Soft Skills Facilitation

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Objective measurement in evaluation of soft skills

Outdoor and adventure education has been associated with developmental outcomes such as personal growth, interpersonal skills and group development (Ewert and Garvey 2007), yet little is understood about the process in which development actually occurs. (Mckenzie, 2000; Sibthorp and Arthur-Banning, 2004)

Individuals often assume they intuitively understand what is meant by the term ‘soft skills’ a term often used to refer to developments in personal growth. This can be supported by Shooter et al. (2009) who suggests the range of ideas regarding this terms meaning across bodies of literature suggests confusion. Butcher et al. (2006) suggest soft skills and outcomes can enhance student success. They bring us on to the topic of objective measurement, and how these ‘soft skills’ can indeed be measured. Butcher suggests ‘soft’ outcomes do not measure success objectively, it is measured according to learners perceptions of progress towards their own and the goals of the adventure program. This view is parallel to my personal philosophy on objective measurement in evaluation of soft skills. My view is one that supports the idea of instruments such as the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), yet their effectiveness is something I readily question.

Personally I feel the confusion surrounding what comes under the term soft skills, along with the diversity in outcomes of outdoor adventure programs, the diversity of types of programs and the differences in individuals places doubt in my mind that a generic instrument can be created to produce individual scores and show change. The current objective measurements in literature measure assessment processes, not developmental changes.

Swiderski (1987), on the other hand suggested soft skills were overlooked, however as outdoor education has gained its own distinguishable texts, hard and soft skills have been well established in literature. Following this, understandably theorists and participants wanted to understand the impact of these programs and the 60’s to 80’s saw a development of instruments in research. Criticised by Neill (in preparation) however, for having a lack of theoretically and psychometrically sound instruments to assess changes in self-perceptions. The 80’s and 90’s therefore saw a range of psychometrically sound instruments produced evaluating programs and theorists currently value their effectiveness.

It would be naïve not to argue the impact of qualitative methods after concluding the development of several objective instruments. Qualitative methods similarly have been successful in understanding outdoor programs, giving an in-depth exploration of participants experiences (Wolfe and Dattilo 2006; 2007). The use of diaries, story telling, field notebooks and observations are highly recognised to understand and reflect on participants change. Personally I feel this method of individual reflection and reports of how these experiences have made participants feel holds the most value in understanding the process of change adventure programs have for personal growth.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

How can we optimise personal enhancement in self-esteem in the adventure environment?

There are many aspects of life that reflect upon how we feel about ourselves, namely relationships at home, our physical appearance or our social acceptance amongst peers yet it is often difficult to really understand how we improve what can be described as our ‘self-esteem’.

James (1890) described self-esteem with reference to a similar term named self-concept. James suggested self-esteem was made up of what a person wishes to achieve, and what they actually achieve. The latter is what is termed self concept, what a person perceives as their actual self.

The way, in which an individual values himself or herself, can be known as self-esteem.

The world we live in has encountered many social changes through time, which in turn can affect our self-esteem. Marsh (1999) highlights the fact that youth and adults interact less frequently, single-parent households have increased and budgetary conditions have meant schools cannot meet both educational and developmental needs of students.

The outdoors therefore, specifically wilderness adventure therapy programs, aims to provide opportunities where participants can learn to adapt to new environments and gain a sense of personal satisfaction through control of their experiences. These programmes as stated by Bandenoch (1984) are shown to enhance self-esteem, challenge, risk taking, reflection and social experiences through the use of adventure activities.

An example can be seen through ropes courses, which provide appropriate risk taking behaviours for students with lower self-esteem, who are likely to succeed and see personal achievement. The group context creates opportunities for social interactions, and transfer of skills to daily life (Moote 1997).

Hopkins and Putnam (1993) support this finding stating that the overall goal of adventure-based activities appears to be enhancement of self-esteem. In a study, 16 of 19 programs reported positive results with increased self-esteem (Sale 1992).

