Camp Research: What? So What? What’s Next?

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal of Youth Development provides a means to highlight where camp research is today based on the articles presented. Several common areas are identified: role of theory, addressing social issues, methodological imagination, emerging audiences, samples, linking operations and outcomes research, staff and youth development, moving outcomes from what to how, and thoughtful and intentional implications for practice. Areas that need additional consideration in future camp research and issues that can be addressed by camp professionals include further examining how positive change occurs in camp, noting the value of the transfer of camp experiences to later life, using critical analyses of what camp experiences mean, and examining areas that have been under-researched such as day camps.

Gestão de campos de férias para crianças

“…Despite this, Henderson et al (2007) completed a review on camp research, concluding that the major areas of camp study included operations (i.e., physical, and emotional health, and safety of participants) and outcome research (i.e., self-esteem and independence, social skills, physical and thinking skills, positive values, and spirituality). Later, Henderson (2018) admitted that most of the existing camp research has focused on participants' outcomes, criticizing this focus as being overly generic. Most camps expose participants to new and challenging experiences to promote growth, and these experiences often result in positive child development (THURBER, 2007).…”

“…They noted the importance of documenting best practices and alerted for challenges in camp-related research: reliable instruments to measure camp experience; parental Management of child camps: a structured literature review and new directions 13 permission to avoid intrusiveness; control of children to prevent the effects of peer and/or staff influence; sampling strategies to examine different camp experiences and larger samples. Henderson (2018) extended his prior work by conducting a thorough review of research related to camp experiences and identified nine "direct contributions to better understanding camp experiences" (p. 318). These directions included theory, social issues, methodological imagination, emerging audiences, samples, linking operations and outcomes, and staff/youth development.…”

“…Camp research studies describe the camp analysis made until the present and is poorly developed. Henderson et al (2007) identified two main streams on child camps research (operations and outcomes), but later suggested that these two areas become intimately connected (HENDERSON, 2018). In fact, the analysis of event experiences in a holistic way seems to have gained importance in the sportsand physical education literature (YOSHIDA, 2017;WARD;GRIGGS, 2011;WEISS, 2011), since it allows to build knowledge toward developing a framework for planning and managing events (ZIAKAS, 2020).…”

“…In fact, the analysis of event experiences in a holistic way seems to have gained importance in the sportsand physical education literature (YOSHIDA, 2017;WARD;GRIGGS, 2011;WEISS, 2011), since it allows to build knowledge toward developing a framework for planning and managing events (ZIAKAS, 2020). Additionally, the perspective that operations and outcomes areas should be evaluated in an integrated way (i.e., from "what" to "how";HENDERSON, 2018) is gaining strength, since any change in the operations area will obviously influence the outcomes for its participants. Considering that child camps are fields of practice, understanding how camp experiences occur is crucial to obtain insights for practice.…”

“…Due to its importance, the prevalence of research examining child camps has increased over the last decades. This is evidsent by growing numbers of publications in the sport and physical education literature, including opinion articles (e.g., HENDERSON, 2018), special issues (e.g., BIALESCHKI; BROWNE, 2018), or specific sources for industry trends (e.g., Camping Magazine), which has led to two main areas of camp study: outcomes and operations (HENDERSON et al, 2007). A large part of recent publications covers participation outcomes (e.g., WEAVER et al, 2014), while some focus on operational (HENDERSON et al, 2007) or managerial aspects as camp safety (e.g., CHANG et al, 2017), consumer behaviour (e.g., OMELAN et al, 2018), or staff (e.g., DUBIN et al, 2020).…”