Innerwick Make a Difference Day October 31, 2008
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, Outdoor Learning, Volunteering , 2commentsA huge thank you to all the East Lothian Council staff and VDEL staff who came along to Innerwick last week. This was a employee supported volunteer day that brought together staff from East Lothian to help with our grounds project at Innerwick Outdoor Centre.
A tremendous amount was achieved due to the hard work of the group and of course all the “green finger” knowledge they brought to the event.
Future projects will include a herb garden, a community supported allotment and the Ranger team will be looking at ways of increasing bio-diversity. We also have a bid in for the grounds for awareness scheme. all of this will help with our Eco-Centre scheme as well as connecting our guests at Innerwick with the centre environment.
More information, as Elliot described as “the power of volunteering” can be seen at the Community Service Volunteer website and of course you can get in touch with the team at Volunteer Development East Lothian Centre in Haddington.
Windy at the Whiteadder October 6, 2008
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, Canoeing, Outdoor Learning , add a comment
Strong winds on Saturday provide great conditions for sailing the canoes on one of the many CPD courses run by East Lothian Council Outdoor Education. There are a whole range of courses run for East Lothian Council employees including this course which was the Canoe/Kayak 2 Star following the BCU Paddlesport Awards. As always we encourage participants to join the Scottish Canoe Association. There are also canoe clubs in the region such as the Edinburgh Kayak Club and the North Berwick Kayak Club.
Links to some of the many useful websites;
Song of the paddle: Info for canadian Canoeing
Canoe & kayak : Online magazine
Scottish Sea Kayaking : Awesome sea kayaking guides & lInks from Simon Willis.
These are just some of the sites available out there and of course there are many more sites and further watersports courses available at a host of providers, many listed on the SCA website.
Leave No Trace Workshop Confirmed September 17, 2008
Posted by Bill in : AccessCode, Adult Education, Experiential Learning, Leave No Trace, Outdoor Learning , add a comment
The workshops are suitable for anyone working in the world of outdoor learning, outdoor education or adventure activities. They may also be relevant for some rangers and outdoor access officers.
Workshop participants will be expected to commit to a full day of training (9.00am – 5.00pm) which will further explore the Leave No Trace principles which are as follows:
- Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimise Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Other Visitors
The workshops are supported by Scottish Natural Heritage and organised by the Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) who are a partner organisation of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.The workshop leader will be Myles Farnbank.
CPD Winter Hill Walking (Podcast from the Cairngorms #2) March 5, 2007
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, Cairngorms, Experiential Learning, Outdoor Learning, Winter Skills, podcast , 2comments
Last weekend I posted a podcast from some Knox pupils on a winter Hill walking Skills Course. This weekend Liz and I took some adults out mainly from teaching and youth worker sector in East Lothian. I took a chance to ask a few of them some of their thoughts on the course. This podcast is a bit sketchy at first (wind) but stick with it it gets more audible. Will also post a video of a Ruchst Block snow test later.
Personal Strengths In East Lothian Education Management January 30, 2007
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, Management Training, SDI , 3comments
I have been attending a management course as part of CPD. It has been extremley useful. We are half way through and I am learning a tremendous amount. Much of the learning originates from the trainer and also the useful group discussions with the rest of the delegates from Education in East Lothian. We have been using the SDI questionaire;
http://www.personalstrengths.co.uk/newbroc1.htm
It is an excellent training tool and is basically a type of physcometric testing which focuses on “relationship awareness theory”. By raising awareness difficult or conflicting work relationships can be tackled with added knowledge. It certainly creates a lot of discussion and debate. I had seen this questionaire in action several years ago working in a previous authority but had forgotten how effective it was not just for conflict situations but for getting the most out of day to day issues/interaction (Useful on its own or as an add on to Transactional Analysis tools developed by Eric Berne) to help improve personal performance through focused meaningful dialogue.
Also great coaching and mentoring techniques - more on that later…
Nice also to use John Muir House conference rooms. I feel we need to offer more courses from the Outdoor Education service which use techniques such as this, i.e. in team building activities for staff . Combined use of these techniques with outdoor activity can produce powerful and enjoyable learning experiences. With good facilitation these learning experiences can have very succesful transfer of learning to the workplace, often by use of metaphors etc (see Preston Lodge High Vs Alexander The Great, see;
http://edubuzz.org/blogs/billstephen/category/alexander-the-great/
i.e. use of metaphor and historical leadership figures to frame styles/type of leadership).
I intend to write more on this in the coming days, particularly after reading John Connell’s blog and Dons Blog on leadership models. It would be interesting to get some data from East Lothian Education managers i.e. Heads, Deputes, PT’s etc on leadership qualities (or pehaps management of the region as a whole). I had been going down the “learning organisation” line for a dissertation that I hope to start next year as part of my Outdoor Management Development MSc. But questions and discussions during this course and through blogging are starting to make me sway towards research on leadership - A discussion with my course mentor is in order I think!
100% Pass First Aid At Work. January 24, 2007
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, First Aid, Outdoor Education , 2comments
Well done to all the employees in East Lothian who completed their First Aid at work qualification at the weekend. Thanks to staff for all their input throughout the course and for bringing in Choking Charlie - a great teaching aid. The real life experience that attendees bring to the course is what makes the course interesting. Staff also asked me if anyone had failed my first aid courses ? As I said no-one had ever failed my course - I did forget to mention that this was the first full First Aid at Work course I had taught. Everyone passed! so a 100% pass rate so far. If you visit the blog please leave a comment on how you thought the course was, and ways to improve it. This will help my teaching a great deal.
There are lots of first aid sites on th web full of resources and there are a few listed below.
http://www.firstaidcafe.co.uk/ - a useful forum and links to up to date stuff.
http://www.resus.org.uk/ - Up to date info for resus.
Also ELOE website. www.eloe.ik.org
Holding Back the Tide with Stepping Out at Belhaven Bay & Podcast December 8, 2006
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, Blokarting, Experiential Learning, Stepping Out, podcast , 5comments 
An exhilarating session with unpredictable winds on Belhaven Bay brought out many thoughts on the 
benefits of getting outdoors. Spending the day with a group from the Stepping Out project we used the blokarts on the beach at Belhaven. Building them is a great teambuilding experience, as is dismantling and getting them back over a racing incoming tide! On the way back to the centre I was enthralled with what was being said in the back of the bus which led me to ask the team for a few words on their day which you can here on my first podcast. Click the link. http://www.alsite.co.uk/bill/stepout1.wav Hope to do more with groups as we review with the huge variety of groups that we come into contact during Outdoor Education days.
Adult Education Introduction to Navigation November 29, 2006
Posted by Bill in : Adult Education, NNAS, Outdoor Learning , add a comment
I have been teaching on an Introduction to Navigation Course the last couple of days. It’s great to see enthusiasim for gaining, improving and learning new skills. The course delegates came from a range of backgrounds in East Lothian and bring lots of skills with them too. We were using the NNAS (National Navigation Awards Scheme) as a framework (see http://www.nnas.org.uk/). This course was advertised in the Focus magazine and we will advertise more courses for next year. I trust the new 
skills gained will help the course members in their adventures.
