Personally I am a bit skeptical about outdoor schools, especially "survival schools," although I would recommend first aid and emergency medicine courses that postulate a wild land setting. Sooner or later the course content will come in handy.

There is a lot you can learn from thoughtful reading and studying, combined with good outdoor trips. You might expect me to say this, since this is how I acquired knowledge in this area, well before anyone was formally teaching the subject. I found the AAC's "Accidents in American Mountaineering" annual volumes especially helpful, primarily because they had objective, detailed, and thorough discussions of events. I basically learned that unplanned bivouacs were pretty common and worth planning for. There is a lot of good information readily available - just don't expect to find any on your TV.

Another thing to consider is that what you learn in one section of the country is not as applicable in another. In Arizona, survival is all about water (at least during most of the year), which is probably not as prominent a factor in Tennessee.

There is also seasonal variation. Quite a few people in Arizona have problems with cold, rather than heat, and drowning is surprisingly common.