Posts Tagged ‘community building’

Truth and Lies, Time for Feedback

11/04/2024

By Randall Richards

I thought I’d take the opportunity to share the feedback form I just completed for the Aspiring Conversation’s “Truth and Lies” event last 6th of April here in Wanaka, NZ. The only thing I screwed up, that I can see, is I failed to capture the screenshot of questions 9 and 10 on this feedback form. So I recreated the that screen shot the best I could, otherwise it’s all from their SurveyMonkey form.

Small VT School Uses Debriefs to Foster Classroom Wellbeing

10/08/2012

Article on Bullying and Communication

Thanks to Laura Jean Whitcomb, publisher of Kid Stuff for letting us reprint this article about a ground-breaking move by a small school in central Vermont,  The Willow School. One look at the their website almost has me rethinking our departure for New Zealand this fall, and instead,  having our young son attend the school!

Outward Bound mandatory for all young people?

Like legendary Headmaster Dave Fowler at  Proctor Academy in Andover, NH where he pioneered incorporating Outward Bound principles of experiential education and community building into the school’s fabric in 1971,  it sure looks like the founders of the Willow School are doing the same thing for younger students. The article below covers what will hopefully be incorporated in many schools across the U.S. and abroad.   In New Zealand as well, (where we’ve been living), bullying appears to be a problem.

Proctor’s experiential model

I’m reprinting this article in hopes that it will fall into the right hands of school teachers and administrators.  During my 15-plus teaching years at Outward Bound, the debrief and reflection were key to a successful outcome for the students, and helped insure some strong “takeaways” that they could use as life skills.  In fact, Outward Bound Professional Development courses also incorporate these basic techniques (more…)