Pedagogy, in it's simplest form, is an educators collection of activities used for educating or instructing that impart knowledge or skill - it is what educators DO to transmit information to students. And, as far as I know, no one has found the "best" pedagogy for educating. One could argue that there are as many pedagogies as there are educators. 

As I have written about in the past (Educators on the Challenge Course - look for the Essays), adventure practitioners are educators, and they too have pedagogies - ways of working with their groups that impart knowledge or skill.  

Now, with the summer season looming in the near future it might be a good idea to call your pedagogy to order. What "activities" will you use to impart knowledge and skills to your staff so that they are able to find success as an educator? With the limited amount of time you have to train staff, what will be the most effective and efficient way to use your pedagogy? 

A few months ago I ran across a useful blog post from FacultyFocus.com entitled "Using Guerrilla Tactics to Improve Teaching." The ideas from the authors of the post are relevant to any educator who is tasked with training other educators (please read the article for the finer details of the process). I've taken some editorial liberties to make the "ground rules for guerrilla teaching" fit into an adventure education model I will call "Guerrilla Training:" 

1. A trainee agrees ahead of time to welcome a "guerrilla trainer" into any part of a program being lead by the trainee. 
   
2. The guerrilla trainer inserts him/herself into the trainee's group (being mindful of the timing), and observes silently for a minimum of 5 minutes to become acquainted with the topic/flow of the group's process. 
   
3. The guerrilla trainer is then "able to become part of the [group] and interact with the students." The trainer, "may pose questions, give comments, conduct an activity, etc." (In essence, modeling a part or parts of the facilitation process for the trainee.)
   
4. The trainer takes no more than 10 minutes for the "training attack" session, leaving on the same wind that brought him/her into the group. (To be clear, 5 minutes for silent observation and than no more that 10 minutes of interaction.)
   

As the Guerrilla Tactics blog authors note, "In the spirit of guerrilla marketing [a creative low-cost strategy to meet conventional goals] there are several educational "buzz" benefits created with minimal direct cost" - role modeling, collaboration, flexible training times, sharing expertise, "bits" of information instead of overload, and showing support for the trainee. This "drop-in" training allows for some relevant observation time for the trainee. Something that is difficult to building into training sessions but very important to include. 

Making Guerrilla Training part of your training pedagogy might prove to be useful, effective, and efficient. Let me know how it goes. And, if you have other pedagogical training ideas for us please share in the comments below. 

All the best, 

Chris Cavert

 

When I frist began my training as a challenge program practitioner I attended a workshop where the trainer talked about being aware of, and watching out for, Task Actions and Maintenance Actions of a group. She called it the Task vs. Maintenance balance. 

This concept, I learned later, has come from the work of Kurt Lewin, Johnson & Johnson, specifically noted in their Joining Together publication, and others. Here is a Wikipedia Snap-Shot of the idea. Also, take a look at this brief summary of Task and Maintenance Roles that can develop within a group. As I understand it, balancing these Task/Maintenance roles makes for a better group experiences in relation to working together towards common goals. 

Recently I stumbled into a way to help my groups experience the idea of Task and Maintenance actions. I use the activity Get It Back - first appearing in the POSSIBLESbag Activity Manual I created for a light-weight team building kit. The activity can also be found in Playing with a Full Deck by Michelle Cummings. I learned it as an Ice Breaker activity from my friend Diane Phillips.

GET IT BACK
Deal out a playing card to everyone in the group (I've not tried this with more than 30 people yet - basically you need a different card for each player. It might work with more people, but it will take more time). Participants are free to look at their card. Ask each person to remember/memorize his or her card, because at the end of the activity each person will want to get this card back in his or her possession. Here are the directions I give while we are all standing together in a circle formation:  

"When we are ready to start - after I give the directions - I would like you to mingle around within the group and exchange the card that you have with others. All cards are held face up for all to see. Just keep walking around, introduce yourself if needed, use each others names when you greet them, but keep exchanging the card in your possession. When you hear me say, 'Get it Back' I want you to continue exchanging cards - keep playing the game - until you end up with your original card. Once you have your original card, step to the outside of the group and start forming a circle - like we are standing in now - around the players who are still exchanging cards, looking to get theirs back. Once everyone is standing in the circle we'll look back on what took place. Any questions?"

I answer any questions and then we start. 

Once everyone is back into the circle I ask the group to describe what took place during the activity. I might say something like, "What significant things do you remember taking place while you were exchanging cards?" I keep asking this same question until I get an answer like this: 

"When you said get it back, I didn't pay attention to the people around me anymore, I was just looking for my card." I ask if anyone else had this same experience. So far, most of the participants I've worked this activity with agreed that they did the same thing. Then I ask if we can go into another round, but this time: 

"When you hear me say 'Get it Back' please stay focusing on the people around you. In the end everyone will get his or her card back - right?" [All agree - as they think about it, getting your card back is inevitable.] So, we give this activity another go. Once we are all back in a circle I have always heard someone say this, and others do agree, "That time it just felt better." 

From this jumping-off point I ask about why it felt better and then eventually I introduce the idea of Task and Maintenance actions within a group. This initial beginning is something I can refer back to as I work with groups to understand about the roles that are important to develop as they work together. 

Thoughts? Please share with a comment. 

All the best, 

Chris