To quote (with a distinctive twist) Star Trek: Next Generation:
“Singapore: a new frontier. These are the voyages of the 4th year FedUni students. Their continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new cultures, to boldly go where no one has gone before”
In many regards this phrase sums up part of my reflective perception on facilitating in a foreign country. Unlike trips that I have conducted in Australia where an aspect of the planning process is conducting a ‘recce’ (scouting out the location being visited) to the planned location, being able to get to know the route you are travelling, the possible challenges and obstacles that could be faced.
However this was not completely possible and in many ways we were travelling into the unknown. Our solution as a group was to plan as much as we possibly could, individually researching information and then collaborating it together. But despite discussion after discussion, it just didn’t seem like enough. Then a few days into our Singaporean adventure I read a certain blog post by Lulu in regards to facilitating in this environment.
In her post ‘The Day The Plan Went Out The Window’ one key tip Lulu devised from her own experiences as a facilitator was to have a plan, but also plan for change. This sentiment stuck with me, and throughout my groups facilitation day I noticed times where our planning shined through and others where we needed to adapt to current situation and alter from the plan.
One such case was during our lunch stop. Our original plan was to leave the green corridor as a large group and disperse from a set landmark where everyone would meet back at before continuing our journey along the corridor. However at Bukit Timah we decided to go to lunch in our small groups and then meet back at a bus stop we agreed would be a prominent landmark. This again changed during lunchtime where I received a call outlining that we would return to the green corridor and make our way in small groups and meet up near our final destination. As a facilitator these changes made me a little nervous, no longer did I have a complete plan to rely heavily on, I had to adapt and make decisions in the moment. But after some encouragement from a number of key people, I stuck to my guns and successfully navigated my way through that situation.
From this experience and facilitating this day as a whole I learnt just how intertwined structure and adaptability can be. To adapt well when placed into a foreign space that is unknown it is important to have the structure behind you to be a support. To go boldly into the unknown as I never have before.
Great points here Jrob. Thinking on the spot can be hard sometimes but you were able to work your way through these challenges with some careful thinking. Good work.
Nice conclusions. I have read a few posts now that really cement the concept that planning ALLOWS adaptation and permits flexibility, even though an original plan has to change, it remains informative and instructive.
Of course lobbing into another country is pretty rare right – well maybe not if you think of the Alps or a river that you have never experienced as new Country in the Aboriginal sense of that meaning. But what differed here was that you couldn’t physically go to Singapore first and become familiar; understandable
I will never lead a group to somewhere I have not been – in my view it is the only way to be able to concentrate on education rather than leadership. it allows you to shape educational experiences around a knowledge of place. It permits you to have an educational experience around a “getting to know a friend’ guiding metaphor compared to a military or exploration frontier type metaphor – consider the practical differences of these contrasting ways of being in Country.
cheers
Great post robbo, I found your process quite interesting and love how you drew from others blogs and experiences throughout the day. I myself have never really thought about structure allowing for adaptability until I too lead here in Singapore, I mentioned a similar concept in my blog. Great work Robbo.
Robbo, firstly I appreciate the Star Trek quote oh so much! Secondly, you did a great job on the day! To echo others comments, it’s vital to have the planning done and throughly look at all options, but also to prepare for that “curve ball”. The variable you thought in planning back in Australia as “surely that won’t happen”. But you had confidence in yourself to back your choices and made a decision quick and owned the responsibility if it was to not work. Keep up the great posts mate!