挑戰自己，面對過失！

徐朗瑩    張永佳

繼上星期的輔導員 (Counsellor) 訓練後，”展望青年”於是節訓練課邀請了多倫多警隊源植勉警司及警署警長Manny Mandeep 前來講授「挑戰自己」(Challenging Yourself)、「社區參與」(Community Engagement) 及「從錯誤中學習」 (Learning from Mistakes)。

 

第一部份的「挑戰自己」，首要提到的是要相信「沒有不可能的事」 (Nothing is Impossible)，應時常想想各種的可能性。源警司提及人們害怕挑戰的原因大致有六點﹕不願踏出舒適區 (Prefer the routine, comfort zone) 、甘於平庸 (Satisfied with mediocrity) 、容易自滿 (Complacent and content) 、害怕改變 (Afraid of changes) 、害怕失敗 (Fear of failure) 及缺乏勇氣和動力 (Lack of motivation, courage)。與此同時，人們勇於挑戰自己的原因亦有六點﹕每人皆有進步空間 (Everyone has room for improvement) 、增加技能及知識 (Grow your skills and knowledge) 、改變自我看法 (Change the way you see yourself) 、提升自尊及自信心 (Improve self esteem and self confidence) 、相信自己的能力 (Grow the belief that you can) 以及不嘗試則永不知道自己的能力 (If you don’t try, you won’t know what you are capable of)。對此，源警司強調挑戰自己的目標不一定需要冠冕堂皇或是對世界有重大影響，反而應謹記設立可行的目標時，目標要比自己期望的更高，「不要限制你的挑戰，應挑戰你的極限」 (Don’t limit your challenges, challenge your limits) 。

當我們下定決心要挑戰自己後，可以循從以下的步驟為自己訂立目標。

1.      考量現時自身的狀況 (Where am I at present time?)

2.      明白是什麼因素構成現況 (How did I get here?)

3.      知道自己需要有甚麼行動 (What do I need to do?)

4.      了解相關的阻礙和機會 (What are my barriers and opportunities?)

5.      設立量度成功的準則 (How do I measure success?)

最後，源植勉警司以馬丁路德‧金的一句話作結，「對一個人的終極衡量，不在於他所曾擁有的片刻安逸，而在於他處於挑戰與爭議的時代」 (The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy)去鼓勵學員積極挑戰自己 。

第二部份內容圍繞「社區參與」。「社區」定義廣泛，可以是指根據一個地區 (Geographic location)、 共同興趣 (Similar interest) 、有從屬關係或相同身份 (of affiliation or identity) 而聚在一起的一群人。「參與」則可以是一個計劃的過程 (Planned process) 、人與人之間的交流和合作 (Interactions between people and collective effort) 以及諮詢、溝通、教育、公眾參與等等。

社區參與可以說是各式各類，當中包括義工活動、政治參與、環境關注小組、甚至是學生組織，去發表自己的意見，及推動社會進程。種種的參與方式都可以透過留意身邊社區的事情去發掘而得知的。 良好的社區參與可以使一個社會或社區聽到更多元的聲音和意見，加強群體內的歸屬感。對個人而言，可以提升自己的溝通能力和自信心，汲取專業的知識或經驗，擴闊社交圈子，回饋社會。最重要的是，通過社會參與，你能親身的感受到：你可以改變事情 (You can make a difference)！

最後一部份的「從錯誤中學習」由警署警長Manny Mandeep 講授。他指出要從錯誤中學習有三個主要元素﹕不要逃避犯上過失的機會，因為有時候它能令你成長 (Putting yourself in situations where you can make interesting mistakes)、勇於承認過失(Having self-confidence to admit)、有勇氣迎接改變 (Being courageous about making changes)。過失可以分為四個種類﹕

1.      愚蠢的 (Stupid)﹕純緒因愚蠢而導致的過失，如將衣服反轉來穿

2.      簡單的 (Simple)﹕原是可以避免，但因自己的錯誤決定而導致過失，如因忘記繳費而令房子停電

3.      關聯的 (Involved)﹕自己能理解的過失，需要努力才可避免，如慣性遲到

4.      複雜的 (Complex)﹕由複雜的原因導致的過失，且無直接的方法去避免，如一段破裂的關係

犯錯過後，為甚麼人們不能從錯誤中學習？原因有三，首先是因犯錯而不斷怪責自己、過度的情緒反應而大受打擊，不能理性思考以及過份受完美主義影響 (‘Tyranny of perfectionism’) 而無法成長。同時，我們也可以從成功中學習，了解自己的成功由甚麼組成，反問自己對成功的反應是甚麼。

對於犯錯，我們可以透過建設性解說 (Constructive Debriefing) 去了解事件經過和如何去改落。建設性解說步驟可分為五大問題﹕

1.      發生了甚麼事？ (What happened?)

