Staff

Prof. Peter Higgins (Section Leader)

Peter Higgins Email: Pete.Higgins@ed.ac.uk

Professor Peter Higgins holds a Personal Chair in Outdoor and Environmental Education at Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. The department has an international reputation and is one of few in the world with both a practical and teaching orientation as well as substantial research interests in the field of 'learning outdoors'. The focus of the work of the section is to prepare critically aware professionals to teach within and improve practice in the sector, and also to make a significant contribution to research and knowledge in the field. Peter's national and international contribution has recently been recognised by the University of Edinburgh through the award of a Personal Chair, the only one in the field in the UK and Europe.

Peter's early career was as an environmental scientist and freshwater biologist before training as a teacher of Outdoor Education and Biology. He holds a wide range of high-level UK and European governing body teaching awards notably in canoeing/kayaking, free-heel skiing and mountaineering, in all of which he retains a strong recreational interest. He has taught at several UK outdoor education centres as well as in New Zealand, and is a member of a number of national and international panels and advisory groups on outdoor and environmental education. These include several European Union and UNESCO educational projects. He has also acted in advisory capacity to the UK and Scottish Governments on Outdoor and Environmental Education, access to the countryside and related environmental issues. He has held advisory roles with a wide range of outdoor and environmental educational providers and agencies and has contributed to their continuing professional development.

His research interests are in the theory, philosophy and practice of outdoor education; international comparative approaches to outdoor education; coaching and skill acquisition in outdoor activities. He is the author of over 70 articles and co-editor of several books relating to these fields. He currently supervises a number of research students and research assistants (from the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Japan, Africa and Australasia who are studying a wide range of topics in Outdoor and Environmental Education in the context of the UK, Europe and other parts of the world. Through individual and collaborative (with other UK and European universities) research grants and consultancy activities he has attracted income of over £520,000.

He is responsible for a range of Outdoor Education and Environmental Education programmes. Of these, and notable for its 35-year history is the Postgraduate Diploma and Masters degree in Outdoor Education which is unique in Europe and one of the few in the world. It has a high national and international reputation, attracting students from many parts of the world. He teaches both academic and practical aspects of these and other programmes in the university.