REFLECTING ON YOUR ORDEAL

Transcription

1 Ceremonies REFLECTING ON YOUR ORDEAL Session Length: 60 Minutes Learning objectives: Re-experience the true purpose of the Ordeal. Understand the impact of the Ordeal on leadership. Recommit to a life of time of testing that extends beyond the Ordeal. Required Materials: Flipcharts Masking tape Optional homework cards (3 by 5) with the closing homework assignments TRAINER PREPARATION Prior to the Arrival of Participants: Set a flip chart on each side of the room. Room configuration should be based on facilities available and the number of attendees. Ideally, for a larger class with available facilities, the attendees should be seated chevron style without tables so that everyone can face the front of the room at the beginning, be able to move their chairs into small group formations in the middle, and finally into a circle at the conclusion. On one flipchart write the title of this session Reflecting on Your Ordeal. On the other flipchart write the name and contact information for the Trainer. Ideally this session should be presented by a youth Arrowman who has had experience as an Elangomat, Nimat or Vigil Guide. The presenter should be able write the 10 Inductions Principles in sequence from memory or with minimal reference to notes. If a youth Arrowman is presenting, at least one Adult advisor should be present to reaffirm national policy if there is any disagreement. The trainer or trainers must be outgoing and spontaneous able to engage the participants in the Socratic Method of education by asking questions. SESSION NARRATIVE Opening. The Obligation and the Ordeal: The trainer begins by asking for a volunteer to recite the Obligation of the. The trainer may say something like: We re going to begin this session with the Obligation. Who is prepared to lead us all in the Obligation? The participants stand and recite together the Obligation of the. The Trainer says the following: The moment you took the Obligation was the moment you became a member of the Order of the Arrow. How many of you remember that moment?

2 Ceremonies Reflecting on Your Ordeal 2 Trainer waits for a show of hands and then selects two or three Arrowmen to share what they remember about that moment the moment they accepted the OA Obligation during their Ordeal Ceremony. The Trainer then says: This session is titled Reflections on the Ordeal and the moment you accepted the Obligation is the starting point for this session. But it s a starting point we re going to work backwards from, from your Ordeal Ceremony, back through the day of your Ordeal, back through your night alone, back through the pre-ordeal Ceremony... all the way back to where your Ordeal experience first began for you. For some of you that may have been when you arrived at camp. For others it may have been at a Call Out Ceremony. For others it might have been at the Unit Election, or even before. Whatever you remember will be perfect. There s no right answer here. So I invite you to start thinking about that question: When did your Ordeal Experience start for you? But first, I d like to introduce myself. Introduction: The Trainer(s) then introduce themselves with some basic information about their lodge, position, scouting and OA history. The trainers should also give a brief background as to why they are teaching this course and why the subject is important to them. For example, they could give an example from their own memories of their Ordeal experience of how the Ordeal has remained a life-changing experience. Or they could share about something that went wrong that caused them to want to work to make the Ordeal experience for others the best it can be.. The trainer then reviews the objectives of the course and invites the participants to ponder the question When did your Ordeal Experience start for you? in relation to those objectives: Re-experience the true purpose of the Ordeal. Understand the impact of the Ordeal on leadership. Recommit to a life of time of testing that extends beyond the Ordeal. Survey of Participants Who s here? The Trainer says: To begin our reflection of our Ordeal Experiences, I d like to start by finding out who is in the room with us, both so I can know who I m talking to, and also so you all can get to know each other a bit better. The Trainer then asks questions such as: How many of you have held an office in your Lodge? (lodge chief, vice-chief, chapter chief, etc. etc.) How many of you have played the part of one of the principles in our ceremonies (Allowat, Meteu, Nutiket, Kichkinet? Who has served as a ceremonialist for whatever roles there are in the Vigil Ceremony? (Sometimes this will result in some laughter, which is fine.) Who here has ever served as an Elangomat? Nimat? Who is a Vigil Member? How many of you have completed the National Leadership Seminar? Been to a NOAC? Served on staff? Who is an Eagle Scout? Earned their religious award? Been an SPL? Served as a Scoutmaster? (Note: the goal here is to acknowledge everyone in the room for the servant-leadership roles they are currently playing, and for what they have done in the past. Add additional roles and questions if participants need to be included.)

