Cambodia Teaching and Travelling Experience

In 2011 I was involved in a charity project with my high school (Bowral High School). We raised money to build a library in an extremely remote Cambodian school and then proceeded to travel over to Cambodia to teach within the school, stock the library and get to know the children within the community. It was one of the most valuable things I have done with my life so far. We travelled a fair bit whilst in Cambodia, going to many temples (Angkor Wat etc.), religious temples, giving offerings to Buddhists at 4.00 a.m. and being invited into local’s houses for religious ceremonies and blessings. I know this is not necessarily an outdoor experience (although the many hikes to remote villages were) however all of these experiences gave us an in-depth connection and appreciation for the cultures and traditions held by the people within these countries. The people have such a deep connection to the land and to their traditions, similar feelings perhaps that outdoor enthusiasts within Australia or that the Aboriginal people hold. Exploring the outdoors in Cambodia made us feel more connected to the land and to the people, it also allowed us to appreciate furthermore the culture and religion within the country. Whilst at the temples and within the rainforests we were in awe of the beauty of the land, it was absolutely incredible and beautiful. Many times during the trip we found ourselves speechless in the presence of such majestic sights. For example; when riding elephants along a creek, among mountains and tropical rainforest, this feeling of amazement is one that I have experienced numerous times within the Australian outback (for example at Lichfield National Park in the Northern Territory, or at the top of pigeon house mountain). That surreal feeling is one which I have now become addicted to and sparks excitement and an everlasting passion for diverse outdoor experiences.

We also attended the Killing Fields and the S21 Prison within Cambodia. This experience definitely gave us very different feelings. The bones and torn clothing of many murdered, innocent victims were still protruding out of the mass graves at the Killing Fields. The trees in which they murdered innocent children on still stood in their place. At the S21 prison blood stains still hold a dark presence within each and every room, and the overwhelming feelings of the brutality and inhumanity that occurred at both places was strongly felt by all. This just furthermore proved to us that specific places can have such an emotional hold on us, whether it be for a short amount of time or for the remainder of our lives. I know I will never forget the faces or the feeling of anger, sadness and sorrow that occurred within me at these very places. It was such an intense feeling and experience.

Teaching within our sponsored school was an experience like no other. The children had such admiration and respect for us, and small things (such as pencils, pens, paper and books) were like gold. The community threw us a massive celebration, thanking us with a feast, traditional music, dancing and offerings to show and reflect their true compassion and gratefulness for the work we had done with the library, the resources and the lessons over the last few days. Many of the students spoke limited English, however it was incredible to see how we could connect with them through sport, dance and song, and how hard they worked and tried to understand the things we were trying to teach them. It was this passion and connection to outdoor activities that was the first experience which made me want to become a Physical and Health Education teacher. The students’ passion for playing outside and being involved in outdoor activities was something to be admired and something I wish the children in Australia would follow. 

Obviously the students within Cambodia did not have access to mobile phones, laptops or the internet, however all they needed was a soccer ball and an open field and they would be entertained for hours. This shaped my view that you do not need plenty of resources to provide students with challenging outdoor experiences and learning environments. It is impossible to explain the emotions and feelings that I felt during this experience. It is something that will never be forgotten, and something that will always shape the person I am, the views I hold and the attitudes I have towards different cultures, religions and education environments. It has really sparked within me how important and valued education, teachers and the outdoors are. It is for the many reasons stated above that the outdoors and education within the outdoors will always be something I hold extremely close. My passion for teaching about, and in conjunction with outdoor experiences, in gaining positive life skills and personal growth is engraved within my teaching philosophy forever. 

Throughout my experiences within the Outdoor Education course I have gained many skills and great amounts of knowledge about the outdoors as well as met many different and interesting people. The seminars people have run have provided me with significant amounts of knowledge on subjects ranging from extreme sports to crossing a river safely. Participating in my own seminar also allowed me to study what clothing would be most suitable for different outdoor climates and provided me with opportunities to work on my communication skills and general portrayal of information across to an audience. This has provided me with feedback and experiences to reflect upon my strengths and weaknesses when addressing and teaching a group of people. Generally I felt my seminar was fairly successful, as was my initiative games activities. For the initiative games we (myself and Nat) wanted to keep them fairly inclusive, fun and different. We incorporated balloons into one of our initiative games (because let’s face it everyone loves balloons) and worked on getting people working in teams and developing their team work abilities, as these are extremely important both in the classroom in the area of PDHPE and when in the outdoors. It was somewhat disappointing that I did not get to experience the challenging hike and overnight camp due to prior commitments and extreme weather conditions, however I have had ample experiences within the outdoors, as is shown within my other entries, to be able to confidently say that I value and enjoy activities in the outdoors. The course was interesting, informative and fun and allowed us to work with and enjoy the company of people from a range of different backgrounds. The initiative games especially provided us with the opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level, form trust, and work productively as a team. It also gave us plenty of ideas as future educators, of activities and games we can use to build and improve classroom relationships, as well as encourage a positive, inclusive classroom dynamic.

