Even before university, facilitating soft skills to both the public and private sectors has been a large part of my life by working and volunteering within the teaching and outdoor/adventure industry. Whether it be teaching swimming or leading an expedition, when working in these settings it is very apparent to the provider that soft skills hold a very sizeable portion of session facilitation. These soft skills can be vital for the overall success of the session for both the provider as well as the participants. This is backed up by Riggins (1986) stating that participants are said to feel better about themselves after being successful and performing well within the challenge that was set before them.
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Through my placement year and working in the adventure industry, I have seen and heard many companies stating that by taking part in activities and trips, it will change you as a person and improve your soft skills. To a certain degree, I agree with the likes of Dewey (1955) in that through experience, an education is achieved. However, I also believe that an experience would need to take place over a prolonged period of time with a minimum of a few months in order to have any lasting effects on the participant and their soft skills. Reasons for this include ones such as home life. If a child/participants life at home is difficult, a simple weekend away will not have a lasting effect if they are to then return to a place in a downgrading and upsetting lifestyle.
It is well known in the industry that in recent years, the health and safety precautions that have been brought in are starting to dig away at real ‘adventure’ by almost removing any form of risk from these activities. In my personal philosophy, one’s growth in regard to soft skills such as self esteem, confidence and responsibility simply will not take place to the same degree if the participants have none of the ‘real’ adventure/risk feeling to them. When working with a group, I strongly agree with Knight (2011) where he says that measures should be taken to include everyone’s boundaries and keep them happy whilst also keeping the risks that are involved with adventure, instead of getting rid of risk completely.
References:
Dewey, J. (1955). Experience and Education. New York: The MacMillan Company.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning. Experiences as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Pretice-Hall, Inc.
Knight, S. (2011). Risk & Adventure in Early Years Outdoor Play: Learning from Forest Schools. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Priest, S., and Gass, M.A. (2005) Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming. Human Kinetics
Riggins, R. D. (1986). Effective leadership in adventure- based education: Setting directions for future research. Journal of Environmental Education. 18 (1). 1-6.
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