When? 16.4-20.4

Where? Paulen Gård (23 km north of Kristiansand)

The Tangen Project was our firstopportunity to work with students and get in an instructor position. Therefore, the main aim of this week was to plan and carry out outdoor activities with four school classes of the Tangen High School in Kristiansand. The students were in their last school year (17-19 years old) and each class stayed with us at the Paulen Gård for one evening plus the following morning till lunchtime.

A week before, we had collected ideas concerning different activities and how to organise the whole week. Therefore, we agreed on doing a competition with a grading system (in each activity the students could win max.10 points) and had elected three “game masters” (Sam, Franky, Jed), who coordinated the competition by being in charge for the scoring system, the observance of the timetable and making announcements. We split up in eight groups and prepared our different activities which were: fire building, shelter building, barefoot path, night line, jungle swing, river crossing and slackline group exercises.

During the preparation time, we had driven to the area where the Tangen Project took place and had examined the area in order to find appropriate locations for the different activities. Paulen Gård, which is located 23km north of Kristiansand,is an open patch of grass next to a river, a little lake and a forest. It contains group shelters and a house with earth closets. The walking distance to the next parking lot is about 20minutes. In my opinion these conditions and an isolated atmosphere, make Paulen Gård to a suitable area for outdoor activities with students.

 

Day 1: With all our gear, we arrived at the parking lot at Steinsfossen on monday morning and walked together to the Paulen Gård.

There, we set up our camp. Len assisted us by showing us suitable knots for our hammocks and tarps. Due to the bad weather forecast, I decided to bring also a tent as a backup and was able to benefit by a dry place for storing gear and backpacks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we split in our different groups and prepared our stations. Zoe, Linda and me were in charge of the barefoot sensory path + shoe tower.

The main aim of the path was, to sensitize the students for different natural materials by walking over them. The task for the groups was to identify and recognise different materials of the forest through the sense of touch. Therefore, the students were blind folded (elimination of the seeing sense) and walked as a group by holding the shoulder of the person in front. After completing the path the groups had to work together to figure out all the forest elements they’ve walked over and if possible the correct order of the elements in which they crossed. At the end of the sensory path the groups had to build the highest shoe tower as possible (free stand for 5 seconds). Linda, Zoe and me decided to use materials which the area of Paulen Gård offered: moss, sticks, stones, bork, snow, grass, logs, pine corns, leaves and water.

After we had arranged the elements in a sensible order and walked over the path ourselves, thefirst group of students arrived and set up their camp. Around 6.30pm we were ready to start the competition. In total we did three rotations during this first evening. After the third group had finished our activity, we took our time for feedback. Linda, Zoe and me were quite happy with the outcome. The activity was running really smoothly and appealed to the students. Hence, there was no need to adjust  or improve the activity, so we went to our camp and made dinner. After dinner, Linda and me walked up a hill next to the Paulen Gård from where we had a nice overview of the whole area and enjoyed the sunset on the top.

 

Day 2: During the night it had rained a lot. Nevertheless the students had to take off their shoes in our activity.

This displeased a lot of them in the beginning, but as soon as they had started walking over the barefoot path, all groups were completely caught up in the task and stopped complaining about the cold and wet conditions. Each time when a group had finished the path and discussed about the elements and built the shoe tower, it seemed like they had forgotten about their cold feet. I was really impressed by this effect.

 

After all groups had finished the activities, we gathered around the group shelters and announced the winner of the competition. While the students packed up and left their camp, we ate lunch and enjoyed our break in the hammocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon the second class arrived and the whole procedure started again. We did another 3 rotations and spent the evening around the fire in our self-made group shelter.

Day 3: Waking up in the middle of a forest in a hammock was a really nice feeling which I enjoyed a lot. We went down to Paulen Gård together and continued the competitions with the second class. Whenever we had a break during the rotations, I walked around the Paulen Gård and watched my classmates’ activities.

 

 

It was great to see the different ways of giving instructions and motivating the students. Above all, I liked the space filler games, which some of us did when groups were really fast with finishing the main activity. I realised that it is a clear advantage to have little games in one’s mind, which can be played without any materials.

In the evening, the third group arrived and we did another three rotations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4: By this time, the Tangen Project had almost become a routine for us. Zoe, Linda and me were well attuned in giving instructions and guiding the groups through our barefoot path. After four days I already got used to the outdoor live we lead.

Everything took place in the nature: Sleeping, cooking (getting water from the river), guiding the students, having breaks (lying / reading / singing and playing the ukulele in the grass or on the rocks, walking around in the forested area), sitting around the fire… I enjoyed the silence, the animals sounds, braving the elements and the feeling of togetherness with our whole class. According to Truckman’s (1965) stages of group development we definitely were in the phase 3, the “perfoming phase”: We had grown together and worked as an autonomous team.

Day 5: Due to really cold weather conditions, we had to adjust our activity. Therefore, we allowed the students to feel the materials with their hands instead of walking barefoot over the path. This worked out also well, but seemed to not have the same effect on the students as walking over the path. We also replaced the task of building a shoe tower. Instead, the students had to write down rhymes, which contained all ten elements of the path (in 5minutes). The students were quite creative and presented poems, raps and songs. After the last class had left, we packed our camp together and left Paulen Gård.

Living in the woods and running the Tangen Project together was a really intense and enriching experience. I am a bit sad that we didn’t reflect the week together. In general I am really glad about how well our sensory barefoot path worked out and how the students participated. Although it needs a certain time to prepare a barefoot path, I would definitely integrate this path again in future outdoor activities if it is anyhow possible, because it attracts students in a special way. Instead of being physical active, our task aimed at solution-focused teamwork, trust building, concentration and sensory experience. I observed that these sensory experiences had had an huge impact on the students. Some of them barely never walked barefoot and thus, were kind of stunned and excited when they walked over the path. I also think that it is an central element to discuss and reflect the path with the students afterwards. Every time we showed the students the path without the blindfolds, the reaction was kind of similar: When their memories of the sensory experience with the actual sight of the elements combined, it caused an amazed Aha-effect. In addition, the activity gets along with few materials: we only had to bring blindfolds, a shovel and plastic bag to carry the snow. All other materials we found in the nature around Paulen Gård.