3 Ceremonies Reflecting on Your Ordeal 3 The trainer ends this portion of this session by asking: Is there anything else anyone in the room would like to be acknowledged for? The trainer should be sure to guide the answers to this question so that they are kept reverent and serious. This must not be allowed to degrade into laughter. If that begins to happen, the trainer reminds the participants that time is limited and he is serious. The trainer ends this portion of the session by saying: On behalf of the National Committee of the, our chairman, National Chief and Vice-Chief (if the trainer does not know the individual names, it s okay to leave those out and just mention their titles), I want to thank you for your service. You are what makes the come alive in the lives of young men. THANK YOU. Small Group formation: 3 Minutes The Trainer says: In just a moment we re going to start the process of remembering as much as we can about our own Ordeals. We ll be doing that sharing in small groups, and as part of that process I ll ask you to remember the best of times, and the worst of times what was inspiring in your Ordeal, and what should not have happened, or could have been improved. So we ll start that as soon as we ve formed our small groups. Please seek out a group of other Arrowmen who you do not know. (If there are fewer than 10 participants, the Trainer will ask for groups of 2 each. If there are 10 participants, the Trainer will ask for two groups of 3 and one of 4. For 20 participants the trainer might ask for four groups of 5 participants each. For larger groups the trainer might ask for groups of up to 6 participants each.) Small Group discussion: 7 Minutes Once the small groups are formed, the Trainer holds his hand to the Scout Sign. When silence is manifest, the Trainer says: I d like each of you to share some of the things you remember from your Ordeal. You might want to think about the following questions: Was the Ordeal Ceremony performed well? Did you have good work projects? Was your work crew led by an Elangomat? How was the scant food? What was the silence like? -- was it just the candidates, or everyone being silent? How was your night alone? How was the pre-ordeal Ceremony? Overall, what are your most vivid memories of your Ordeal Experience? You will have five minutes for sharing. Be sure everyone in your group has an opportunity to share. The Trainer then moves around the room listening in to the discussion. He does not make comments, unless necessary to move the discussion forward. His goal is to hold the context of a serious discussion. If the groups are large, or if the energy among the groups is such that a longer discussion seems appropriate (eg: the sharing is intense and growing, the Trainer gives the groups up to 7 or 8 minutes total. If the volume appears to be falling off, and some Arrowmen are not participating the Trainer says in a loud voice:

4 Ceremonies Reflecting on Your Ordeal 4 Be sure everyone has the opportunity to share. When the time is about up, the Trainer says: 30 more seconds. Be sure everyone has the opportunity to share. And then at the appropriate time the trainer says: TIME and holds his hand up to the Scout sign calling for silence. Small Group Leader and Idea Selection: 5 minutes When silence is manifest, the Trainer says: In a moment we will have each group share the top 5 or 10 good and bad things from your Ordeal Experiences. Each group will elect a spokesperson to share their list. You have five minutes to elect a spokesperson and create your list. Starting NOW! GO!. After 90 seconds the Trainer says: Thirty More Seconds! At the two minute mark the trainer says: TIME and holds his hand up to the Scout sign calling for silence. Small Group Sharing: 12 minutes When silence has been manifest, the Trainer says: In a moment we re going to give each group an opportunity to share the best and worst of their experiences. But first I could use three volunteers to be scribes. Who is willing to do that? The Trainer asks one scribe to be at Flipchart 1 and write the Best Experiences of the Ordeal. The second scribe is assigned Flipchart 2 and asked to write the Worst Experiences of the Ordeal. The job of the third scribe is to hang each of the pages as it is filled. (With fewer than 10 or 15 participants, the Trainer may choose to serve as the scribe and chart hanger.) The Trainer then picks one of the small groups to be group 1 and asks its spokesperson to stand and share. The Trainer then picks group 2, and so forth. When all of the sharing is complete, the Trainer then asks the group to thank the scribes with a round of applause and instructs them to return to their chairs. Circle Formation: 3 minutes The Trainer then says: We re going to review what is on these charts in just a minute. But first I d like each of you to stand up. Trainer waits till all are standing. If needed the Trainer says, Quickly, Stand up! and then says: Now I d like you to pick up your chair and quickly form a large circle with everyone facing in. Ready? Go!

