Tag Archives: Facilitation

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

Lifelong Leaders and Learners…

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The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly.
Hello, how are you today? That’s good, I’m well to ~ Jim Rohn ~

Facilitation is an art; there is not doubt about that. It is unique to each individual and is something that changes and flows with the situation you are in…or at least that’s the general idea.

When I sit back and look at the 22 other outdoor edders that I went to Singapore with, I can see the differences in their facilitation styles – each is unique in it’s own way. So what happens when you combine each of these unique styles into groups? Chaos? Harmony? Compromise? Based on experiences in Singapore…all of these things.

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Evaluation

The blind leading the blind

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Initially I did think of it as the blind leading the blind. Every person being totally new to Singapore and attempting to lead our peers steadily through an environment we’d never be able to visit before.

After having a little more time to reflect on my facilitation day as well as other groups’ facilitation day in Singapore, I’ve felt more positive about the experiences, and have been able to view them in a more constructive way. Yes, I can still see many ways in which our facilitation could’ve gone better, however after speaking with other groups it has reassured me a little; knowing they faced similar obstacles, perhaps to a lesser extent.

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Evaluation

Do what you love, love what you do!

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As I’ve been nearing the end of my degree at university, I’ve been questioning myself, in terms of my readiness for the teaching profession. Am I happy with the level of knowledge that I have? Will my students really gain the experiences and passion for the outdoors that I have?

Outdoor Education in Singapore didn’t appear as those it could ignite this passion for the environment. To me, it seemed to revolve only around recreation, which I used to think meant students would only enjoy the activity, and not gain a deeper connection with the outdoors.

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Evaluation

Knowledge isn’t everything.

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“Explore Pulau Ubin by bike. | Explore cultural precincts.”

Immediately after reading our groups’ (Kara, Will, Kieryn and Myself) facilitation task I thought “What’s a Pulau Ubin?” and “Which cultural precincts do we explore?” I found it difficult to wrap my head around conducting an entire day’s worth of events in a faraway land having never even been outside the country before, it was all a little bit daunting. Naturally having no idea about the place or culture, I researched, and I learnt about the place to the point where I believed I could impart some lasting knowledge on my peers, awesome!

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Evaluation

Are we there yet?

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The reason as to why I have chosen this heading for this particular blog is because throughout the days in Singapore this question was running through my head at some points in the trip. It was a very jam packed, full on days that 23 individuals were involved in. There was a lot of ‘go go go!’ and it was sometimes hard to really soak up the place we were in, without feeling rushed.

During the preparation stage of the trip to Singapore, we were all randomly put into groups of about four members, which became our facilitation groups. I was lucky enough to work alongside Kelly, Georgie and Mooey. Upon reflecting my own experience of the day, I expressed in my facilitation blog that I learnt quite a lot about myself as an individual.

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Evaluation

A new experience, a new skill.

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Leadership! Facilitation! What a pair of confusing, challenging and questionable topics. I have searched far an wide, through huge body’s of literature, and I could tell you that..

‘Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished’ (Sessoms & Stevenson, 1981).

Or I could tell you that..

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Evaluation

You, Me, Us; We are all different

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”Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” – John F. Kennedy

Singapore; the experience

Twenty-one students, two leaders and six facilitation groups. There were 23 people, each of us different learners, thinkers and facilitators. Each group had to work together to facilitate one day in Singapore. What have I learnt from this experience?

Each of my peers has reflected on their facilitation day, and it makes me happy to know I was not the only one who struggled, had issues and was even unsuccessful at times.

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Evaluation

P’s Get Degrees

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Konnichiwa Internet!

Do you know the “7 P’s” concept found in marketing? Now wait, don’t groan. Before you switch off, let me explain. Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Packaging, Positioning and People are the 7 P’s of marketing. Just for future reference..

I, however, know of a different, FAR more interesting“7 P’s” concept. When I first went to the USA I worked at a summer camp in upstate New York. My boss who was the director of the boy’s side campus for 35 years at the time had always preached:

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Continue reading P’s Get Degrees →