Bandoroff (1989) was first to use wilderness adventure therapy. Crisp and Hinch (2004) more recently did a study on 39 adolescents who didn’t respond to traditional therapy. 36 of these participants were ‘at risk’; the outcomes were significant in reductions of mental health symptoms and similarly increased protective factors such as self-esteem, social-competence and family functioning. Kumpfer (1999) supports this finding suggesting family are responsible for providing emotional support, learning opportunities and building self-esteem. Consequently the effects of the adventure activities and wilderness program provide improvements in self-esteem that relate to daily life. The experience was reported to push participants above their comfort zones, create emotional experiences they may not have previously shared with peers and develop personal responsibility through planning 3 day expeditions.

It is clear research on adventure activities promoting factors for increasing self-esteem is evident. Through personal efforts and a desire to improve self-esteem, challenging activities and self-directed tasks can motivate participants. Optimising this is achieved through participants seeing the success in themselves (Roberts and Suren 2010). As outdoor facilitators, by setting realistic goals and challenges with appropriate follow up reviews of successful and positive impacts, we can optimise the enhancement of self-esteem.

Sunday, 18 March 2012

Critique of Experiential Education with direction for Experiential Education in the classroom.

“Meaningful learning places relevance to real life at its heart. Education becomes ‘education for capability’, rather than ‘education for repetition’.

(Cohen et al 2010)

In order to unpack experiential education, focusing specifically on Kolb’s Experiential Learning cycle, the terms experiential education and experiential learning must first be understood.

Experiential Education is derived through programmes and activities structured by others, where the educators’ role with the student is to facilitate direct experiences under the assumption that this will lead to meaningful learning. This however, along with any learning requires preparatory and reflective exercises.

Experiential learning, defined by Neill (2006) contrary to experiential education, is not sponsored by a formal educational institution but by the learners themselves. Learning is achieved through reflection. Dewey (1938) goes on to say that the experience alone is not the only means to learning however. Some experiences may be miss-educative and reflection is considered necessary to develop understanding, this is the way that most of us do our learning.

Kolb (1984) developed the work of both Dewey and Lewin to create an Experiential Learning Cycle. This comprises of four learning styles being concrete experience, reflective observation, formation of abstract conceptualisations and active experimentation.

Kolb and Fry’s (1975) interests lie in exploring the process associated with making sense of concrete experiences through reflecting and creating learning concepts that can then be experimented. The learning itself, suggested by Kolb is concerned with the production of knowledge, grasping an experience and transforming it. He focuses on the individual mind, rather than seeing learning as situated.

The theory however, has not always been positively spoken about. Garner (2000) suggests that the theory is unclear and contradictory. What is being measured continually changes between flexible or stable situational states. Experiential Education is commonly known as the ‘central challenge’ to educators (Eyler 2009). The ability to transfer learning - which is essentially what experiential education evolves around, is ill explored through the process of reflection within the cycle.

Part of the reason students cannot transfer what they learn is due to not attaining enough depth of knowledge (Bransford et al 2000). Dewey (1933) acknowledged that some stages can be jumped, and a number of processes may occur at once, making it difficult to understand what learning has occurred. Shwartz et al (2005) criticised the cycle and suggested that if students are transferring knowledge to a new situation and ‘actively experimenting’ it, success is limited. If a new situation is entered where further learning is necessary, then previous knowledge will be used to interpret and develop a strategy for further learning.

As stated previously however, the cycle does not help to uncover elements of reflection itself and Shwartz et al conclude to say the most critical factor for achieving powerful learning outcomes from experiential education is the opportunities for feedback and reflection.

The workplace links learning to action. The lack of ability to transfer learning in the classroom could be because of the mismatch between learning inside and learning outside the classroom. The only way to ensure knowledge is used is to provide opportunities in multiple settings to practice and reflect on what is learned. Unfortunately, experiential education is not part of mainstream education and funding is scarce. The Learning Outside The Classroom (LOTC) manifesto (2006) however concluded that children are increasingly separated from the natural environment and personal and social development would be enhanced by outdoor experiential experiences.

Schools could understand the beneficial combination of using experiential education for both indoor and outdoor learning. Nicol et al (2007) supports this notion with there study suggesting that teachers were concerned with safety and lacked confidence taking children outside, yet outdoor providers were confident, yet lacked knowledge of the curriculum. Building partnerships between these two groups could provide effective experiential education in schools and reap the benefits of learning in and outside of the classroom.

