Let´s go out! A group-based intervention in outdoor adventure education as a special educational support

Abstract

This article deals with the group-based behavioral, cognitive, and skill-training intervention program Maltti as a special educational support action applied with outdoor adventure education at the primary school level. The need to apply the group-based intervention arose from the special education teachers’ (N=2) desire to reinforce and expand their pedagogical methods in order to improve the students' development in special education. The special education teachers had a group of pupils with special educational needs, aged from 10 to 11 (5th graders in Finland). These pupils faced challenges in social and emotional development, for example, in the areas of psychological regulation, self-regulation, and emotional regulation. This article is a case study which presents how outdoor adventure education can be implemented in special education. It also describes how special education teachers experienced the group-based intervention intersecting with outdoor adventure education. The research findings indicate that together, the intervention and the outdoor adventure education encouraged pupils’ emotional and social development, well-being, relaxation, a sense of belonging, successful experiences, positive group experiences, and strengthened executive functions. The findings promote the use of outdoor adventure education methods in the group-based intervention Maltti with children with special needs.