Association for Experiential Education
Encyclopedia
Association for Experiential Education
The Association for Experiential Education, or AEE, is a nonprofit, professional membership association that promotes experiential education. Currently based in Boulder, ColoradoBoulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, USA, it was founded in the early 1970s in Boone, North Carolina
Boone, North Carolina
Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...
by a group of educators who believed that the core of learning is enhanced by experiential forms of education.
AEE exists to connect educators in practical ways, and to expand their capacity to enrich lives through the philosophy and practice of experiential education
Experiential education
Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
. The association is committed to supporting professional development, theoretical advancement, and the evaluation of experiential education worldwide. This includes the publication of and access to current research and resources, and increasing the quality and performance of experiential programs worldwide through AEE’s accreditation program. There are now more than 1,550 members, from 33 countries. AEE seeks to contribute to making a more just and compassionate world by transforming education, and promoting an educational philosophy that fosters personal growth, leadership, development, teamwork, and environmental stewardship.
Membership
AEE members have affiliations in education, recreation, outdoor and adventure programming, the environment, mental health, youth development, programming for people with disabilities, service learning, and organizational development. Professionals, organizations, and students who share the mission and vision of AEE join to benefit from and contribute to the network of resources championing experiential education. This includes the publication of an academic journal, as well as regional and international conferences.Journal of Experiential Education
The Journal of Experiential Education (JEE) is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal that presents scientific and conceptual inquiries into the study and practice of experiential education and its various subfields. These include outdoor adventure programming, service learning, environmental education, therapeutic applications, research and theory, and more. The interdisciplinary diversity of topics in the JEE makes it of special interest to academicians, consultants, educators, practitioners, and students of experiential education. Published three times per year(August, November, and March), the JEE the premier journal in the area of Experiential Education.Conferences
AEE hosts eight regional conferences and one international conference annually, which jointly serve more than 1,800 attendees with hundreds of workshops, prominent speakers, continuing education units, regional and networking opportunities, and entertainment. Educators, practitioners and students from around the world come together at these events with the goal of developing professionally, and promoting, defining, and applying the theories and practices of experiential education.Accreditation
After a rapid increase in the number of adventure programs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the need for standards of program quality, professional behavior, and appropriate risk management became imperative. In 1994, AEE responded to that need by developing the most comprehensive standards for common practices in the adventure education industry, becoming the nation's first recognized accreditation process focusing on adventure education programming. Since then, the AEE Accreditation Program’s standards-based evaluation process by objective, independent reviewers has become the industry-accepted level of professional evaluation for adventure programs. Organizations that meet these standards attain accredited status as evidence of their commitment to quality and safety, belief in professional standards, and allocation of resources toward continued excellence and improvement. This provides the public with an objective, independent verification of a programs’ quality, and holds the organizations accountable to the current best practices.See also
- Experiential educationExperiential educationExperiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
- Outdoor educationOutdoor educationOutdoor education usually refers to organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges in the form of outdoor activities such as hiking,...
- Adventure educationAdventure educationAdventure education focuses on participating in activities with perceived risks and does not necessarily occur outdoors.Adventure education includes cooperative games, trust building activities, problem solving initiatives, high adventure activities and...
- Adventure TherapyAdventure therapyAdventure Therapy as a distinct and separate form of psychotherapy has only been prominent for less than 40 years. Influences from a variety of learning and psychological theories have contributed to the complex theoretical combination within adventure therapy . The underlying philosophy largely...