Monday, 20 February 2012

Personal Reflection On Outward Bound Videos

The first Outward Bound School was created by Kurt Hahn, who’s motto for the schools was ‘To serve, to strive and not to yield’. Hahn (1957) emphasised the value of physical culture in the schools to ‘character-training’ and leadership, which was echoed through the outward bound videos this blog will reflect upon.

The videos present a view of outward bound programmes to echo the typical Victorian and Edwardian period with the term ‘character’ being common in education. Freeman (2011) described how outward bound programmes exposed trainees to the dangers of sea and mountain, promoting ‘martial’ masculinity, reflected in the all male selection of youths seen in the video. After watching both video’s I personally think the outward bound programme focussed on using the outdoors as a way to toughen up boys with little meaning of what ‘character training’ was and any evidence of real leadership occurring.

Summers (1961) initially valued outward bound as at that time, young people were simply engaged in receptive forms of entertainment, and this exploitation of leisure was seen as damage to the national character. However later, it was suggested that ‘character training’ was misleading, and his view supports the idea of outward bound trying to simply bring about inner strength of boys. Phrases used in the videos such as “learn what tough living really means” and “Spartan experience” suggests to me that the all male course was reflecting the post war period and its purpose was to prepare boys for national service and prove their manliness in surviving in the outdoor conditions.

The terminology during the video was very militaristic, along with the screening of cold-water showers, running in underwear, and climbing ropes. Arnold-Brown (1962) suggested that the term ‘character training’ reminded him of Hitler youth, which was not helped by ex military staff running the outward bound programme using phrases such as ‘watches’ and ‘patrols’, cementing the outward bound reputation. The reflection of a militant programme in the video could be seen with physical development being the emphasis and the school claiming “fitness and determination” was tested, with trainees coming to “no serious harm”.

I saw little appreciation for the outdoors and the values participants now understand to gain from the outdoors. The use of the chapel during the video however suggested faith and reflection was still prominent within the movements early leaders, however even religious components saw a downgrade in the 1960’s as this period became the ‘turning point’ in the history of ‘character’ education (Arthur 2003).

I think outward bound programmes have changed drastically since these videos. This can be supported by Wills (2005) who noticed a downgrading of physical and militaristic aspects in outward bound, reflected in the abolition of the national service. This transition perhaps reiterates how programmes have changed from using terms such as ‘character training’, the view is now of personal growth, and many women are now fully involved in both adventure and outward-bound programmes. The view initially of males gaining more from adventure experiences (Smith 1971) had no statistical significance in studies carried out on gender differences. This ‘softened’ approach to outward bound can be seen today and the physical and hard skills gained certainly do not take prominence over the soft skills.

Further reading to the changes that occured in the 1960's and the turning point should be explored through Harrogate (1965), the conference report which saw a reconsideration in language and a turn towards individual development. Alongside this Freeman's research in the transformation of 'character training' to 'personal growth' and the history behind the changes to understand the benefits of outward bound could be exlpored further.

References

Arthur, J., 2003. Education with character: The moral economy of schooling. London: Routledge.

Arnold-Brown, A., 1962. Unfolding Character: The impact of Gordonstoun. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Freeman, M., 2011. From 'Character-Training' to 'Personal Growth': The earcly history of outward boun 1941-1965. History of Eucation, 40(1), pp.21-43.

Hahn, K., 1957. Outward Bound. New York: World Books.

Harrogate, 1965. Harrogate Conference Report: Outward bound in the 60's & 70's.

Smith, M.A.W., 1971. An investigation of the effects of an outward bound experience on selected personality factors and behaviours of high school juniors. Dissertation Abstracts Internationl, 32.

Summers, S., 1961. The history of the trust. London: Routledge.

Wills, A., 2005. "Delinquency, Masculinity & Citizenship in England 1950-1970", Past and Present.

Link to Videos:
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/outward-bound-beware-other-colour-pics-share-this
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/mountain-climbers-aka-mountaineering-school-aka-yo