Monthly Archives: July 2015

Evaluation

Lead From The Front

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What is leadership? Does it have varying definitions? Do conditions affect leadership?

Leadership. What is it? How do I define it? Bass (1990) outlines the issue around the definition of leadership “there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (p. 11). If there are so many definitions of leadership how do I know how to lead? From my experience in Singapore I have come to the conclusion that ‘leadership is guiding a group of people through an activity or activities in order to achieve set objectives’. This conclusion is some what open but enables me as a leader to change styles depending on the group, the environment and the set objectives.

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Evaluation

R.E.S…. find out what it means to Singapore!

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R.E.S.I.L.I.E.N.C.E!

In a workshop with OBS staff whilst in Singapore, we looked at the theme of resilience with Heather Grenon, who is currently completing PhD studies on the subject; I should really let her speak on the subject!

This topic is of interesting note when delving a little deeper into Singaporean culture, specifically education and OE in Singapore. Reading through some info before jumping on the plane helped me understand the background context to the place we were visiting (there’s a lesson to learn, not just for overseas travel!).

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Discoveries, Evaluation

Back to Basics

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I have always considered group assignments to be a difficult task. There is different personalities, different opinions and different ways of getting the job done. Some groups face less struggles than others but either way, each group must overcome hurdles to in order to function.

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Evaluation

Fluency

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Get a group of 20 up-and-coming leaders and lead them! Great. What an assessment! How to lead your peers? In a country you have never been before? In a place you have never visited?

This is sometimes the hardest group to lead, the people around you, I was not the only one amongst the group feeling this way. This I believe looks very different from leading students, which we as up-an-coming teachers have learnt about in our university studies. Putting this into play and taking the approach of a facilitator; a ‘neutral person’ managing the group processes, (Thomas, 2010, p.240) rather than leader; a person who leads, commands or organises a group, looked different from what I first expected (Cross, 2015).

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Discoveries, Evaluation, Reflections

Dont cry because its over, smile because it happened

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“Don’t CRY because its over, SMILE because it happened!” (Unknown, n.d.)

I know what your thinking… doesn’t he normally start off with a Dr Seuss quote? Some of you may even be thinking ‘that is a Dr Seuss 77292741_ec5b47243b_oquote…’ but heres the thing, it’s not. In fact he never wrote this at all. It has simply been associated with him due to the fact it sounds like something he would write, an assumption. My old man used to tell me that you should never ‘assume’ anything. His reasoning for this was that ‘it makes an ass out of you and me‘ and in my experience these words have held true.

Assuming that you know how other people think, what they want, how they will react. That your plan is flawless or even the assumption that because you know all of these things.. nothing could go wrong. Your being an ass, and you are wrong, but we all do it.

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Evaluation

Golden specks and golden nuggets

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Singapore is full of small specks of nature; Australia is full of beastly nuggets of nature. Singapore’s areas of natural treasures are microscopic compared to Australia’s natural areas. Never the less gold is gold, and it should be treasured no matter the size.

Singapore’s natural spaces are very beautiful, some are human made natural areas. Its virtually impossible to get lost in the wilderness in Singapore. One minute you may be walking along in the forest, next minute your shocked back into the constructed world as you see tall buildings or hear the sound of cars. On the contrary in Australia it is most certainly possible to get lost for days and days in the wilderness, with no MRT services close by!

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Evaluation

Bound for Discovery, Changed for Life!

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G’day Internet!

“Onward, Singapore!”

That is the title of the Singaporean national anthem. It is also the nations motto (By the way, when did countries start having mottos? Do we Australians have one?! I’m calling Tony and throwing up some ideas..)

In comparing and contrasting Singapore and Australia’s approaches to Outdoor Environmental Education (OEE), even looking at the lyrics of our national anthems we can find similarities.

“Come, fellow Singaporeans Let us progress towards happiness together”

“With courage let us all combine, to Advance Australia Fair” (If these lyrics don’t look familiar, it’s because it’s from the second verse of our anthem)

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Evaluation

The Best of Both Worlds.

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As mentioned in previous posts, I actually knew very little about Singapore in general prior to the announcement of the Great Singapore Adventure. Everyone seemed shocked as to how Singapore could possibly implement an outdoor education program in such a small environment, but I didn’t truly understand up until we actually got there where I could see for myself why outdoor education seemed an unlikely fit. Nevertheless, outdoor education exists quite strongly in Singapore and it definitely shares some observable similarities to the outdoor education we have in Australia. There are however, also some notable differences between the two that offer different outcomes potentially more relevant to the national interests of the countries.

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Evaluation

‘Learn in’ or ‘take away’? Take away please!

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We get to go to Singapore?!!! And have the opportunity to lead our peers for a day with activities of our choice?! Sounds too easy to be true doesn’t it?

It wasn’t all smooth moving in Singapore, the opportunity and experience of leading my peers was on occasions a tricky one – however one that I’m very thankful for and hope to ‘take away’ many key learning’s surrounding facilitation!

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Evaluation

Experience: the architecture of understanding

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During my first few days in Singapore, I struggled to see nature as I knew it. Let me take you on a short photo journey of my personal development and understanding of nature and Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) in Singapore and compare and contrast this with Australia.

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A view of the high ropes course at our accommodation

This is what I woke up to on day 1; beautiful! I was up and ready to explore. We went to Gardens By the Bay and visited the Cloud Forest, Flower Dome and Super Trees. I was blown away by the architecture, beauty and information provided not only at these locations, but at many others throughout the trip. However it was only when we got to week two that I actually thought to myself: ”Wait a minute…what do these places do for OEE in Singapore?”  

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