2.      有甚麼事是順利的？有甚麼事令你感到快樂？有甚麼過失？(What went well? What are you pleased with? Include redeeming situations that were going wrong?)

3.      再次發生的話，你會怎樣做？ (What would you do the same another time?)

4.      你會有甚麼其他處理手法？ (What would you do differently?)

5.      你認為其他人在相同處境會有怎樣的處理手法？ (What do you think someone else would have done in your shoes?)

經過犯錯、解說和反省，我們便能從經驗中學習、懂得留意及抵制自己的不理性情緒、注意自己內心的批評 (Inner critic, 不同於批判性思考)，學會跟可信任的朋友式導師分享，並將自己的目標放一個「大概的完美」(Approximate Perfection) 的位置上，不訂立過高的目標。 

Challenge your Limits; Learn from Mistakes

By Shirley Tsui and Tony Cheung

For Vision Youth’s counselor training on ‘Challenging Yourself, Community Engagement and Learning from Mistakes’, we have invited Toronto Police Superintendent Peter Yuen and Staff Sergeant Manny Mandeep from the Toronto Police Team to share some tips with the counselors.

To challenge yourself, Peter believes that nothing is impossible; and we should always focus on the possibilities instead of limits. There are several reasons why people tend to escape from challenges. They prefer the routine and comfort zone.   They are satisfied with mediocrity, complacent and content. They are afraid of changes and possible failure. There is lack of motivation and courage. At the same time, there are numerous reasons why people are brave enough to take up challenges. These people look for improvement; grow skills and knowledge; change the way people see themselves; improve self-esteem and self-confidence.  It is important to grow your belief.  After all, if you don’t try, you won’t know what you are capable of.

Talking about taking up challenges, Peter points out that the aim of challenge is to set a higher-than-normal expectation. The challenge does not need to be grand nor very influential.  We should always challenge our limits, instead of limiting our challenges. These questions are guidelines when we decide to challenge ourselves:

1.      Where am I at present time?

2.      How did I get here?

3.      What do I need to do?

4.      What are my barriers and opportunities?

5.      How do I measure success?

‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.’ Peter quoted the famous remark from Martin Luther Kong, Jr. to encourage counselors.

The second half of the training session focuses on community engagement. Community refers to a group of people, who can be defined according to its geographic location, similar interests, common affiliation or identity. Engagement is a planned process of interactions among people, which includes collective efforts and a variety of approaches. Community engagement also covers consultation, communication, education, participative democracy and working in a partnership.

To work on community engagement, we can volunteer in community, participate in political affairs or become a member in the student councils. All these events are easily discovered when we pay more attentions to our communities.

With active community engagement, diverse voices can be heard and sense of belonging can be further developed within the community. It is equally important that individuals derive personal benefits from community engagement. It provides us with mental and physical rewards. It helps improve our communication skills and self-confidence. We also gain professional experience, expand our social network and give back to the society.

In the last part, Mr. Manny Mandeep talks about the three components in learning from mistakes.  First, put yourself in situations where you can make interesting mistakes.  Second, have self-confidence to admit mistakes.  Third, be courageous about making changes.

Generally, mistakes can be classified into four types:

1.      Stupid: Absurdly dumb things that just happen, such as wearing your clothes the wrong way

2.      Simple: Mistakes that avoidable but your sequence of decisions made them inevitable, such as having the power go out because you forgot to pay the bill

3.      Involved: Mistakes that are understood but required effort to prevent, such as regularly arriving late to work

4.      Complex: Mistakes that have complicated caused and no obvious way to avoid, such as failing in a relationship

So, why can’t people learn from their mistakes? First of all, people beat themselves up over mistakes. Second, they have emotional reactions that they cannot stay rational. Third, they suffer from ‘tyranny of perfectionism’. On the other hand, we should also learn from our success, such as understanding what comprises our success and our relative reactions.

