We also looked into how we can create generative conversations that challenges our assumptions and allow us to ask good questions. I felt that this part of the session compelled us to be more in touch with our senses, getting us to pay attention to others through our senses. Only then, are we able to make good observations, become curious and ask good questions.

Afterwards, we looked into Outdoor Education in 4 other countries, comparing similarities and differences in terms of the learning outcomes, activities and what aspects we resonate with. We also looked into the benefits of Outdoor Education and the factors contributing to aforementioned benefits. It was very informative as to how different countries view and approach outdoor education, which is attributed to culture and environment.

Overall, I learnt a lot from today’s session as it gave me deeper insight as to what is outdoor education.

Another theory on how the size of a group can affect the success of the learning outcome of an Outdoor Education program also intrigues me. I remember how uncomfortable it got for me when I was part of a huge group of students and cliques starts to form and the sense of belonging couldn't be achieved. I fully agree that having the right size of group of participants is important to achieve effective learning.

For example, today I learned about the friluftsliv. It is a part of Norwegian national identity to participate in outdoor activities and how the children are exposed to the outdoors at a young age as part of their upbringing. They take more risk when exploring the outdoors compared to Singapore.

There were also other Scandinavian countries that interests me in terms of how they bring outdoor education in their life such as udeskole where they apply outdoors in the subjects that they are learning. For example, developing a series of teaching activities where children’s play and movement are integrated with maths education in the outdoors.

Not only that, but also since we are learning how to become an OAE, how we communicate to the participants plays a role in the learning outcomes. In today’s session, it broadens out my understanding about generative conversations on how different people may have different styles/methods but achieve the same learning outcomes. There are also many factors and benefits in OE to consider when dealing with students which includes the environment, the activities, the group of students and instructors.

I also remembered that we went through the timeline of how outdoor education started to understand the history of why and how it is important for us to have outdoor education in today’s generation. Hearing the others sharing about their outdoor experiences made me realise that different people have different perspectives of the outdoors.

All in all, I gained a lot of insights from today’s session, and I hope to learn more.

-The early childhood outdoor learning had already kick in with the kids as early as 2 months to 6 years old .It aims to let them explore and discover.its part of holistic development and learning.Same goes with implementation of outdoor education in Primary and secondary levels.

-As an OE how we facilitate the camps and will affect the camp experiences of the students. Is down to our personalities or experience could make the difference or could have affect on the students.

-We also look on how we can create generative conversations which makes us to ask good questions.This really make us realise to pay attention to others through our senses.Hence this will make us a good observers and we will ask good questions.

-Learning the outdoor education from the 4 countries really fascinates me Comparing the similarities and the difference in term , activities and what aspects we resonate with .At the end of the days the objectives are met.

-I learnt a lot today,really broaden my knowledge and gives different perspectives of an OE .More coming up the next few days.

The outdoor scene has improved throughout the years and I would say it's going in a better direction.

Today we learned a bit about how other countries around the world see OE and how they conduct it. One thing we forget is that everyone has different perspectives and especially countries are driven by different purposes and reasons as well.

The reason why OE or OBS was promoted was to strengthen the young men in Singapore so that they could protect the country in the future. It's to prepare them for NS. The same goes for other countries that just gained independence. they are promoting OE to protect themself. This was a very interesting point of view that I learned today. Sometimes some reasons are political more than educational.

I really like the concept that the Scandinavians have, the Odeskole concept. Singapore has the Outdoor School Singapore or forest school that focuses on outdoor play or discovery at a young age. The Scandanavian actually uses the outdoors and physical movements to teach normal subjects in school. One example is to teach math and timetables by using hopscotch. I think if I had that opportunity in school I would learn better and be able to remember well. But then again this boils down to your preferred learning methods. some people are more hands-on while others are more visual. Nonetheless, I believe that outdoor play and discovery at a young age are very important in a child's development.

Friluftsliv is cool too, a way of life that embraces the outdoor or free air. Which i really agree and would love to teach my kids in the future.

I've heard of the 6 declines before in school about 10 years ago and sadly I would say it has declined even more. Technology is both a boon and bane.

in Summary, the main factors that i agree on are being put into the outdoors and challenges that bring you out of your comfort zone. Something that challenges and pushes you will help to bring about the best of you. Same goes for working in a team, people learn best in a group setting when they are given a challenge that they have to work upon.

While there are similarities between Scandinavia and Singapore, I feel that till today, there is still this perception amongst the general public that OE is just to have fun and do unconventional activities with schoolmates. The Scandinavian countries on the other hand view OE as a way of life.

I hope that there will come a day where more people in Singapore actively look towards OE with a broader mindset.

While we may not have the luxury of vast wilderness, our government has made so much effort to have so many green spaces in our country and I will work to find a way to tap into that to increase our students appreciation to the environment.

I feel that as Outdoor Educators we need to be able to provide our best work with whatever we have available, rather than have things be available before we can do our best work.

