Experience Canada - "Learning from the soles of our feet"

From 1994 to 1999 I initiated a travel-based program called Experience Canada open to students aged 16-19 in the Ontario public school system.  The goal was to provide students with an opportunity to get out of the classroom and discover their country and themselves, with hopes of engaging specific students often considered “at risk”. From February to June for 6 years I travelled with different groups of 18 students on 3 major excursions in Canada, ranging in length from 10 days to one month.  The rest of the semester was spent researching and documenting our trips, and fundraising to cover all of the travel costs.  We travelled almost exclusively by road, in a bus that I drove.  We slept in school gymnasiums and church basements, camped in tents, or were welcomed into the homes of interested Canadians. Students were expected to buy and prepare the food for all of their meals.

Intellectually, I wanted students to learn about difference of opinion and the importance of being an informed traveller. This often drew us to sites of controversial issues, usually matters of environmental conflict or human injustice. After each trip, students gave a public presentation of pictures, stories and music to explain to their families and others what they had done and learned. Conditional on completing assignments, students were eligible to earn four academic credits, the equivalent of one semester in a regular school. Learning how to live as a community of eclectic teenagers and the encouragement of self-reflection were hidden agendas.

Since then I have been working in international schools as a technology coordinator in Colombia, Turkey and Spain but again feel that it is time to reconnect with the messy world of experiential education. With the wave of incredible (and inexpensive) technologies that have emerged in the past decade I am hoping to combine my passion for travel-based experiential learning with my technology skills, primarily in the area of digital story telling.Through pictures, stories and a few simulated experiences with you I hope to recount some of what I learned from this adventure and see where it takes us next.
A review of relevant technologies will be discussed and demonstrated but is not the focus of the presentation … this would make for an interesting follow-up after we go our separate ways.

Bryan Scholes
Barcelona , Spain
Mobile: 617 140 351
Email:

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A Journey back home through the working place(s)

All of us carry special talents and core abilities. Is our present work a way to express this unique creativity ? Do we feel in the working place, “ at home”? What is the relation of job to our life ?

IMPORTANT NOTE :

The people who intend to participate are invited, if possible, to bring a photo from their childhood

Also, whatever helps to relax (for example their sleeping bag or a pillow)

Duration : 2 hours Participants : 7-10 (max)

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Even though the sound is not so good, the video is very nice in describing the World Cafe, by it's inventors Juanita Brown and David Isaacs

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Hole Tarp & Outside, NOT inside-2 activitites
Hole Tarp (tought by Jim Cain)  

Objective Make the ball/s travel around the holes without falling through a hole or off the tarp  

Set Up / Preparation 12 participants surround the tarp spacing themselves out evenly holding on to the tarp with both hands, creating a table top effect. The group with is initially supplied with one tennis ball.

Rules

1. If the ball falls off the tarp or through a hole, the game starts over.
2. Participants must hold onto the tarp with both hands throughout the activity.
3. The tarp must be stretched out so that it remains flat (like a table top).
4. The tarp must be held so that it remains at its maximum size (the tarp may not be “gathered up” around the edges to be made smaller).
5. The group must hold the tarp in the air (i.e. not laid on the ground or on any other surface).
6. If the ball starts to roll off the tarp, participants can use their body like a “bumper” to keep the ball on the tarp (hands may not let go of tarp though).
7. Tarp holes may not be blocked. Should a ball fall through a hole, it may not be knocked back through the hole (example: kicking ball with foot back through the hole).
8. The tarp may not be altered
   

Debriefing

1. This activity lends itself well to discussions around achieving success despite the obstacles in our lives. Life long success is rarely achieved through chance – instead, the successful make a plan, continually evaluate, then change the plan as needed. When everyone on the team is committed to the plan success is much more likely.
2. What strategies did you apply here to experience success and are any of these strategies applicable to real life situations?
3. How is this activity just like real life? How is it unlike real life? 

 Variations

1. Provide the group with a time limitation (example: only 10 minutes to complete this activity).
2. Require the group to do the basic activity without verbal communication.
3. To make this easier, cover some of the holes with paper and tape. As the group improves, uncover more holes.
4. Require the group to circle the holes in a specific order.
5. Start the group off with only one ball then have them graduate to completing the same task with 2 then 3 balls simultaneously.
6. Try using different size and types of balls (example: baseball, marble, Nerf ball). The balls will react differently. It’s especially interesting when the group must manage different types of balls simultaneously. The different balls could represent different types of challenges.
7. Here is a more involved version: Have the group identify the top 5 things that hold them back in some way then have them write these top 5 on 5 removable stickers (measuring approximately 2” x 3”). Now have the group write their first names on a tennis ball. Then supply the group with the Hole Tarp and ask them to apply the stickers next to the holes. Now ask the group to complete the basic challenge (described above). To debrief this exercise, ask the group to find strategies that promoted success on the tarp (i.e. how to avoid the top 5 pitfalls) and identify which of these strategies can be translated to avoiding the same pitfalls in real life.   

Objective To retrieve the “objective” index cards of each participant without anyone touching the inner circle or falling inside of it.

Set Up/ Preparation Each participant writes their main objective for the conference, or something they really need in their live now that they are available to share with others. Each participant is tied around a sling which is tied to the main rope. On the ground a rope represents the area of “defeat” and must not be touched or stepped inside.

Rules The facilitator is allowed to move the index cards during the activity (all is changing at all times..) All index cards that have been retrieved must be placed back if any participant steps on the inner rope or falls inside it.

Debriefing Of many sorts, styles and subjects   Duration (both together): 90 minutes Max Participants: 12 per each activity

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We would like to present an experiential program »Dragon Code – The Secret of Ljubljana« and share our atempt and experience to involve visitors of Ljubljana into exploring the essence of the city through experiential learning, changing their usual role of spectators into protagonists.  

The rationale behind the program is to promote experiential learning outside »education«.

We would like to discuss a question – Why is it that participants seem to be faster at solving tasks over time? Perhaps someone has similar experience also from teambulding programs? Are we unconsciously giving out hints? What do we do about it?  

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What is creativity? Individual and group creativity. Brainstorming. Examples of games that can help building and developing creativity in teams. Discussions and exchange of ideas.

Duration: 1,5-2 hours. Number of participants: open to any number of people.

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In the workshop I want to explore the ways people are treated and treat each other in the workplace. The full value contract is a well known tool in setting up a constructive enviouroument for groups. What would be the equivalent for organisations?

How do we want to work together in the organisations where we work? We will look at the ideas of the participants, statistics, literature and other material. How do we want to be treated? What is the perspective from the company? What is the most succsesfull way of treating the people that work for you?

I´m drawing from experiences from both "sides" as a employee and as a person who shapes organisational culture in a small company with 9 employees and 150 freelancers.

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Hi!

I would like to present and also explore connections between experiential education and coaching/team coaching. You will have an opportunity to see and compare some experiential  education models and coaching models as well as participate in some exercises. Over the last 3 years I have completed 3 Coaching schools/ cetrifiactes and I am teaching  coaching in the fourth and believe we shoud and can use more coaching in our experiential education programs.

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