Teachers' practice is based on their beliefs about how student learning should be developed. In the practice of programme leaders in outdoor environmental education centres, experiential learning is considered to be one of the prominent learning theories. This study analyses the ways in which experiential learning is interpreted and transferred into the practice of programme leaders in five outdoor environmental education centres in the Czech Republic. The authors collected qualitative data from interviews with the programme leaders (N = 17) and from observations of five different outdoor environmental education programmes. They identified three distinctive experiential learning theories representing the leaders' beliefs and practices. Further, the implications for future practice are discussed.