The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic and comprehensive review of evaluation studies on the effectiveness of adventure education in Japan. The characteristics of each study were presented qualitatively, and to present quantitatively, its effectiveness was estimated by meta-analysis. 8,676 articles were extracted from a database (CiNii) search and other sources. After exclusion of duplicate articles and evaluation of eligibility criteria, 113 studies were subjected to be reviewed.

As a result of the qualitative review, 12 diverse programs including mountaineering, were conducted. 47 measurement concepts were addressed as indicators of effectiveness, ‘self-related’ was the most common. Regarding the duration of the programs, many of them were conducted for 5 days and 4 nights or 7 days or more.

A quantitative meta-analysis showed an effect size of 0.55 (95% CI = 0.43-0.66), but very high heterogeneity was detected. An analysis that excluded outliers and combined the results of 92 studies showed an effect size of 0.36 (95% CI = 0.32-0.41) and no heterogeneity. Based on the results of this study, we propose ES=0.55 as the expected value and ES=0.36 as the criterion value for the effectiveness of adventure education. The impact of the moderator variables on the variation in effect size was examined, and while the form of issuance and the measurement concept had an impact, the factors involved could not be fully analyzed.

This study examines what is experience in outdoor education, referring to Merleau-Ponty's "body theory". The results of organizing "experience" with reference to his theories in "PHENOMENOLOGIE DE LA PERCEPTION" and "LA STRUCTURE DU COMPORTEMENT" are as follows.

・Experience is an event that is inevitable and indivisible intrinsic to the world (nature).

・Experience is an event that is always open to the environment (situation).

・Experience is an event that is cyclical and reciprocal with the environment (situation).

・Experience is an event that includes many perceptual and sensory phenomena in the living world, either prior to verbalization (reflective observation) or unconsciously.

・Experience is an event in an environment (situation) that the body, with its hierarchical structure of behavior, carves out according to that structure.

In addition, by applying the elements of experience to both outdoor and education, it was possible to explain outdoor and educational experiences in outdoor education more logically and clearly.

The purpose of this study is to redefine outdoor education by using the findings of Hijikata et al. (2022) on the concept of experience in outdoor education.

We have reviewed the previous definitions of outdoor education and pointed out that they are positioned as tools and means to achieve the goals. In order to redefine outdoor education by focusing on its intrinsic value, we examined the nature of involvement, or experience, which has rarely been questioned in the past. The research were conducted through philological methods, expert discussions, and questionnaires.

As a result, a redefinition which consists of the following main text and the appendices was proposed.

[main text]

A social, cultural, and/or historical activity that generates some learnings through the direct experiences and has the nature as its source.

[appendices]

Outdoors: It is related not only to the natural environment but also to the Fudo(climate) and it also includes actions going outside of modern values.

Direct experience: It is based on one’s involvement through its body in the environment or the situation.

Social, cultural, and/or historical activities: It shows the various forms of education and learning in the long Human history.

Nature: The diverse nature that is the source of life is accidental and uncertain, and it is also the prerequisite for sustainability and well-being.

In outdoor education, the relationships between individuals and nature, and between individuals and others during nature experience activities are believed to be of major significance but are not fully understood. In this study, the structure of these relationships was investigated based on the following activity elements, (1) nature → experient, (2) experient → nature, (3) leader → experient, (4) experient → leader, (5) experient → experient, and (6) experient’s internal relationships, targeting forest experience activities, which are one of the most common nature experience activities. Analysis of video records of 40 types of forest experience activity revealed that interpersonal involvements (i.e. (3) leader → experient, (4) experient → leader and (5) experient → experient) accounted for larger percentages of all experiences compared to the relationships between the experient and nature (i.e. (1) nature → experient and (2) experient → nature) and the experient’s own internal world (i.e. (6) experient’s internal relationships). Principal component and cluster analyses of the video records across the six relationships suggested four main classes of forest experience activity. These classes were defined by the durations of activities and characterized by a passive or active interaction with nature and the target of that connection (leader or nature and experient) and cover a wide range of the six relationship classes observed in past studies.

This study theoretically examines the concept of physicality that contributes to the understanding of long-term adventure camps and adolescence and aims to clarify the meaning of the long-term adventure camp in individual an adolescent case with physical problems. The results revealed the following points.

1) The results clarified that the concept of physicality can be understood as "a concept in which the mind and body are connected, and a concept that expresses the whole mind and body when the mind and body are regarded as one entity." 2) In order to understand the phenomenon in practice, Ichikawa's ¹⁾ five perspectives of "the body as the subject", "the body as the object", "one’s own body against another", "the body of another", and "the body as implexe body" were considered useful. 3) The results clarified that the meaning of the long-term adventure camp is the process of confronting obstacles and acquiring a strong "movement", "the body as the subject", becoming confident in the "body as the object", and incorporating the expectations of others and renewing the perception of "one’s own body against another”. 4) It was considered that the process in which the bodies interact with each other in a complex manner is important to regain physicality, such as experiencing " embodied knowledge (understand through the body) " and "synchronizing" with others through the physical sensation of touching and being touched by nature.