Northern Research Station

Title: Confronting passive behavior through outdoor experience: a TA approach to experiential learning

Author: Medrick, Frederick W.

Date: 1977

Source: In: Children, Nature, and the Urban Environment: Proceedings of a Symposium-Fair; Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-30. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 192-198

Description: The concepts and techniques of transactional analysis (TA) can usefully be applied to outdoor challenge programs aimed at facilitating personal growth, developing responsibility, and teaching cooperative behavior. Passive behavior results from discounting of the self and others; four levels of it have been identified, and TA offers various means of preventing or confronting it. A no-discount contract and individual growth or learning contracts are prerequisite to responsible behavior. Both structural analysis (identifying ego states) and script analysis are valuable tools for detecting and analyzing the causes of ineffectual behavior. Permission, protection, and potency are essential for effective facilitation of outdoor growth experiences.

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Citation

Medrick, Frederick W.  1977.  Confronting passive behavior through outdoor experience: a TA approach to experiential learning.   In: Children, Nature, and the Urban Environment: Proceedings of a Symposium-Fair; Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-30. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 192-198.