Education, Careers & Professional News
Learning out of the box
Source
The Hindu
Date
2005-03-23
Information
DYNAMIC OBSTACLE course, rappelling, water activities, building a tent blindfold… sounds like fun? If I say these activities are part of learning, you may be surprised. But as unlikely as it sounds, todays corporates increasingly do all of this and much more as part of the structured Outward Bound Learning (OBL) programmes.
And the concept itself has been borrowed from the ancient `gurukula system of education. It heightens the ability to push oneself beyond perceived boundaries of tolerance and patience to fellow human beings, increases sensitivity and brings about harmony.
History
To trace the history behind this concept, in 1941, a German educational psychologist, Kurt Hahn, was commissioned by the Blue Line Shipping Company to create a module to help merchant sailors learn how to survive when encountered by natural or man-made crisis.
After a study, he created a training programme that ran for a month and was found successful in meeting the objective.
This programme was then called `Outward Bound, symbolising the fact that the sailors lifted anchor from the safety of the harbour and sailed into the high seas with renewed confidence to handle tough situations.
The Pegasus Institute of Excellence, located off Doddabalapur adopts these principles.
Pegasus has evolved a methodology, which combines best practices from defence, behavioural science, psychology, outdoor skills and process facilitation techniques. It uses David Kolbs `Action Learning Cycle as its platform alongside an environment conducive to learning both for participants and faculty. These programmes seek to address a variety of organisational needs such as Strategic Thinking, Visioning, Leadership, Team Building, Service Quality Improvement, Customer Orientation, Effective Communication, Mentoring, and Conflict Management.
Tailor-made
The programmes are customised, based on each companys requirement and business model.
There are about 30 different activities with 100 variants. The learning process in the course acts as a catalyst for data collection and for processing. But can any soft skill really be taught?
Yes and no. Cognitive inputs can be taught and then learning is facilitated by providing an opportunity to go through an experience, says S. Suresh, Director, Pegasus Institute.
The activities are specially designed to elicit and validate the desired behavioural traits.
The faculty members facilitate the process of learning and validation, thereby helping the participants get a deeper understanding of the gaps in knowing and doing.
Management concepts
Essentially, the idea is to learn various management concepts differently through physical activity in an atmosphere away from the workplace, with an element of fun thrown in.
In the bargain, you also learn how physically fit (or unfit) you are as well.