Mind and Muscle with Young People At Risk

Mind and Muscle courses, unique to DialogueWorks, are customised residentials staffed by experienced and qualified outdoor instructors and facilitators of philosophical dialogue. They work best to provoke change when there is active participation, as equals, of those working with young people in their communities, thereby supporting the effective transference of learning to the home environment. Typically, these people include teachers, youth workers, social workers and police officers.

 

Aim
Mind & Muscle provides a unique educational and recreational opportunity for young people. Participants are encouraged to:

• meet the challenge of various outdoor pursuits;
• engage in critical reflection on the thoughts and feelings generated by these activities.

 

Through this, young people develop essential personal and social skills based on thinking, communicating and taking action. The name Mind & Muscle reflects the relationship between these twin challenges.

Why outdoor activities? (Muscle)
In a controlled environment, young people participate in a wide variety of outdoor activities and pursuits. This supports their experience of:

 

• The natural environment, which (given its difference from home / school environments, and the constraints often implied by them) demands adaptation and risk-taking;
• Excitement – being able to lose themselves completely in an endeavour (explicitly tied to intrinsic motivation);
• Action – being active involves change (through movement) and necessitates effort.

Outdoor activities challenge those at risk by drawing attention to the common link between offending, boredom, excitement seeking and impulsiveness. They are a powerful medium for:

• Providing positive opportunities for excitement and risk taking;
• Encouraging teamwork, co-operation and trust;
• Giving young people responsibility and encouraging them to take and feel responsible for their own lives (empowerment);

Critical Reflection, Thinking and Enquiry (Mind)

• Provides a medium in which the multiplicity of other causal factors that lead to offending behaviour can be examined;
• Helps to diagnose problems and issues and improves cognitive skills, where “cognitive deficiencies” –a lack of moral reasoning in thought and action – exist with children at risk.

For further information on the Mind & Muscle methodology, pedagogy, outcomes and relevance to the National Curriculum  [click here].

For further details, application forms and bookings:
Dialogue Works
The Old School Business Centre, Newport SA42 0TS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1239 820440; email: enquiries@dialogueworks.co.uk

For information about any of the trainers, please click here