Get curious
TRaveling as a Team
module 2:
goals of this module
You will develop a deeper understanding of yourself as a traveler, including your own ‘wants and needs’ while in the field
You will develop the necessary mindsets to create group goals and the norms necessary to achieve them
You will begin to unpack your essential and guiding questions related to the program lenses of inquiry
what will you do in this module?
Listen (or watch) a podcast from clinical psychologists about how to identify your wants and needs
Think about how your wants and needs manifest during travel and start the process of forming norms that keep everyone’s needs met
Develop your own questions (large and small) to consider during the program
LET’S LISTEN
DISCOVERING YOUR WANTS AND NEEDS
On this episode of Being Well, Rick and Forrest Hanson focus on how to use different frameworks for categorizing our needs, what to do when we are confused by our desires, and how to create a personal manifesto to best identify what we want and need.
Listen to the Podcast!
While you are listening, take notes in the following thinking routine:
Connect
How do the ideas connect to something you already know about?
Extend
What new ideas or impressions do you have that extended your thinking in new directions?
Challenge
What is challenging or confusing? What do you wonder about?
Think About It!
Think about yourself while you are in your ‘comfort zone’ of your everyday home/school life.
You likely have a routine that you follow almost every day. You wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and head to school or work. You might have a set schedule for classes or meetings. When you come home, you may have some downtime to relax or do homework before getting ready for bed and starting it all over again the next day.
While this routine can be comforting and familiar, it's important to realize that traveling can push you into a different zone in order to open up new opportunities for growth and learning. You may discover a new passion or talent you never knew you had, or you may learn something valuable about yourself and your capabilities.
However, traveling is not a guarantee for growth--It can be all too easy to either bring your comfort zone with you and fail to grow, or to go too far and put yourself in a place of fear.
This can happen by failing to really understand your needs and wants as a traveler. If you put all of your “wants” as needs, then you will likely never truly leave your comfort zone. If you fail to understand what are your true needs, then you can place yourself too far outside of your comfort zone and fail to grow.
Start the Process!
What are your travel needs?
- What is absolutely essential for your personal sense of identity, physical security, and emotional safety?
What are your travel wants?
- What would be ‘nice-to-have’ while you are away from your home? What might help your learning? What would be fun?
Think About:
- Personal Space
- Foods and Drinks
- Reflective Time
- “Down-time”
- Physical Activity
- Interacting with New People
- Sleep
- Social Media
- Talking to Your Family
- Time by Yourself
- Solo Explorations
- Control Over Your Schedule
- Time in Nature
- Shopping
Take It With You!
It is important to strike a balance and understand that growth can come from both challenging yourself and taking care of your own needs. By stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risks, you can discover new things about yourself and the world around you. At the same time, it is important to listen to your own intuition and avoid pushing yourself too far beyond your limits. With the right mindset and approach, traveling can be a transformative experience that helps you grow in ways you never thought possible.
Try to use the language of ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ with your fellow travelers to better understand and support each other’s learning journeys.
FOrming GROUP NORMs
Now is the time to begin thinking about how to develop norms during travel that will allow everyone’s needs to be met
Linking Travel Needs and Group Norms
The best way to ensure that everyone has a successful experiential travel opportunity is to use group norms as a way to ensure that individual travel needs are met. Some examples of this are:
I have a travel need for personal space and downtime. I know that this could be a problem because conversation and reflection are a huge part of experiential education. My need could be met through a group norm that whenever we are on the bus, we can choose to either talk or be quiet--If we choose to be quiet, everyone will understand that its a safe space to take a break.
I have a travel need to get exercise whenever possible. I know that this could be a problem because the travel schedule could be very tight and not have free time. My need could be met through a group norm that we organize workout time before breakfast for anyone who wants to join.
I have a travel need to stay connected to my friends and family at home. I know that this could be a problem when we need to focus on the people who are on the trip with me. My need could be met through a group norm that we set a dedicated time every 2-3 days to ‘check in’ with people at home.
Make sure ALL needs are met
- Look at your list of ‘travel needs’, and choose 2-3 that are the most non-negotiable for you.
- For each of these most important needs, think about possible ‘group norms’ that could help ensure that the need is met
- When completed, share your list of potential norms with your fellow travelers. Make sure you stay open to solutions to bridge competing norms!
The Compass Protocol can be an important extension for your traveling team to use to further clarify group norm as related to goals. Work through the steps below individually, and then with your fellow travelers.
North
What are your program goals or areas for growth?
East
What are you are excited about?
South
What actions can the group do to help reach your goals?
West
What are you worried about?
Taking Responsibilty for your learning
inquiry-based learning
What is Inquiry-Learning?
While you are watching, take notes in the following thinking routine:
Three Thoughts
What did you think about while watching this video? Can you make any connections to your own experience as a learner?
Two Questions
What questions came to your mind? What did you wonder about?
One Metaphor
Create a metaphor for any of the ideas conveyed in this video
Spend 10 minutes generating questions about your travel experience. This is an exercise in quantity, not quality--the more questions, the better!
Think about the destination, the itinerary, the program themes and more!
Level 1, 2, and 3 Questions
Watch the video to better understand each of these ‘levels’ of questions.
Review your questions and mark down:
- Which are ‘level 1 questions’?
- Which are ‘level 2 questions’?
- Which are ‘level 3 questions’?
Select 2-3 questions that could be possible ‘inquiry’ questions for your upcoming trip.
Share with your fellow travelers and discuss how you can support each other’s inquiries!
now you are ready to BE A TRAVELING TEAM!