To pursue further learning and avoid mistakes in the future, we can use constructive debriefing to understand the incident and ways to improve. Constructive debriefing consists of five questions:

1.      What happened?

2.      What went well? What are you pleased with? Include redeeming situations that were going wrong?

3.      What would you do the same another time?

4.      What would you do differently?

5.      What do you think someone else would have done in your shoes?

With debriefing and reflection, it will be easier for us to learn from experience, be aware and control our emotions, search for an ‘approximate perfection and stay attentive to our inner critic.

輔導員訓練課程﹕溝通與協調

By  徐朗瑩,張永佳

“展望青年領袖培訓計劃” 新一年的銅章活動將於六月下旬展開，為了讓一眾學員能順利的完成訓練，”展望青年”將如往年一樣安排輔導員 (Counselor) 跟進小組進度， 提供適時的協助。輔導員的訓練亦已經在五月 開始，讓輔導員好好裝備自己，學習應對未來的挑戰。

 

Group photo with the instructor Lynda Watson

這一節的訓練請來了非牟利組織 Dreamation 的 Lynda Watson 主講溝通與協調 (Communication and Facilitation) 。Dreamation  一直舉辦不同的領袖訓練工作坊及體驗性學習活動，強調「建立基礎，點燃熱誠，喚醒夢想」(Forming Foundations; Unlocking Passions; Realizing Dreams) 以及「夢想無界限」(Dreaming without limits)。講者 Lynda 是一位社區工作者，亦同時是一位青年介入 (youth engagement) 的專家，希望為世界帶來正面改變的同時支持並燃亮他人的生命。

首部份工作坊的內容主要講及帶領小組活動的挑戰和喜悅。面對一班活潑好動的年青人，要帶領他們一起活動絕非易事，當中的難處有如組員之間出現爭執、有組員不合作、不信任對方等等。但與此同時，這些挑戰亦能帶來不少喜悅和成長機會，例如建立良好關係、彼此的笑容，共同的成長等。Lynda 在解說一些挑戰和難題時，亦不忘將他們和喜悅連繫，因為迎接挑戰過後，得到的喜悅是更為珍貴的。而這些喜悅，就是不少輔導員繼續成為義工的動力。除此之外，Lynda 亦強調一點，就是每一個人都能夠改變一些事，永遠不要懷疑自己的影響力 (Never doubt your impact)。

Training outside of the office

溝通在小組中極其重要，尤其在互動時，好與壞的溝通交流都會對小組的進程造成很大的影響。Lynda 在接著的部份向輔導員介紹了私人空間 (Personal Space) 的概念。每一個人對合適的私人空間大小都有不同的定義，可以是一隻手的距離，也可以是數步之遙。若不慎侵入了對方的私人空間，就有機會令對方感到不安，影響到有效的溝通。我們可以透過觀察對方的小動作，去得知自己有否侵入了對方的私人空間，例如﹕對方的身體微微移後、向後移一兩步、尷尬的微笑等。作為輔導員，就更要知所進退，適時保持距離讓對方感到舒適，又或者是主動接近對方的私人空間界線以深入了解對方。若能在私人空間上保持適當的平衡，就能製造一個良好的溝通及交流空間和氣氛去互動。

不同學員的性格，特質以及學習方法都對他們接受訓練時的進度有莫大的影響，正所謂因材施教，Lynda在工作坊中講解了七大多元學習風格，讓輔導員能夠就著不同學員的學習風格去做出調整，從而發掘學員的學習潛力，包括：

