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"Can Teambuilding and Challenge Programs Transform Education?" by Dan Creely, Jr. "A radical rethinking of our educational process is occurring at this very moment, and is necessary in order for our educational system to survive. Given the assumptions that our schools mirror our society at large, we can expect more violence, more racism, more alienation and division. People within the system are recognizing the dead-end rut of the traditional 'listen-to-me-I'm-the-teacher' education and beginning to put into practice the belief that we can learn together," states Laurie Frank. The delivery system of education in the United States must be changed to meet the challenges that are impacting our children in society. A system must be adopted that develops a 'spirit' for learning. The educational pedagogy that emerges must have a transformational effect on the learner, the teacher and school administrators. It needs to be experience based and model the values of compassion, self-sacrifice, group consensus, service to others, and cooperation instead of competition. If you have not read Experience and Education, by John Dewey, do it. It won't give you many answers, but it sure will start you thinking about what constitutes an "educational experience". According to Dewey, experience involves a cyclical process which has an active and a passive phase. The active phase involves trying or experimenting and the passive phase involves reflecting upon what has been done. If reflection does not take place, then, according to Dewey, it is a blind experience. Teambuilding and challenge education programs incorporate the principles Dewey believed were necessary for meaningful learning. These programs have two distinct and separate components. First, learning communities are developed through a sequence of physically, emotionally and intellectually challenging experiences. Secondly, reflective thinking, though a series of structured debriefing sessions. provides meaning and purpose and connects the experiences to real life situations. The Challenge by Choice philosophy, and the Full Value Contract are the common threads that run through all teambuilding experiences. The Full Value Contract is an agreement between participants concerning issues of respect, safety and cooperation. Teambuilding and challenge education programs blend the positive aspects of both traditional and progressive education. A balance is provided among theory, experience, and reflection. This educational process should not be separate from other curricular areas but integrated as a philosophy and pedagogy throughout the student's school experience from preschool through high school. Another factor that distinguishes teambuilding and challenge education programs is that it develops not only cognitive analysis and physical skills, but also addresses the affective domain or emotional development of the individual. Daniel Goldman states in his recent national bestseller Emotional Intelligence that "emotional intelligence predicts about 80% of our success in life." The teambuilding and challenge education process builds confidence and an attitude that students can succeed, resulting in improved academic performance. Once students believe they can succeed, they become self-motivated and self-directed learners. The teacher can then become a facilitator who is a "guide on the side" instead of a "sage on the stage." Over thirty years of research has proven these group activities develop a bond among students which breaks down social, sexual, racial and cultural barriers. Students develop a "code of responsibility" and a value system that carries over beyond the walls of the classroom. Students do not become "harder" by their experiences, on the contrary they become "softer." They become more caring human beings who demonstrate compassion for others. Kurt Hahn, the "moving spirit" of Outward Bound, placed compassion above all other values as the most important by-product of any educational experience. Schools across the country have been transformed by integrating teambuilding and challenge education programs. One example is the Lewenberg Middle School, located in Boston. Fourteen years ago the Boston School Commission was going to close the school. It was a troubled school in a troubled neighborhood. Today, Lewenberg has been recognized as one of the best schools in Boston. In April, 1994, Readers Digest honored the Lewenberg teachers with their American Heroes in Education Award. What transformed Lewenberg? A new principal implemented a Teambuilding and Challenge Education Program. It permeated the building not only as a philosophy but as an integral part of the curriculum. Can what happened at Lewenberg be duplicated with children and teachers in the Chicago area? A ripple effect has occurred with schools developing and implementing teambuilding programs over the last ten years in the Chicago area. Nearly one hundred schools from grades K-12 have started programs with over fifty having some type of permanent structure, like a climbing wall, within their schools. Three of the premier programs in the state of Illinois are within thirty minutes of Northeastern: Glen Grove School (grades 3-5) in Glenview, McCracken Middle School in Skokie, and Lane Tech High School in Chicago. These schools have implemented semester and year long programs for their students. Each program is unique and tailored to the curricula within that school and district. A visit to these schools vividly illustrates the "spirit" for learning. Inclusion and safety are necessary concerns of all school administrators. Students with disabilities can be integrated and fully participate in all aspects of teambuilding programs. Heidi Musser, an undergraduate student at Northeastern Illinois University, who is blind, has completed all the class activities including a three-day wilderness experience with her classmates. At Glenbrook North High School, in Northbrook, Illinois, wheel chair bound students ascend their climbing wall using a special counter weight system. At Sunrise Lake Adventure Center, in Bartlett, Illinois, students complete the accessible ropes course in their wheel chairs. A twenty year study conducted by Project Adventure indicated that teambuilding and challenge education programs are safer than traditional physical education. Northeastern Illinois University has gained a reputation as one of the leading universities in the Midwest that promotes the teambuilding and challenge education process. In the past ten years, nearly 20,000 educators have attended workshops and in-service training sessions. Students from over ten academic disciplines on campus fill most of the undergraduate courses to capacity. A proposed Master of Arts in Teaching will have a specialty area in teambuilding and challenge education to train educators as part of their graduate program. A Native American proverb states, "continue to contaminate your bed and one day you will suffocate in your own waste." Is our current educational system suffocating our children? Experience for Dewey was quintessential. Developing compassion through a shared group experience was critical for Kurt Hahn. The power of teambuilding and challenge education is in the process itself, and it can be integrated into any curriculum, at any grade level, with any student population. It is a transformational process that develops a "spirit" for learning not only within the students but also the teachers as well. |