Comfort Zone blog

Comfort Zone model is something that has developed from Cognitive psychology and become very well versed in the outdoor world. Brown (2008) explains the Comfort Zone Model is often used in briefings and when explaining to groups how they might learn whilst undertaking an outdoor programme.   I have often used the term during conversation and trying to explain what benefits the outdoor world can offer yet do I use it to set up activities with groups? I don’ believe I do, I have used it after a session when reflecting on what the group have achieved.

The Comfort Zone Model Brown referred to suggests that at home we are in a comfort zone (bubble,) happy with life.  Brown (2008) explains that when out of our comfort zone we are in a stretch area, when placed outside of this bubble in an outdoor environment such as kayaking on a river we are outside of our comfort zone and this enables growth and learning, that we will retain this knowledge and return home a much wiser and better person.  

Brown (2008) challenges the comfort zone model suggesting there is very little research and evidence to support its status and maybe it would be better placed as a metaphor, providing more of an understanding than a process.  Yet also looks at comfort zones being specific to an event so what we achieve in stretch zone during a climbing session isn’t going to be transferred to everyday life.

Maybe this is where soft skills come into play instead of setting the group to individually push hard go beyond your comfort zone (whatever that is) each person can set their own achievement,  identify their aims and use communication and support of the group. You choose how high up the climb is right for you.  Rohnke (1984) looked at choosing the level of challenge or risk and providing the individual or group with ownership of decisions with Challenge by Choice Model. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) Finding flow also looked at how we react under stress when undertaking new activities introducing psychology, anxiety and stress and how we react cognitively depending on the level of skill compared to the level of challenge. 

This is also evident in the Priest and Gass (1997) Adventure Paradigm when the two competences meet there is a state of peak flow. When facilitating maybe the group should be made more aware of how they feel and given options to set their own level of challenge this could be used a numbering scale say 1-5 (1 being the lowest and 5 maximum) or set personal levels of achievement.  Outside the classroom personalising learning is motivating for pupils Waite (2011). There is also evidence that when people feel safe, secure and strong relationships are built then learning and change will occur (Berman 2002,Vella 2002).

Personal Philosophy

My personal philosophy of adventure affects my facilitation in the following way

The outdoors for me means far more than work it is my office, my life and I never take it for granted. It will provide generic challenges and obstacles yet can always provide new and interesting elements that can be used or avoided depending on the situation.  It means that each working day is dynamic and has to be continually assessed.  For me and many of the people I work with it can provide moments of challenge and serenity, feelings of achievement and success.  The outdoor environment provides me with work and free time activities.

Helping others appreciate and understand how to engage and use effectively the outdoors is very important to me.  The fun aspect needs to be countered by an understanding of how we should respect and use the environment and allow for sustained use in the future.  Through facilitation teaching each group to understand about the impact we have on the environment and how we can reduce the effects examples like using rain water storage for cleaning equipment or watering gardens and how they can do the same at home.  Recycling litter and reducing the amount of both litter and energy that we use at the centre we get each group to monitor amount of electricity and see if they can use less than the previous week.

Understanding of the environment is an important factor that facilitators try to engage all groups in, yet some people can only relate this to the environment they are in at that time e.g. you may spend a week with a group working in the outdoors and encourage them to respect the environment conserve energy and not litter yet away from that environment a week later in their normal comfort zone how much of that will be transferred?  Promotion of the environment should not be just whilst in the lovely countryside but more a way of life can we change people’s lives or just show them a different view for a short time.

For me I think everyone remembers that first trip away and how they engaged in activities and had fun with their friends, as a facilitator I am hoping through the use of the outdoor medium many people may learn more of their own capabilities, relate things back into their everyday life and if everyone is more aware of themselves then maybe there would be much more awareness of their environment.