The effect of the Ontario Ranger Programme on the participants' self-esteem and self-concept levels

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an outdoor education residential camping programme on participants' levels of self-esteem and self-concept. During the summer of 1996, participants from Ontario Ranger Programme (ORP) camps completed the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) and the Tennessee Self-concept Scale (TSCS) on five occasions: Time 1 - upon their arrival at camp, Time 2 - halfway through the programme, Time 3- at the completion of the eight week programme, Time 4 - four weeks after the camp experience and Time 5 - eight weeks after the camp experience. The findings demonstrated no differences with regard to Gender and Gender by Time interaction, though there were minimal differences. Significant increases were found in the participants' global self-esteem and self-concept levels while at camp. The self-esteem results significantly increased between Time 1 and Time 3. While the self-concept scores demonstrated a significant increase between Time 1 and Time 2, in addition to a significant increase demonstrated between Time 1 and Time 3. Upon completion of the programme, the respondents' self-esteem and self-concept levels decreased slightly, although these decreases were not significant. Both the self-esteem scores and the self-concept scores demonstrated no significant decrease between Time 3 and Time 5. The self-concept scores demonstrated a significant difference between Time 1 and Times 5, the second follow-up test remained significantly higher than that first test.