The benefits of CYC outdoor adventure camps
By Associate Professor Sue Whatman & Associate Professor Katherine Main
School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
The Power of CYC Camps: Our Thrive Philosophy
Students attending Christian Youth Camps (CYC) are presented with every opportunity to thrive. The Thrive Philosophy of CYC is centred on five learning outcomes, or pillars, of gratitude, meaningful relationships, generosity, spiritual awareness and anti-fragility. Students’ ability to thrive at CYC is intentionally enhanced by the purpose-built curriculum and learning and teaching approaches of camp leaders as well as the outdoor, natural environments which are proven to support social, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing, or vitality (Kaplan, 1995; Ryan et al., 2010) and develop students’ relationships with each other and nature (Outdoor Education Australia, 2024.
Research Program Overview
In our 2023-2024 research program, we have investigated the phenomena of the CYC outdoor adventure camps, centring on the intentional ‘thrive’ curriculum and pedagogies used by experienced camp leaders and the perspectives of school staff who experience the program alongside their students. We conducted five full day camp program observations, five camp staff interviews and twelve school staff interviews, along with extensive document analysis.
Camp Leaders: Key Characteristics & Approaches
We observed camp leaders who exhibited important characteristics and effective learning and teaching approaches (or pedagogies) which engaged students in learning the CYC way. Leaders employed general motivational strategies – “who’s excited for camp?”, signposted upcoming events for excited and sometimes anxious students, prioritized safety through everyday routines, and contextualised the Thrive philosophy through age-appropriate, everyday examples and opportunities for deep reflection.
The Heart of CYC
The passionate and committed camp leaders share an incredible bond through their Christian faith and see each other as “brothers and sisters in Christ”. The strong connection to each other and their strong belief in Christ aligns and supports the ethos of CYC camps and the thrive philosophy. Whilst CYC does not require schools to participate in an overt Christian input session, the Christian faith underpins their approach. CYC conducts extensive orientation and induction programs for new staff, where shadowing more experienced leaders and receiving weekly mentoring and professional learning via the CYC app produces rapid gains in staff self-efficacy, expertise and confidence to deliver the CYC program.
School Staff Perspectives
School staff who accompany students on CYC camps have complete confidence that the learning intentions they set for the camp experience can be, and are, met by the CYC approach. One primary school principal, whose students have regularly returned to CYC over a number of years, commented on how CYC supports meaningful relationships and develops anti-fragility:
“That’s what camping does, camping sets up relationship. And yes, you see kids in a new light. You watch different kids take lead roles that aren’t leaders in school, the shy kids that don’t say much, all of a sudden they find their voice when they hit the bullseye in an archery target. There are all sorts of different things that camps can set up.”
Support for Diverse Learners
A learning support teacher aide, again who is a repeat visitor to CYC, noted that CYC camp programs naturally differentiated for diverse learners, including those with special needs or additional learning support:
“Because the structure of these camps is so good, it plays into that perfectly. They’re out of their comfort zone, but it’s nothing extreme. It’s nothing that they can’t all achieve…I know how to prepare them and get them ready for this and they come away liberated and empowered.”
Building a Multi-Year Camp Experience
A Head of Curriculum noted that the scope and sequencing approach of CYC programs, to progress students with new experiences and responsibilities when they return in subsequent years, is what attracted them to build a multi-year, camp experience for their primary school:
“We started off doing a year four camp just on our own site. And I just mentioned, well, I know CYC does our year five camp, couldn’t we get them to do our year four camp? And we’d have less worries in terms of catering, program, organisation, that sort of thing. So, we joined CYC to do our year four camp as well as the current year five camp that we had. Then from there, we expanded our year four and five camps to go to a two night, year four camp and the three night, year five camp ready for the year six Canberra trip.”
Tailoring Programs to School Needs
In summary, school staff believed that CYC camps:
- Listened to what schools needed from the camp experience and could tailor their programs to suit those needs;
- Enabled unique opportunities for students to show their strengths which may not typically arise in classrooms;
- Encouraged students in safe, supportive, but challenging environments to extend students’ (and sometimes teachers’) ideas of their limits, developing their confidence and resilience;
- Sequenced the learning opportunities to ensure camp experiences were not repetitive, and were an extension on their understanding of the five pillars of the thrive philosophy each and every time they visited.
The Unforgettable CYC Experience
Schools who send their students to CYC camps can be confident that the qualifications, characteristics and pedagogic approaches of the camp staff, the integrity and quality of the CYC curriculum, combined with the natural outdoor setting will provide students with an unforgettable camp experience which ticks the school’s learning outcome requirements. Most importantly, students will experience a combination of approaches and settings which research has demonstrated to support their social, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.
References
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169–182.
Outdoor Education Australia (2024). Rationale. https://outdooreducationaustralia.org.au/education/rationale-for-oe/
Ryan, R. M., Weinstein, N., Bernstein, J., Brown, K. W., Mistretta, L., & Gagné, M. (2010). Vitalizing effects of being outdoors and in nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.10.009
Discover the benefits of research-backed CYC outdoor adventure camps.