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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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How does collaboration give students vital life skills?

WHS Director of Drama, Deb McDowell, reflects on how Drama can help students understand the importance of recognising your limitations and engaging in productive conflict to achieve the best outcomes

At this point of the year, as another cohort of students prepare to stride out into the world beyond WHS, I always ask them for their reflections on the best and also the most challenging things about the Drama experience. Then comes the frown, a sigh or two and a blowing out of lips, followed by thoughtful raised eyebrows, a gentle shaking of the head and a wry smile: ‘Devising! For both!’

The students are referring to the exam requirement at both GCSE and A level to create a 20-minute piece of Drama for performance in a group.

Experiencing the highs and lows of collaboration, in a high-stakes situation, usefully prepares Drama students for the world beyond school, where the value of well-honed, independent study skills – key for fantastic exam results – so often depreciates rapidly, while the need to negotiate and work with others becomes more crucial to success.

Let’s take a moment to consider some of the wonderful things collaboration offers, as evidenced by the powerful devised work created by Drama students each year:  

  • It provides an inclusive and productive experience for everyone.
  • It teaches those who have confident voices to listen to those who are less extrovert, but also requires everyone to take responsibility for the work in progress, not just to sit back and let the ‘leaders’ take over.
  • It provides a positive platform for problem-solving, as a result of experiencing a range of perspectives; learning that that by pooling knowledge, skills and expertise, a group response can be nuanced and powerful.
Anastasia by Year 10-13 Wimbledon High students

However, actually learning how to collaborate is not easy. Negotiating the unavoidable personal and practical challenges of working with others must not be underestimated. Commentators cite the need to trust and respect each other as the most important part of a group dynamic, but in discussion, WHS Drama students perceptively commented that this trust and respect cannot truly exist at the outset of any collaborative project, neither can it be forced, but will only grow over time in the most effective groups.

Together we agreed on the following.

First, we must understand that collaboration is more than simply ‘working with others to produce something’. There must be a shared intention, which in Drama is to produce high quality work that has social, cultural, moral value.  There must also be specific agreed objectives, which for us means being precise about what we want the audience to think about or feel as a result of experiencing the performance.  

Collaboration also requires agreed acceptance of the need for organisation, and a methodical way of working, even if the actual responsibility for active time management and group discipline falls to the individuals within the group best suited for these roles.

Furthermore, outstanding outcomes are only achieved a result of ambitious thinking and a determination to achieve the highest standards of execution, where the process must allow for risk-taking and also tolerance of missteps along the way, both in terms of the work in progress, but also in relation to group interaction.  

Learning the personal qualities for collaboration

Many people have a deep-seated need to please, to be liked by others and to avoid conflict. Unfortunately – ironically perhaps – these traits undermine the very process of positive collaboration. Collaborations that aspire to be entirely harmonious soon find themselves mired in complacency, buoyed up by a cosy morale which ultimately leads to work that is clichéd, less sophisticated and ultimately unsatisfying.

What often lies behind the feelings of anger and frustration that can emerge is a perfectly reasonable anxiety about progress, or a sense of injustice borne from perceived unequal effort, or disappointment in the quality of input from others. We must accept that these feelings will bubble up when the stakes are high. It is really challenging to find a way to allow for them to be acknowledged properly as an integral part of the process, but when they are managed effectively, they can lead to collaboration of the highest order, which will make possible that fantastic sense of achievement and high morale experienced by so many of our students…in the end.

Positive collaboration forces us to understand our own limits; to recognise our own reluctance to be vulnerable; to be able to admit mistakes; and to see that challenges or failures along the way are not crises but a necessary part of the process.

And we have to truly respect others and evaluate their ideas openly and objectively. This is harder than it sounds, especially when we are often so used to measuring our progress relative to others, seeking out personal indications of approval to bolster our self-esteem, and becoming increasingly ‘set in our ways’ to feel more ‘in control’. Through collaboration we have an opportunity to learn from each other. The process should encourage us to see the value in asking for help, something far too many of us find very difficult (often perceiving this as an admission of weakness, when actually the opposite is true).

Working with others can allow us to become the kind of person we would want to work with ourselves – someone who can understand and respect others’ points of view, including across differences of background or expertise. And when faced with complex and demanding situations, we have to be able to admit when we need help. A confident, positive approach to collaboration makes all the difference. Listening to this year’s departing Drama cohort reflecting on why the experience of Devising embraced the worst of times but ultimately led to the best of times, I am happy that these students are striding out better equipped for life beyond WHS.