1）語文 (Linguistic)，對語言、文字較為敏感；

2）邏輯 (Logical)，享受解難、推理的過程，察覺邏輯和分析的能力較高；

3）空間 (Spatial)，對視覺性或空間性的觸覺敏感，善於使用圖像藝術去表達想法及心情；

4）音樂 (Musical)，能掌握節奏、旋律、音調等，可以賦予聲音不同的意義；

5）肢體 (Bodily)，喜歡透過肢體動作去表達想法和透過活動去學習；

6）人際 (Interpersonal)，能自然融入群體中，人際關係較好，善於群體學習 及

7）內省 (Intrapersonal)，喜歡單獨地學習和工作，了解自身的能力和比較獨立。

In class training

除此之外，Lynda亦向一眾輔導員傳授解說 (Debriefing) 的技巧，並用以幫助學員整理及鞏固經驗，深化知識。其中一個技巧運用了庫爾特·勒溫 (Kurt Lewin) 的經驗學習圈理論 (Model of Experiential Learning/ Kolb’s Learning Cycle)，通過具體經驗(Genuine, personal experience)，反思性觀察 (Observation and reflections time)，抽象概念化 (Forming ideas and generalization 及主動實踐 ) (Testing implications in new situations) 去幫助學員整理自己的經歷，識別當中所運用的技巧並且應用在生活之中。

Counselor Training Session: Communication and Facilitation

By Shirley Tsui & Tony Cheung

A new range of Bronze Award activities organized by ‘Vision Youth Leadership Program’ will begin around the end of June. To facilitate a better training for the visioneers, counselors will be arranged for each group to check with the team’s progress and provide adequate assistance. The training sessions for the counselors was started in May to help the counselors equipping themselves with skills and knowledge to face the coming challenges in the activities.

In the third session, Lynda Watson from Dreamation was invited to talk about Communication and Facilitation. Dreamation is a non-profitable organization which has been organizing leadership training workshops and experiential learning activities. Dreamation emphasizes ‘Forming Foundations; Unlocking Passions; Realizing Dreams’ and ‘Dreaming without Limits’. Lynda is an expert on youth engagement, and has a life mission to make positive and peaceful change in the world while inspiring and supporting others to pursue their dreams.

The session began with the discussion on challenges and joys in leading groups. Difficulties may arise when we are facing a group of energetic teenagers, including arguments and distrust between group members. At the same time, they are also the nurses of greatness, as these challenges can bring us joys and learning opportunities, make us smile, establish remarkable relationship and nurture mutual growth. Lynda stressed the importance of forming the linkage between difficulties and joys and ‘never doubt your impact’, as they are the motivations for many people to continue volunteering.

Communication plays a vital role in facilitating group interaction. In the following part of the session, Lynda introduced the concept of ‘personal space’, which can alter the flow of communication, and varies among individuals. If we accidentally step into a person’s personal space, he or she may feel unsettled and thus adversely affect the communication within the group. By observing an individual’s petty actions, such as leaning back, moving backwards and laughing embarrassingly, we can understand if we have stepped into one other’s personal space. As counselors, we should be aware of group members’ personal space and step in or out at the right time so the group can be enveloped in an atmosphere of comfortableness.

In addition, making use of different learning methods can be so helpful in progressive learning. To tailor made teaching plans that fit to learners, Lynda introduced seven learning methods, which can be used in groups and workshops to boost each member’s learning potential. They include:

1. Linguistic, the learners who love to read, write and tell stories,

2. Logical, the mathematically inclined learners who enjoy solving problems,

3. Spatial, who are the visualizers that have natural artistic abilities,

4. Musical, the type of learner that is the best at noticing details, pitches and rhythms that escape the normal listener,

5. Bodily, those who are always on the move and prefer active education,

6. Interpersonal, the learners that adapt easily to any type of social situation, have many friends and are excellent leaders,

7. Intrapersonal, strong willed leaners who work best alone and have a deep understanding of themselves.

What’s more, Lynda precisely delivered the skills of debriefing before the end of the session. A good debriefing can help members to consolidate their experience and foster their learning of knowledge. One of the debriefing skills makes use of Kurt Lewin’s Model of Experiential Learning and Kolb’s Learning Cycle. Undergoing ‘Genuine, personal experience’, ‘Observation and reflections time’, Forming ideas and generalization’ and ‘Testing implications in new situations’, visioneers would be able to better re-structuring their own experience, and apply what they have learnt to the daily life.

