Outdoor Education: Self and Others

Outdoor Experience Facilitation Skills

• - Establishing ground rules

  - Valuing responses

  - Asking open-ended questions

  - Using active listening

  - Decision-making and problem-solving

  - Controlling the discussion

• • - Coaching

  • - Reflection

  • - Videography

  • - Scenario

• - Reflective questions

  • - Questioning

  • - Peer review

Establishing ground rules

• • So participants and staff clearly understand their roles and expected behaviour and poor conduct may lead to a negative outcome

• • Enables the leader to encourage participant engagement and participation

• • Allows the leader to gather more detailed information from participants and empowers participants to guide discussion

• • Allows the leader to further understand the thinking of participants as they may feel more inclined to discuss their feelings and issues more openly and honestly  

Outdoor Experience Facilitation Skills are

Ground Rules

Answer explanation

• single person speaking

• freedom to participate

• responsibility of group members

• ensuring confidentiality

• non-violent

Valuing responses

• • Enables the leader to encourage participant engagement and participation

• • Create an atmosphere of respect toward both participants and the leader

• • Gives the leader the ability to keep the group on track, avoid conflicts and encourage participation

• Ensures the leader can maintain the focus of the discussion and facilitate respectful conversations.

Ways to value respones

Answer explanation

• treats individuals with respect, thanks people for contributing, provides feedback, avoids pressuring individuals who are not ready

• acknowledge the contribution of individuals by paraphrasing their comments so that you and others have clearly understood their views and feelings

• respond to others' needs and abilities whilst demonstrating compassion, sensitivity, and fairness

• shows all answers have some value so they feel part of the group.

Asking open-ended questions

• • Allows the leader to gather more detailed information from participants and empowers participants to guide discussion

• • Encourages meaningful responses from group members, encourages group members to reflect on their thoughts, comments

• Allows the leader to further understand the thinking of participants as they may feel more inclined to discuss their feelings and issues more openly and honestly

• • So participants and staff clearly understand their roles and expected behaviour and poor conduct may lead to a negative outcome

Asking open-ended questions encourages

Answer explanation

• encourages meaningful responses from group members, encourages group members to reflect on their thoughts, comments

Open-ended questions

• elicits a fuller response requiring more thought from individuals rather than asking

• participants can just answer yes or no

• • harder to answer and make the person think more deeply; moves from reacting to reflecting

• provide facts and are easy to answer

Closed questions

• elicits a fuller response requiring more thought from individuals rather than asking

• participants can just answer yes or no

• • harder to answer and make the person think more deeply; moves from reacting to reflecting

• provide facts and are easy to answer