I feel that OE helps an individual have a better decision making due to the hands on experience. Self-reflecting enables an individual to evaluate what the particular activity done has/will leave an impact emotionally. OE is done in the outdoors, the experience is so different compared to lessons done in classrooms.

And as an OE, I hope that the few days the students are able to connect with the outdoors, it will widen their perspective on how the outdoor is able to help them gain insights on things they have not thought of in the past. I will make the activities as engaging with the best of my capabilities. For example, learn fun facts about the particular flora or fauna and demonstrate a thing or two about it if possible.

Will inject something fun and nature related to the syllabus they learned at schools.This can be something useful when they relay back to school .

The ideas from how the Scandinavian integrates outdoor learning into what  they learned from schools is something we can look into.i will create differently as I need to cater due to our different wilderness environment and greenery but will find ways to make the students enjoy and appreciate the outdoor journey very much.

I will try to make the students really appreciate the nature and make their learning journey In the outdoors a memorable and something to look forward to.

This framework allowed me to gain some insights in explaining students’ behaviour when faced with a challenge (risk x competence). Through introducing adaptive dissonance into the equation, it gave me some ideas as to possible reasons on why certain students will act a certain depending on their perceived risk and competence when faced with a challenge.

2. Views of Adventure (NA vs BA)

This framework allowed me to understand the types of adventure activities, and in fact made me realise that rather than categorising these activities as discrete variables, it is perhaps more beneficial to view them as a spectrum — where elements of NA activities and BA activities could be used in both types of activities.

During broad-based activities like journey, I could incorporate group activities along the way to engage students.

During narrow-based activities like high/low elements, I could assign responsibilities to students to get them to reflect more about the intentions.

Adventure which can be features into 4 points uncertainty, authenticity,agency and mastery.If the facilitator did not carefully manage the points above the learner experience may leads to a negative experience .

Narrow and broad adventure are another concept learn whereby:

Narrow adventure mainly focus on less responsibility given to student unlike broad adventure,little effort required and limited duration whereas broad adventure are given extended time .

Risk are unavoidable and critical experience learning.Its add an energy and excitement for learning.So the outcome will make the learner be more self confidence on personal growth.

We also do some activities on the comfort zone model whereby we choose our zones based on the questions asked,it can be comfort,growth/learning or panic/stress zone

We also learnt the pro and cons to be in comfort zone. We are able pick up some valuable points be it pro or cons. It how we look at it and applies it in future.

Similarly, deciding whether an activity should be in the Narrow or Broad Adventure, we have to analyze the students competency. Because of time constraints and a fixed matrix for each camp, there’s not much we can do. However, we can change the perspective in a way that it could be towards the Broad Adventure. For instance, allowing students to think for themselves instead of spoon feeding them information or let them have roles so that they can have a sense of responsibility to feel proud of.

There are a lot of factors that contributes to one's learning for example the duration of the camp, the efforts required, the levels of challenge and the participants responsibilities/roles during the camp. However, with all of these factors that were mentioned, I think that it is possible for the participants to experience both NA and BA during the outdoor activities when planned out properly to enhance their learning according to the camp programme.

Another takeaway from today would also be the debate over whether or not students learn best outside of their comfort zones. I now have a better understanding of its benefits and drawbacks thanks to this debate. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong response rather, what matters is how OAEs are able to put together their experiences after each activity and also to assess our readiness to deal with various circumstances in order to guarantee that participants receive valuable learning outcomes. For example, our participants will be placed in the growth/learning zone or the panic/stress zone if we do not feel fully prepared.

As for the Stretch Zone Experience, it shows how people can grow safely and efficiently without going into the “Panic Zone” phase where substantial physical/mental harm can occur. This shows how our adventure experience should be designed. Also, how educators should be careful of how “being comfortable with being uncomfortable “ can go bad if not monitored closely. This opened up my mind to my rather extreme mindset about being comfortable with discomfort to grow and be better. I now see it in another light for students as an educator. Everything must be done with careful consideration, intention, purpose and progression. Comfort does not always mean learning does not take place.

I realised that many times, when we give participants the challenge by choice option, many times none of the challenges are their choice to begin with. Today's lesson made me realise that the most common concept we apply is challenge of choice. Your choices are between the different challenges provided, rather than the choice of carrying out the challenge or not.

Today's sharing helped to share more light on a concept which i have perceived to be a simple one. It has made me realise the full spectrum of the challenge by choice concept and the difference between whatever i thought i was doing, and what i have been dping thus far. It may not seem much at surface level, but i feel that being able to explain and apply the different categories to the participants will make them understand what and why they have to go through with the challenges that they are given.

I will use this theory by letting my future participants know that being in their comfort zone is nothing bad, and learning can most definitely take place within it. I will have to let them know that their comfort zone is ever changing and it will grow and shrink according to what they do. I will also need to let them understand that in order for it to grow, they will have to leave it for abit and enter the stretch zone for awhile to grasp new ideas and experiences before heading back into their comfort zone to understand and internalise the concepts.