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How can we make expeditions transformational for students?

Ian Richardson, Head of Computer Science, explores the value of leading student expeditions, and identifies how the adults leaders involved can catalyse the often life-changing benefits for students

For many years of my career, Marrakech has held a special place in my heart. I have loved accompanying students as they lead on through the chaotic noise and bustle of the Jemaa el-Fnaa, overcoming initial hesitancy to ‘master’ the art of bartering, and somehow managing to navigate their way around the maze-like multitude of ancient streets and passages. With the prospect of another expedition this October, I have been reflecting on how the adult leadership team maximises the impact of these personal development experiences.

What are the benefits of expeditions?

In order to understand the personal qualities of good expedition leadership, it is important first to consider why we take our students on expedition. In a review of current research into the impact of outdoor education on individuals, Heather Prince lists seven different themes for personal development of individuals on outdoor residential experiences[1]:

  • Confidence
  • Teamwork
  • Life skills
  • Intra-personal skills
  • Independence
  • Aspirations
  • New opportunities/activities

Having accompanied various expeditions in my career, I have seen pupils’ personal development first-hand. Whether I have been on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition over four days, or an overseas expedition for a week, or a month, as teachers we are granted the privilege of watching our pupils “grow up” in a short space of time.

What personal skills do teachers need?

  1. Flexible thinking and embracing experiences: As teachers, we may have experience of educational visits, whichrun to fairly strict itineraries. However, successful expeditions are conducted more flexibly, with students taking control of parts of the itinerary. Accompanying adults should be comfortable in adapting plans and assessing risk dynamically to ensure safety. Often the most memorable experiences on expedition are those which the students discover by themselves unexpectedly. Accompanying staff are often asked to step outside their comfort zone and to embrace new experiences (memories of discomfort in taking part in traditional dancing in Borneo spring to mind): it is important that staff lead the way and participate in the experiences on offer, making it easier in turn for the students to follow.
  • Control and decision-making: Over the course of an expedition, the role of the accompanying adult changes. At the start, leader input is frequent and directive; by the end, the student team should be functioning with little or no input from leaders. To return to the example of the busy markets of Marrakech, it can feel strange at first to turn to a group of pupils and ask them where they are taking you. Leaders should establish appropriate boundaries to ensure safety and allow the team freedom within those constraints. Empowering participants to make decisions is what makes the expedition such a powerful personal development experience and helps to develop teamwork skills.
  • Cultural understanding: Whilst acknowledging the benefits of expedition for the participants, leaders need to be aware of and sensitive to the culture of the destination. This is true in both the more practical sense of keeping the team safe, acknowledging local customs and allowing team members to communicate, and in the sense of carefully selecting the lens through which our students view the country they are visiting. For example, for expedition in October, I have invited our pupils to learn from a muezzin what it means to give the adhan (call to prayer) and how it is performed. In this way, we can allow young people the chance to understand others with empathy and avoid imposing their own values on another’s culture.
  • Empathy, understanding and authenticity: First and foremost, an expedition environment is one of challenge. Both the participants and leaders are challenged in different ways at different times in the journey. Young people may find the isolation of working in a team in a remote location difficult, whilst others are challenged by busy urban areas. At times, the teacher may be challenged. A good leader will acknowledge discomfort as an opportunity for growth and support all participants by creating safe space for reflection. Valuable opportunities arise to lead through vulnerability and to model resilience.

Conclusion

Following the restrictions imposed on all of us through 2020 and 2021, we once again have the chance to enrich the lives of our students through travel. Although only for a relatively short period, an expedition can have a huge impact on everyone involved and it is a real delight to be able to share a love for travel with students once again. By developing the skills above, an effective leadership team can take the expedition experience to a new level and maximise the opportunities for development.

[1] Prince, H.E., 2020. The lasting impacts of outdoor adventure residential experiences on young people. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 21 (3). pp. 261-276.

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Can outdoor learning create thinkers, risk takers and environmental pioneers?

Mrs Sarah Brierley, Miss Tiffany McIntyre and Miss Jade Mayes explore the impacts of learning beyond the classroom on pupils’ social, emotional, physical development and academic progress.

We are the Wild Girls

Outdoor Education is an umbrella term for any educational session which takes place outside the classroom; from Maths lessons in the playground, to visits to the Tower of London. For us, Wild Girls provides our pupils with the opportunity to jump in puddles, build shelters, write poetry in the woods, fly kites and learn to love nature. As we like to say, there is no Wi-Fi in the woods, but you’ll find a better connection! Children are also given permission to play freely, to explore their natural environment and take controlled risks.

Meet the facilitators with a vision

Participants are destined to achieve. The Wild Girls’ facilitators aim to make observations based on each individual girl, in order to scaffold their learning and allow them to take controlled risks.

