From personal experiences at the forest school weekend, it was realised that even over the short period of two days, many of the group had acquired new skills, as well as using and demonstrating skills that had been gained previously. Forest school is a wonderful experience for both practitioners and children, and again can benefit both. Acquiring such skills can help support the development of a Forest school provision. The first and possibly most important skill needed for a Forest school is team work. Belbin (no date) states ‘A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.' Belbin then continues to say “Belbin team roles are used to identify people's behaviour strength and weaknesses in the workplace.” (Associates, n/d.). Another team role theory could be Tuckmans (1977) ideas of forming, storming, norming and performing. He stated that ' that the life cycle of a team involves four stages. At each stage, the dynamics of the team change dramatically from periods of inefficiency and uneasiness through to a period of high performance'. This is something that practitioners should be aware of when working in a team, for the reason that if they aren’t working effectively as a team, that it is all part of the process.
Within the group, it was clear what member possessed which strength and weakness, and that made it easier to compensate for each other, therefore making the group work successfully together. An example of this is one member of the team who was very artistic and could see the vision that was in mind for the outdoor space, and the end result that could be created, whereas other people are more practical and were better at building the vision. Once the weekend was finished and the team began to work on the blog, it was still clear to see each role in the team in relation to Belbin’s team roles. An example of a team role would be one member of the team is the clear leader which Belbin would describe as the coordinator. The coordinator will need to focus on the team’s objective, to draw out to members and delegate work appropriately.
This idea of team roles could easily be applied within forest schools as practitioners need the skill of working cooperatively in a team, in order to best benefit the children and their learning. One example of having to work together would be to meet the children’s basic needs when taking them into an outdoor space, as this is fundamental before any higher learning can take place. This could be related to Maslow’s Pyramid of Hierarchical Needs (1943) which suggests “One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs” (McLeod, 2007). Each practitioner must be aware of what each child needs and how they play a role in supporting the children in meeting these needs, and this can only be done successfully through teamwork between the practitioners.
Another skill that relates back to teamwork is self-awareness and self-belief. Practitioners must be aware of the skills they possess, and can bring to the team, this can be done through the use of Johari’s window. Johari’s window is described as ‘a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group’ (Prakashan, 2007). Personally, Johari’s window has been a really useful and eye opening tool to understand the skills and qualities that have already been acquired through practice. Using this tool allows practitioners to understand themselves and the role that they can play within a group, especially an important one such as a forest school group. One example of this could be sharing skills such as bug knowledge, first aid, or more practical skills such as fire starting, sawing or weeding. This tool can be used with children when putting them in groups, to provide the group with a varied range of skills.
References:
Associates, B. (no date) Team Role Theory - Belbin Team Roles. Available at: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 (Accessed: 12 September 2015).
Abudi, G. (2010) The Five Stages of Project Team Development. [Online] retrieved from www.pmhut.com/the-five-stages-of-project-team-development (Accessed: 22 September 2015)
McLeod, S. (2007) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html (Accessed: 22 September 2015).
Prakashan, N. (2007) TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT M.P.M. Part II - Semester III. [Online]. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9zBwoP8tQQ8C&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=Prakashan,+IN.+(2007)+TRAINING+AND+DEVELOPMENT+M.P.M.+Part+II+-+Semester+III.&source=bl&ots=KQcy9dKMem&sig=Mq5QeUP1PFGkYieQgocj6YOx6zg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAGoVChMIu_fgtsScyAIVwdYUCh3QegHN#v=onepage&q=Prakashan%2C%20IN.%20(2007)%20TRAINING%20AND%20DEVELOPMENT%20M.P.M.%20Part%20II%20-%20Semester%20III.&f=false (Accessed: 22 September 2015)
Within the group, it was clear what member possessed which strength and weakness, and that made it easier to compensate for each other, therefore making the group work successfully together. An example of this is one member of the team who was very artistic and could see the vision that was in mind for the outdoor space, and the end result that could be created, whereas other people are more practical and were better at building the vision. Once the weekend was finished and the team began to work on the blog, it was still clear to see each role in the team in relation to Belbin’s team roles. An example of a team role would be one member of the team is the clear leader which Belbin would describe as the coordinator. The coordinator will need to focus on the team’s objective, to draw out to members and delegate work appropriately.
This idea of team roles could easily be applied within forest schools as practitioners need the skill of working cooperatively in a team, in order to best benefit the children and their learning. One example of having to work together would be to meet the children’s basic needs when taking them into an outdoor space, as this is fundamental before any higher learning can take place. This could be related to Maslow’s Pyramid of Hierarchical Needs (1943) which suggests “One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs” (McLeod, 2007). Each practitioner must be aware of what each child needs and how they play a role in supporting the children in meeting these needs, and this can only be done successfully through teamwork between the practitioners.
Another skill that relates back to teamwork is self-awareness and self-belief. Practitioners must be aware of the skills they possess, and can bring to the team, this can be done through the use of Johari’s window. Johari’s window is described as ‘a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group’ (Prakashan, 2007). Personally, Johari’s window has been a really useful and eye opening tool to understand the skills and qualities that have already been acquired through practice. Using this tool allows practitioners to understand themselves and the role that they can play within a group, especially an important one such as a forest school group. One example of this could be sharing skills such as bug knowledge, first aid, or more practical skills such as fire starting, sawing or weeding. This tool can be used with children when putting them in groups, to provide the group with a varied range of skills.
References:
Associates, B. (no date) Team Role Theory - Belbin Team Roles. Available at: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 (Accessed: 12 September 2015).
Abudi, G. (2010) The Five Stages of Project Team Development. [Online] retrieved from www.pmhut.com/the-five-stages-of-project-team-development (Accessed: 22 September 2015)
McLeod, S. (2007) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html (Accessed: 22 September 2015).
Prakashan, N. (2007) TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT M.P.M. Part II - Semester III. [Online]. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9zBwoP8tQQ8C&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=Prakashan,+IN.+(2007)+TRAINING+AND+DEVELOPMENT+M.P.M.+Part+II+-+Semester+III.&source=bl&ots=KQcy9dKMem&sig=Mq5QeUP1PFGkYieQgocj6YOx6zg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAGoVChMIu_fgtsScyAIVwdYUCh3QegHN#v=onepage&q=Prakashan%2C%20IN.%20(2007)%20TRAINING%20AND%20DEVELOPMENT%20M.P.M.%20Part%20II%20-%20Semester%20III.&f=false (Accessed: 22 September 2015)