I have great ambitions to have a career in outdoor education and work with children from a range of different backgrounds in developing skills, attitudes, relationships and positive memories. This course has really fostered my needs and interest within this area and has furthermore supported and reiterated my passion for the outdoors. 

Camping on the Clyde River

On the jetty on the river

At the river as little grommets

Since I can remember my entire family along with many close friends have gone camping on the Clyde River near Batemans Bay. It is here that I have made some extremely important memories and discovered individual passions. It is so intense to see and feel how the nature of these experiences has changed as my age and personal growth has occurred. As a child going camping on the river was one of the things I looked forward to the most. This included things such as motorbike riding, water skiing, wake-boarding, tubing, roasting marsh-mellows, playing with fire-sticks, climbing trees, building tree forts and having mud-fights, all the things children use to do before technology took hold on the younger generations of today. The major thing I recall about all of these experiences was the notion of fun and how enjoyable every day in this remote paradise was. As children we were basically little ‘ferals’ running around shoe-less and without worries in an environment that encouraged our freedom and creativity. When I think back on the things we use to do I can only compare it to something like the Wild Thornberries, minus the exotic animals and with the addition of plenty more little grommets. Camping in the bush as kids just made us feel free. It really preserved the innocence of the activities we were being involved in and every day we were challenged by something new or learning new skills. For example; I still remember as a young child learning to water-ski amongst the smacks of jellyfish surrounding me within the water. It reminds me of the fearless qualities we had as children and the thought of being surrounded by jellyfish these days does not sound extremely appealing, even accompanied with the experience of water-skiing, tubing or wake-boarding.

Family friends

Me at the river with my dog

Saying this, however, when I did accomplish or learn new skills such as water-skiing (which did not seem to take a large amount of time, I was a little freak as a child) I had this overwhelming feeling of success and heightened self-esteem and self-confidence and want to continually push myself to do better or accomplish harder things. At the age of nine I was already using one water-ski with ease. It is experiences such as the above that have instilled in me a constant desire to achieve more and push myself out of my comfort zone to accomplish more. This is a skill which has really been positive all throughout my life, whether it’s my attitude towards sport and wanting to strive for the highest possible level, or in my studies and achieving my optimum results. It is simple being outdoors is just fun. Going camping on the Clyde River still remains to this day one of my favourite things to do. Not only has it allowed me to be involved in activities such as canoeing, kayaking, motor-bike riding, fort building, tubing, skiing, wake-boarding and bush walking it has just given me a general passion and appreciation of the outdoors. As I have become older and return to the same area I remain with the same passion for this place. I have come to appreciate it for what it really is, rather than just a playground of freedom. The environment is just so beautiful that you can and I have just lie in the sun watching and listening to the sounds of the birds tweeting in the trees, the water lapping against the shore-line with the glistening sun reflecting on the water. Waking up early numerous times whilst camping at the river has really allowed me to appreciate the true beauty of the outdoors. The morning fog remains on the top of the water, and just as it lifts the river reflects the surrounding environment, like an over-sized mirror. The view of this has really just allowed me to appreciate how beautiful nature can be. I have taken numerous photos and it is difficult to tell what side is the reflection of the tall gum trees, and which side is actually the shore line. It is difficult to explain how important and what a major part of me this place is. I can only think of positive and diverse experiences when I think of camping on the Clyde River. It is a place that my parents took me all throughout my youth and is a place I will want to take my own children to so they can experience the true beauty and amazing experiences which accompany being outdoors. This is the place that my love for the outdoors really has stemmed from. I can attribute so many positive childhood memories to being outside and in a continuously challenging and education environment. I feel I learnt more camping at the river than I did in the first six years of my schooling career. When I think and look back on all the amazing things I have done and the amazing people I have had experiences with, it brings about an overwhelming feeling of happiness. I find it difficult to explain having such an emotional connection to a place. I think the fact that I have memories with everyone I love throughout the different stages of my life at this very place, plays a big role in this connection. Even when things have been confusing or upsetting, returning to the river always makes sense and brings about those feelings of happiness, adventure and belonging.