Sarah Brierley:
I moved to the centre of Wimbledon 4 years ago, from the beauty of The Lake District, which offers a different outdoor classroom for each day of the year. As a mountain leader and RYA dingy sailing instructor, when I shared my vision with my fellow outdoor instructors from the Lakes, they were bewildered at how I could possibly suggest delivering outdoor education in central London- but we’ve done it!

Jade Mayes:
As a Year 1 teacher, I fully understand the importance of hands on, child-led learning. I have a background in Forest School Education, and bring this knowledge to our new initiative. My vision is to foster a community of individuals, who have just as much love for the natural world as I do, and in return will take care of it for future generations.

Tiffany McIntyre:
As a Reception teacher, I aspire to make this project more than just taking learning from indoors into an outside area, but to go further and provide opportunities that cannot be achieved within the confines of a classroom. Once the walls are removed, children have a sense of space and freedom that allows their young minds to investigate, explore and create on a larger scale. They move freely, building confidence through shared enterprise and hands-on experiences. Whether this involves building a pirate ship or investigating the best consistency of sand to build a sand castle, it all supports the children in the acquisition of skills and encourages them to develop independent thought, where the possibilities are endless.

The importance of learning beyond the classroom

We can learn so much from nature. The trees in a forest care for each other, communicating through their roots. They warn each other about dangers and use this network to decide when to seed. We can learn so much from this ‘wood wide web’ (Flannary, 2016.)  The lessons trees provide us about team work are endless. Isolated trees have much shorter lifespans than those living connected together in the woods (Wohlleben, 2016.) Surely, this is a lesson that will support our pupils as they progress through life.

Our KS1 sessions include the use of a range of activities and resources to encourage our pupils to participate. Nature provides a therapeutic environment for pupils to truly be themselves and grow as individuals. This point of view is supported by Carl Roger in his book A Way of Being – ‘I love to create such an environment, in which persons, groups, and even plants can grow…real relationships with persons, hands dirtied in  the soil, observing the budding flower, or viewing a sunset, are necessary to my life’ (Rogers, 1995). This concept is at the heart of our practice and has already been successfully implemented within our Junior School.

Holistic pedagogy

The holistic approach is naturally engrained in the structures of a Wild Girls’ session, as emotions, fears, conflicts and friendships form an intrinsic part of each session. This offers children the opportunity to grapple with challenging processes, as they play freely within the woodland setting.

In an urban environment, it is essential for children to have access to nature. For us to be able to extend these opportunities as part of our Wild Girls programme is invaluable.

In addition to this, children need nature for the healthy development of their senses and consequently their learning and creativity. Asking children to use their senses to interpret the world around them can be challenging for those who have not had the opportunity to develop these faculties.

These classrooms come cheap too. London provides the world’s largest urban forest, ‘8.4 million trees for 8.6 million people’ (Wood, 2019.) In London, most areas of outdoor space are free to access and close to transport networks making it easy and free for schools to use them.

Wild Girls in Action

At Wimbledon High Junior School, we have created different activities for our girls to explore whilst outdoors.

In Year 6, our pupils study navigational skills in a woodland setting, in order to learn how to use compasses and read maps. These are skills that could be potentially get lost in the high-tech world our children are being brought up in. When learning about directions on a compass, one misconception emerged when a pupil suggested that North is always dictated by the direction of the wind! Even if she never uses a compass again in her life, she has been afforded a valuable learning opportunity.

In Reception, these experiences are focused on inviting the pupils to be a part of their environment, to observe and respect what they can see, hear and feel. Using stories as a starting point, we connect with nature and encourage the girls to lead the learning experience. However, the most fun our girls have had was splashing in the puddles on their way into the forest! These opportunities provide the foundation for these young learners to grow and to develop as they move through the Junior School.

Year 1 pupils have used free play to explore the woods, making wind chimes and mud cakes, whilst coming across many mini beasts to identify. In the outdoors, nature is in control. Although you can predict what the weather is going to do, you can’t predict what children will learn the most from in the natural classroom you’ve created. This is the beauty of outdoor education.

Final thoughts

This opportunity to roam unchecked and learn life skills in the outdoors is arguably the most important education any child can have. It is enriching for the soul and brings out character traits that may be hidden whilst learning indoors. In the short space of time that we have been delivering ‘Wild Girls’, we have observed social connections becoming stronger and more universal, and an even more cohesive sense of community emerging. Personality types who may be naturally more reserved, have been given the space to show the qualities of leadership and collaboration. In an ever-changing, evolving world, giving children the space and freedom to be a child, has never been more important.

References

Wohlleben P, The Hidden Life of Trees, London, William Collins, 2017

Wood P, London is a Forest, London, Quadrille, 2019