Outdoor Education
Erasmus’s mobility course was provided by Alpha School of English located in Arznell Street, Saint Paul’s Bay, Malta, SPB 3232.
The course starts from 08.30 until 13.30 everyday.
The original course offer by the provider was Survival skill for Administration.However, on the 31st of August 2023, ten (10) days before the course started, We received an email from the provider that due to the less interest participant in the course which I chose previously, Survival Skill for Administration, they can not held the course, instead of that they give two (2) options of the course.
The course options were:
- Outdoor Education (11th-15th of September 2023)
- English Language Development (for 2 weeks).
As the accommodation and flight ticket has been purchased and the suggestion from the Erasmus Coordinator, the only choice I can take is the Outdoor Education course. So that I don’t need to make any modifications.
Daily Flow of Training Course:
First Day, Monday, 11th of September 2023
The classes started from 08.30 with the introduction of the participants. Christopher Reene was the teacher. There were 5 participants as students, 4 of them came from the same foundation company non governmental support ( Gazso Foundation) in south Poland, Czerwionka- Leszczyny and Myself.
The course started indoors until 11.00 then continued with the outdoor activities till the end.
We visited the Saint Paul Church and continued to the Bugibba Square by walking about 15-30 minutes away from the school.
At the classes we learned how to do the preparation for the outdoor activities (Why? What? Where? How?). We also played a word puzzle game.
Second Day, Tuesday, 12th of September 2023
The classes started at 08.30-11.00 and we were learning about analyzing activities to use Outside the Classroom.
On this day we also had the opportunity to do the outdoor activities and practice how to make the activities more fun.
The outdoor activities were taken at the Kennedy park. We walk, which takes about 15-20 minutes.
The teacher spread us in 2 groups. Every group should make a presentation on the spot, to use all the possible activities.
First group chose to introduce a competition game using small stones.
Second group was creating a memory using natural elements (stone, flowers, leaves,fruits, falling etc).
Third Day, Wednesday,13th of September 2023
A whole day of outdoor activities to Valletta, the capital city of Malta.
We start at 09.00 from the school and go for a walk to the bus station. The journey to Valletta normally took about one hour, however, on this day we were stuck at the bus for almost two hours due to the traffic jam.
Discovering Valletta, we started by watching a 5D Malta history movie which Alpha School had booked earlier for all of the participants. The movie duration was about 30-45 minutes.
Exactly at noon, we were at the Upper Barrakka Gardens to see the Cannon firing, the most famous activity in Valletta.
On this day, the teacher also gives a personal task to collect the photos from the subject with the different colors of the rainbow.
Fourth Day, Thursday, 14th of September 2023
On this day we also started with learning about feedback on offsite activity and developing your own outdoor education activity plan.
Discussing on which format we can create the feedback form which is usable , to the point, and quick. The format can be used in paper based or online (google form, mentimentor, socrative, pollev.com or any other platform).
Also, the keys of the feedback receiver are take the breath, remember the benefit, listen for understanding, be gracious, evaluate carefully, draw your own conclusion. Be a good listener and give a diplomatic answer.
We also played a similar word puzzle game on the first day.
From 11.30 we went to visit a few places near the school to survey the task we will receive on the fifth day, leading our own outdoor activities.
Fifth Day, Friday, 15th of September 2023
As the weather was really hot on this day, we started the outdoor activities in the morning, visiting a few places to discover the group task we received from the teacher. The idea came from one of the participants, Malta Bingo.
The task was about leading our own outdoor activities. We have to solve the task on Malta Bingo.
As this is the last, we also received the certificate from the school provider and took group photos.
We also fill the survey school which is required by the provider.
The positive and negative sides of the course:
The Positive sides:
This Erasmus training course is the first experience for me. The coordinator and the other colleagues who have experiences in Erasmus were really helpful.
As the fact that the course that I really wanted to join is canceled. However, the outdoor activities training course still brings a lot of benefits for me that I hope I can use and practice in the future.
Learning the administration on how to prepare the outdoor activities for educational purposes or non educational purposes so that the activities can be fun for all participants and useful.
The teaching method was using the google classroom.
Beside that, we also introduced a few platforms that can be used to make the learning more fun and interactive, for example google form, mentimentor, socrative, pollev.com, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Technology.
Getting more connection with the other participants is also one of the benefits of this course.
The Negative sides:
As the total of the participants of the course is 5 people, 4 of them are coming from the same institution, which makes an uncomfortable border during the classes.
Some of the participants also did not have enough English communication skills (B2 level) so that the training could not be reached to the maximum level.
INTRODUCTION
My Name is Csányi Tri Vera Indah. I am working in Avicenna International College in the admission Department, handling the application form, sharing the information regarding the admission process, and how to manage the visa for the international students.
As a part of the student center team, daily routine is to assist the students by sharing all the information needed by phone, emails, and personal visit.
This mobility was funded by the European Commission.
The information presented here does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
written by Csányi Tri Vera Indah
14-19 Aug 2023
