StephenFine
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Feb 23, 2006, 1:27 PM
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International Summer Camp Research
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The old joke about “Murphy’s Law of Research Studies” states that if you do enough research it will end up supporting your theory. Yet, this is exactly the objective of the Ontario Camping Association’s decision to initiate an international research study into organized camping - and it’s not a joke! Camping professionals, not to mention parents, teachers, medical practitioners, social agencies and health organizations, have long known the many benefits inherent to the camp experience. However, there is currently very little in the way of hard evidence based on conclusive research to confirm their collective belief. At present there is only one national U.S. camp study commissioned by the American Camp Association completed in 2005. Just as there are parents and children everywhere so there is need for broader geographical and cultural studies of this kind.
Anytime adults gather for social or professional get-togethers their casual conversation often turns to the subject of their children. What’s going on in school, activities, such as music, hockey, dance or soccer - and very often - stories about camp and the experiences they’ve had there. Even when the conversationalists do not have children or have never been to summer camp themselves, they all seem to know a story about someone who does, or has, and can invariably join in with the banter.
This is because many parents feel that camps are important in providing children with social, practical, physical, and other life skills, that they might not get elsewhere. This is what conventional wisdom tells us about the summer camp. Camps are fun and educative places that have the ability to promote positive personal, social and physical development.
So why initiate a study on something that is already so well known? It is all part of a move by the Ontario and Canadian Camping Associations to raise an awareness of camp to a broader audience such as government, schools, corporations, new citizens and families worldwide. Canadian camps have always possessed a certain mystic – the call of the north! The promise of a classic outdoor experience that brings to mind paddling the old fur trader routes, portaging canoes, good friends, fresh air and cheery campfires under starry skies. But Canadian camps will only represent several pieces within this giant jigsaw puzzle of worldwide research. The intension of The International Camp Research Project is to provide insight into what all camps have to offer youth and society at large wherever they may be. The upshot is to draw a global focus on the phenomenon of camp and subsequently provide enriching personal, social, cultural and environmental opportunities for young people from around the world.
Dr. Stephen Fine is co-owner and co-director of The Hollows Camp and Chair of Educational Research of the Ontario Camping Association.
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(This post was edited by StephenFine on Jan 25, 2008, 11:13 AM)
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