In Australia, as in other countries, the meaning of outdoor education varies from site to site across the educational landscape. Some practitioners have involved themselves in public discourse to 'clarify' its meaning and to achieve consensus over the aims and future directions of this curriculum area. This study specifically challenges an implied assumption of the debate that there ought to be only one correct definition of outdoor education. The study develops a theoretical background wherein it is proposed that the very nature of the debate, along with the everyday actions of outdoor education teachers and their students at educational sites, constitutes the ongoing creation and re- creation of outdoor education. By seeking to understand the nature of that process this study seeks to give due attention to the socio-historical context of the debate, and, in the long term, to contribute to the understanding of the socio- historical influences that shape education and schooling.