You have just arrived at the MOE-OBS five-day course with your schoolmates. You notice that you and your schoolmates have been allocated into a team with students from schools that are quite different from your own. You feel that it will be challenging to spend five days being in that team and undergoing activities together. 

Questions for discussion:

What would happen if everyone had stereotypes and prejudices against students from other schools? 

What could you do to address the prejudices in this situation? 

Sheryl is a vegan. She shared this information with her teammates during the sharing session. However, her teammates did not consider her dietary needs for lunch and cooked something that she could not eat for the team. She was very upset and after letting them know that she could not eat the food, she walked away. The rest of her team let her be and continued to have their lunch. 

How would you feel if you were Sheryl? How was that emotion affected by your expectations and what would you do in this situation?

What could you do if you were one of her team members? What could you do since your friends did not think that they had done anything wrong? 

The team was given an hour to pack rations for a two-day expedition. The two team leaders dominated the discussion and gave confusing instructions regarding what needed to be done. Moreover, their instructions did not make sense to you and the rest of the teammates. Some students were not pleased and refused to follow the instructions. Even after an hour, the team was not ready. 

How would you feel if you were in this situation? Why do you think the members did not speak up? 

What could you do to improve communication between the two team leaders? If you were one of the team leaders, what could you do to improve the communication?

A team of students were navigating in the wilderness with the necessary tents, ponchos, cooking utensils, rations and other supplies in their backpack. They started the journey at 9am in the morning. They used the compass and map to guide the way and was hoping to reach the campsite by 4pm. It was already 4.30pm and the team had difficulty finding their way to the campsite. Some students were feeling very tired and found it hard to continue. 

What would you do if you heard someone blaming the leader for misdirecting or the watch mates for holding up the team?

What could you do to encourage those who want to give up or have a negative mindset?

After the kayaking expedition, students were instructed to prepare the necessary logistics for the next activity and pack their used equipment. Some students quickly leapt into action with the tasks, but realised that a group of them were still sitting around chatting. One student joked about letting the others do everything. Another student was upset and commented that some watch mates were “using their eye power”. This exchange started an argument between a few of them.

Questions for Discussion:
What had happened that led to this argument? How would the argument have been avoided?
What could you do when an argument starts?

You were at a feedback session on Day 3. Your team had been doing quite well, but on Day 3, the team failed to complete the assigned task. The reason was obvious. The member who volunteered to lead the team made a huge mistake towards the end of the task. Quite a few members were upset and passed very negative comments. The member was clearly very affected by the negative comments of these team members. 

What do you think is the effect of passing negative comments? What would you do to manage your team’s emotions? 

 How would you provide feedback in a constructive manner?