in practice at Lifespan Counseling Associates in Dayton, Ohio and a Clinical Professor at the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University. Email: dene.berman@wright.edu