Tag Archives: Singapore

Evaluation

The perils of perceptions

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“The hardest part about listening is to not fill in the blanks with your perceptions – to clear the mind and be willing to understand something new” – Amy Larson

Did you know that Singapore’s primary vegetation has been reduced to 0.16% of a total land area of 714.3km2? (Khew, Yokohari, & Tanaka, 2014). Does this lead you to believe that Singapore cares about nature? Probably not, but read on and you might be surprised.

During our time in Singapore many people, myself included, commented on how the main difference between Outdoor Education (OE) in Singapore and Australia, is that Australia has a much larger focus on connecting people to nature. This statement is true, as long as we perceive nature as the wild, abundant, spacious wilderness type environments that are common to Australia and Australian OE programs. But what if we broaden our perspective of what nature is, or can be?

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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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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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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

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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Evaluation

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple

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“Sometimes the questions are COMPLICATED and the answers are SIMPLE” (Dr. Seuss, n.d)

Compare and contrast how Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) is run in Australia and Singapore. Focussing on an underlying theme and discuss in relation to the literature.. Sounds like a mouth full doesn’t it. And how does one even start to compare the two? I mean they are both so different right? It would be like comparing apples and oranges for lack of a better analogy. I mean Singapore can fit into Australia over 11,000 times.. and Australia has completely different ecosystems and environments to that found in Singapore. Therefore our Outdoor and Environmental Education has to be completely different right?…. wrong.

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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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