 

Work Experience at Berry Sport and Recreation Camp

High ropes course provides students with a challenge to overcome

Doing work experience at Berry Sport and Recreation Camp was something I had wanted to do for years. I love being in any outdoor environment and working in a physically challenging setting. Working with kids in year 5 and 6 was also a very interesting, energetic and fun experience. We started by getting to know all the students, working with two very different primary schools; Shoalhaven Heads Primary School and Canterbury Primary School. We could already see the differences in the students from the very beginning. Playing tennis with the students I was given the nickname of Roger (Roger Federer) by the imaginative minds of the Shoalhaven Heads kids. We began the first day with ice-breaking games, much like those explored within our initiative games assessment task. This allowed the students’ time to get to know each other much better and form more comfortable bonds. This proved to be extremely important, especially considering team-work was a major aim and necessity in all of the activities the students would be taking part in over the course of the week. I was placed with a group of students from Canterbury Primary School. I had never really worked with ‘city’ kids and their attitude, up-bringing and diversity was extremely different to the type of kids I had been accustomed to working with. The students were all from low socio-economic backgrounds, many having to wear the same clothes every day. They had never really worked in outdoor settings such as the ones they were about to be in and challenged in such settings. Many of the students found a lot of seemingly easy tasks extremely difficult and were placed out of their comfort zones all throughout the trip. This helped me to develop skills in active listening. Making sure that I listened to how students were feeling about the task at hand and taking an empathetic approach allowed me to encourage them and build their self-confidence in overcoming obstacles or fears.

One example that sticks in my mind was a young year 6 boy. He had never really been exposed to anything like he was being challenged with, his confidence was therefore extremely low and he had fear of the unknown things he was about to be involved with. He had a major fear of heights and was adamant on not becoming involved in activities such as; rock-climbing, abseiling, high-ropes courses and the giant swing. All of these activities very much took him out of his comfort zone and into the unknown. Trying to encourage him to become involved and push himself outside of this zone was extremely difficult. After discussing the activity with him and walking him through the procedures as well as what a great experience it would be he decided to become involved. After having his go on the giant swing he said that it was an amazing experience like no other that he had ever had. He explained that he was dramatically afraid of the height at which he was dropped, but that the experience was amazingly fun and would make him more confident for future pursuits. It gave him an overwhelming sense of self-belief and trust. 

The giant swing experience

The thrill of the experience mixed with the adrenaline rush he had almost made him feel invisible and he was much more confident and enthusiastic about the remainder of the trip. It is risky experiences such as this which have such a great reward. Even though I was not the child having the feelings of success, seeing how excited, happy, and proud the young boy was to overcome his fear brought me a feeling of success. Working with all students in outdoor settings proved to be very rewarding. Simply seeing how happy and what an amazing time the students were having without technology, and the close friendships and skills they were building was incredible. Seeing how fear and challenges can bring people together is amazing. This is why working in the outdoors with children is a major aim of mine, whether it is working in outdoor education camps, running duke of Edinburgh or teaching outdoor education within a high school. I cannot wait to finish university and start exploring the vast opportunities open in outdoor education within Australia.

Evaluation of the use of blogging: 

-Blogs are a great tool to allow students to reflect on experiences they have. The option of implementing photos, videos and other forms of media allows the students to be creative in writing down their thoughts on any issue or subject they see fit. Blogs could potentially be used as an assessment task when I complete my course and am a qualified Physical and Health educator. A definite positive of a blog is the potential to put it on private and only allow certain people to read what you are writing. I know that I had trouble with the settings and allowing others to view what I had written as well as getting my images in the correct position. To be completely honest I am still a little bit confused with how to confidently use the tool. If I wanted to implement blogging into my physical health and education lessons, or even into outdoor education lessons I would need to become much more proficient at using a blog. This increased knowledge would allow me to help students set up and get their blogs started as well as assisting with any issues they may encounter along the way, making this tool much more effective and useful within the class setting.