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most common forms of recreation for which
professional education is sought. All types of
education require basic skills on the part of the
professional providers. These skills include the
history and philosophy of the field, leadership
and supervision, first aid and safety, communication
and interpersonal skills, management techniques,
evaluation skills and programme
development skills.
In addition to these basic skills, each type of
recreation has its own set of specific education
needs. Outdoor recreation refers to leisure
activities that depend mostly on the natural
environment. This type of recreation, for
example, requires educated professionals who
understand the proper leisure use of the natural
environment, as well as the possible environmental
impact of outdoor activities. Outdoor professionals
also need to be familiar with natural
resources and interpretation. This will increase
the enjoyment levels of participants and
build awareness among them that can assist in
mitigating negative environmental impacts.
To be effective, professionals in the area of
therapeutic recreation, which is leisure activities for
people with special needs, must understand various
illnesses and their effects, medical terminology,
anatomy, geriatrics and gerontology, and kinesiology.
They are expected to be familiar with a wide
range of activities suitable for people with special
needs, and able to provide leadership and possess
supervisory skills. In addition to formal education,
therapeutic recreation professionals often require
certification, which is a professional licensing
process based on education and practical experience.
Commercial recreation activities include
money-making ventures such as swimming pools,
golf courses and skating rinks. Experts in this area
demonstrate high levels of knowledge and proficiency
in the programme areas. They are also
skilled in maintenance and management of specialised
facilities. Formal education usually also
includes sales techniques, programme planning,
labour cost control, marketing and accounting.
See also: recreation manager; recreational
behaviour; recreational carrying capacity;
recreational planning
Further reading
Crossley, J.C. and Jamieson, L.M. �1988) Introduction
to Commercial and Entrepreneurial Recreation, Champaign,
IL: Sagamore Publishers. �Provides a
good overview of the professional training
requirements for commercial recreation.)
Ford, P.M. �1981) Principles and Practices of Outdoor/
Environmental Education, New York: Wiley. �Includes
an informative section on education in,
for and about outdoor activities.)
Russell, R.V. �1996) Pastimes:The Context of Contemporary
Leisure, Dubuque, IA: Brown and
Benchmark. �Provides an informative overview
of therapeutic and other forms of recreation
education.)
efficiency
efficiency 185
DALLEN J. TIMOTHY, USA
The concept of efficiency refers to lack of wastage
or optimal use of productive resources resulting in
a maximum of output ± or satisfaction ± within the
constraint of a given technology and input types
�Samuelson and Nordhaus 1993). The achievement
of efficiency is obviously dependent on the proper
coordination of economic activity to go as far as
possible in consumer satisfaction in the framework
of a certain know-how and input utilisation
level. As von Hayek pointed out, this coordination
is subject to the available information and knowledge,
which themselves have a cost of production,
transmission and processing. Therefore, information
and knowledge must be considered also as
restrictions on the achievement of efficiency.
Additional restrictions on efficiency come from
the inertia of organisations and any other administrative
barriers to change. It is useful to
distinguish between technical efficiency �or the
ratio between physical quantities of outputs and
required inputs as specified in production functions)
and economic efficiency �or the ratio
between the value of outputs and required inputs).