展望青年的開放性思維

by Luke Wang

從“展望青年領袖培訓計劃”成立至今的15年裏，學員的數量不斷增加，義工隊伍至今天也已經形成了比較固定和穩定的規模，他們在自己日常的工作生活之余，盡全力來協調展望青年的各項工作，才使得展望青年整個組織能越來越好。對於義工團隊來說，其成員來自社會各界，既有從展望青年畢業的學員，又有學員們的家長，還有其他從各種渠道了解了展望青年並希望和我們一起奮鬥的人。而最令我們自豪的是，每年都會有從香港來到加拿大，來展望青年實習的香港大學社會科學院的學生，他們遠渡重洋來到這裏，學習這裏的文化和展望青年的理念，同時也帶來了新鮮的思想，和我們一起交流，互相學習。

導師們在野外訓練中吃午餐

展望青年的教學模式是開放性的，並不拘泥於死板的知識和技能，它更多的是通過實際問題，使學員獨立思考解決，從而使每個人獲得自己認為所需的知識技能和思考方法。而這種開放的教學模式，在使學員有所收獲的同時，也使得參與到其中的義工也有很多收獲，所以展望青年一直鼓勵人們來加入義工隊伍，同時也非常希望能有更多來自中國的年輕人來實習交流，對於一個教育機構，開放性的理念與積極的交流對雙方都是有益的，這也是一個教育機構能夠不斷向前發展的最強動力。

導師們在上課課題為處境性的領導才能

 隨著暑期的臨近，展望青年本年度的銅章課程也已經準備就緒了，我們的義工也在緊張的籌備著接下來的訓練營和遠足等活動，並且期待著今年的銅章課程能夠和新一屆的學員有更激烈的思想碰撞，吸收更新鮮的血液，使所有參與到“展望青年領袖培訓計劃”的人都能有所收獲。同時我們也希望能有更多的人來了解我們，加入我們，和我們一同進步！

導師及義工們的課堂訓練

    

展望輔導員的日常培訓與修養

By Icey Li

暑假將至，展望青年領袖培訓計劃又將為學員們帶來一場又一場豐富多彩的野外訓練活動。這些活動包括徒步遠足、戶外生火做飯、搭帳篷宿營等，而所有的活動都將由每組學員的義工輔導員一步一步培訓輔導完成。因而在此期間，輔導員們的任務格外繁重，他們在對學員進行指導之前同樣需要接受各種領袖培訓。

“展望青年”的輔導員們參加由約克大學的Kathy Lundy教授主講的培訓課程

 “展望青年”的輔導員們於上週四參加了由約克大學的Kathy Lundy教授主講的培訓課程。 Kathy Lundy曾工作於安省十個不同的學校教育局，是一名具有41年教學經驗的資深的教育工作者。同時，她與“展望青年”有著十分深遠的淵源，在“展望青年”成立初期，她就曾給予創始人許多指導性意見與幫助。在展望青年領袖培訓計劃中的 LEAP (Learning Experience through Artistic Performance) 項目是她研發的。在介紹完自己之後，Kathy Lundy讓在場的輔導員們做自我介紹，爾後是一系列熱身活動和小組活動，諸如場景模擬以及角色扮演，這些活動往往會設定一個突發狀況，幫助大家在參與的過程中能夠自己頓悟到解決方法。 Kathy Lundy對展望輔導員們的培訓內容不僅僅在於開闊輔導員的思維，更重要的是側重於教會輔導員如何做到活躍氣氛、將這些有趣的活動分享給自己的學員們。

“展望青年”的教學模式在此次培訓課程中可見一斑：通過各種項目活動引導學員們找到處理問題的方法，而非單純傳授經驗與方法。 “展望青年”的“重頭戲”——戶外活動，同樣遵循著這種教育模式來教會大家到底什麼才是領袖才能。譬如，“展望青年”為學員設計的兩天一夜戶外活動就是將學員們帶入大自然，分組完成十餘公里的遠足旅程。這個時候問題就來了，如何制定路線，如何制定步速，行軍時誰做領隊，如何分配食物以及最重要的一點如何保障體質弱的隊員不落隊等等等等。這些問題的處理，輔導員會給與技術上的支援，而一些細枝末節都需要學員們自己處理。學員們在解決這種種問題的時候，就能夠同時學到野外生存知識以及團隊合作精神，這對他們將來的為人處事技能有著莫大的裨益。

除此之外，“傳遞”作為展望青年領袖培訓計劃的一大關鍵詞，詮釋著知識、品格、與生活技能的薪火相傳。 “展望青年”的義工輔導員將所學傳授給學員之後，一些學員心懷感恩在畢業後依舊留在“展望青年”，做著曾經自己的輔導員所做著的工作，繼續培育下一代學員，並在輔導他人的過程中得到自我的昇華。