All posts by Kel Thompson

A bit about me; I am one of the 23 ‘Outdoor-Edders’ on this trip, love being outdoors, so much so I have undertaken studies in Outdoor Education at Federation University. This trip is a culmination of 4 years of study and I am excited to see how such an Urban environment utilises Outdoor Education, in contrast with Australian Outdoor Education, especially in relation to self, others and nature connections. This international trip is a highlight to expand my outdoor education knowledge and experience. Let the learning begin!

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

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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Fluency

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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A Platform… Thank-You.

All good things must come to an end, or rather serve as a platform to launch into the future. This being one of those occasions. Singapore has been an absolute Blast! It was full of many ‘firsts‘, for me this included: visiting Singapore, blogging and windsurfing! Just to name a few. Being a first time journey blogging for all of us, I hope you have found it insightful captivating and apart of the journey.

So many things have happened throughout these past two weeks & I Continue reading A Platform… Thank-You.

F.A.C.I.L.I.T.A.T.I.O.N.

The following is an acrostic poem relating to my learning from my facilitation day on day 7, Friday 3rd July through Singapore Botanical Gardens and Night Safari.

F.A.C.I.L.I.T.A.T.I.O.N.

Full Value Contract (FVC). This is what we agreed to as a team before we even set foot in Singapore. This was represented by a chicken we signed who affectionately became known as Chuck. We agreed to ‘Exploration’ ‘Team’ ‘Culture’ & ‘Respect’.

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Two ears, one mouth

“God gave us two ears & one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.”

This is a quote I have heard and describes my time in Singapore travelling over the past two weeks. The world I have grown up in is different to what I have experienced here I Singapore. My upbringing, background and values impact on outlooks in life. Gaining an understanding of this different culture is imperative to the relationships I have built with Singaporeans whilst here.

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“…and then they surrendered.”

This is not how the war story was meant to end. The whole time I listened to the war story in Singapore I was waiting for the hero to sweep in and save the day. “And then the soldiers fought back and repressed the Japanese….” “….then they had back up come in to fight….” But no. This story ends quite differently from any war story I have known growing up in Australia. Going on a war history tour of this small country it is amazing to hear the stories of survival and what actually happened that fateful week in Feb 1942 when Japan invaded Singapore and kept it under rule until 1946. Singapore has done well in presenting the facts and draws learning from it in a positive light. Growing up learning war history in Australia we are the victors. Japan tried to invade but we held them off, even in Gallipoli we emerged ‘Victors’ forged by our dogged determination and mateship. But here the story was different as the Japanese took hold on the ‘impregnable fort’ of Singapore, leading to the largest surrender of British-led forces in history.

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Bike Ride Day #2

What does 1/2 day bike riding look like in less than 1 minute? You just witnessed it.

This video is a time-lapse of 1/2day bike riding we undertook under guide Nam Jim. The 2nd man in Singapore to gain a University level qualification degree in Outdoor Education (through LaTrobe University, Bendigo) he is a wealth of knowledge and currently heads  up the Raffles Leadership Institute in Singapore’s number 1 school. He is a passionate man with a background in Outward Bound Singapore and has major plans for the future of Outdoor Education in this country. Through his expertise and willingness to share we explored a majority of the East Coast of Singapore including history and environmental impact through use of a network of Connector Paths.

Commuting with Nature

The train takes off and I look around, the space is empty. Don’t get me wrong, the train is full, standing room only. People commuting but no one connecting. It feels as if the only common voice here is the automated announcements over the speakers. People on their phones, some headphones in, some eyes resting, some looking around. I feel the sounds our group makes are a welcome relief as the bubbling conversation & laughter fill up an otherwise silent carriage. We are connected with one another. I wonder about others.

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Same same but Different

I know you so well but yet I don’t. Your touch is familiar but distant in an exciting way as you invite me into adventure. I step down into the lush green grass and am awed. I know this so well, but it’s different. The feel is familiar, yet not the same. The pockets of grass and tufts it grows in is different to what I’m used to back home. It feels deeper under foot, the grass blades somehow longer & thicker in this humid environment. A spongy sea of grass beckons adventure.
It does but not really. This is so normal and natural. I flop down on the grass as I would at home; comforted by the familiarity to lay and relax, to take in my travels. The sights of a night sky, the sounds of passing traffic, the familiarities seem so similar. Yet it’s not until I open my eyes I notice the Singaporean skyline. I
find it’s often the little differences that make the big difference for me. Maybe it’s this linking connection of curiosity I have mentioned before, drawing connections from what is known into new incoming information. Maybe it’s this that I enjoy and draw more learning from as I connect more to similarities I know of back home.

Things like the grass underfoot, that feels so familiar yet strangely different, or the pedestrian lights here; do you know some of them have a countdown so you know how long you have to cross? I enjoy these pockets of subtleties seen in the everyday travel of life that remind me of my travels. I think they remind me on some level that we’re all human in this world, no matter where we are.

Continuing on from

Save the Forest or save the Tree?

Does the ‘restoration’ process of a natural environment (e.g the Bukit Timah works currently going on ATM) scare off the natural wildlife, enough that they may not come back? We think of these works as ‘good’ but are they destructive in chasing away wildlife with the sounds of machinery?
Just a thought as I walked through construction works in the Bukit Timah area.