5 Ceremonies Reflecting on Your Ordeal 5 Review: 10 minutes When the large circle has been formed, the Trainer then quickly reviews the best and worst experiences of the Ordeal: The Trainer then says: So what makes for the best possible Ordeal Experience? or How can we maximize the positive experience of the Induction on each individual candidate? or How can we make the Ordeal weekend be a life-long memory that inspires each Arrowman for the rest of his life? The Trainer then points to, or refers to, the list of the Worst Experiences and says: How can we eliminate these practices? How can we stop candidates from experiencing un-scoutlike things in their Ordeals? After 3 to 4 minutes of brainstorming and sharing the Trainer says: I want you to know that I have been instructed by the National Committee of the to say the following.... (pause). To those of you who did not experience the OA induction as it was designed to be experienced and especially to those of you who may have encountered Arrowmen who were not acting in accordance with the Scout Oath and Law during your Induction -- on behalf of the National Committee, its chairman, Chief, and Vice-Chief -- we apologize. We also want to thank you for your commitment to be sure every candidate who comes to us has the best possible experience. Concluding Challenge: The Trainer says: We are almost at the conclusion of this session. But before we go, I d like to give you a couple of items of optional homework for you to do. You don t need to write these down, I m going to give them to you on a card as you leave. First, I want you to think back to before your Ordeal. Someone inspired you to become a Scout, or to become a better Scout a real servant-leader. Think for just a moment and see who that is for you. Usually there s someone who comes into your mind the moment that question is asked Who inspired you to become a Scout, or to be a better Scout a real servant leader? Does everyone have someone in mind? The trainer watches the Arrowmen in the Circle and asks one or two who seem to be moved, or clear about who this is, to share. If no one seems ready to share, the Trainer shares who this is for him. Perhaps a former Scoutmaster, Camp Director, youth Arrowman at the time... whoever it is. The Trainer shares about the difference that person made in his life. After one to three Arrowmen have shared, the Trainer says:

6 Ceremonies Reflecting on Your Ordeal 6 Your first item of homework is to send that person a thank-you message. It could be a card, or text message. It could be a phone call. Or if that person is here, you might choose to tell them inperson. But you homework is to let them know the gratitude you feel for the difference they made in your life and to do that before the sun rises tomorrow. Is anyone not clear about the first item of homework? Okay. Your second item of homework is to re-experience your Ordeal. You could do that by being an Elangomat, or by simply picking a day to be silent, eat scant food, spend some time alone, and do cheerful acts of service anonymously to others. You can pick any day, and any place to do this. But the goal is to re-experience your Ordeal sometime before the end of this year. Is anyone not clear about the second item of homework? The Trainer invites everyone to stand and says: The Trainer stops and says It is not an easy journey... If you know these words please recite them with me It is not an easy journey. Sometimes even friends will mock you, tempt you to betray your promise, test your resolution often, often try to make you faithless. All the world may seem against you and the path seem dark and lonely. All your strength will be required when you face the isolation which a leader often faces. The Trainer concludes the session with the following I want thank you again for your commitment to see that each candidate has the best possible Ordeal experience, and on behalf of the National Committee, its chairman, Chief, and Vice-Chief we wish you all the strength that is required to be a true servant leader. And do you know one of the best ways to build that strength? (pause...) That s right do your homework. So be sure to pick up your copy on your way out! APPENDIX: RESOURCES & SOURCE MATERIALS Handbook Ceremony for the Ordeal