A preview on how to plan an educational expedition. This guide will provide beginning expedition leaders with a simple framework to stay on track in achieving an educational outcome from their expeditions.

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KEY TIPS IN PLANNING AN EDUCATIONAL
EXPEDITION

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2015 by Nautical Edventures
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.
Published in Singapore
DISCLAIMER
This book is not THE book covering all aspects of managing an
educational expedition. An educational expedition could come in
various forms and run on different or even multi terrains. This
guidebook is not:
 THE manual covering pre, during and post expedition phases,
 An IN-DEPTH explanation covering the micro details in planning
an expedition.
Therefore, Nautical Edventures highly recommend any aspiring
educator wanting to lead such programmes to also equip themselves
with the necessary technical competencies and softskills so as to be
able to appropriately apply these KEY TIPS in different context and
landscape.
www.nauticaledventures.com
www.facebook.com/nauticaledventures

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HELLO THERE!
Thank you for signing up with
Nautical Edventures!
Having led and participated in a
number of expeditions, in various
terrains and regions, I observe
that often expedition leaders or
members were struggling on how
to go about planning for it.
Hence, I am deeply inspired to share with you KEY TIPS IN PLANNING
AN EDUCATIONAL EXPEDITION. Regardless of the nature of your
expedition, I hope that this guide will greatly help you and your team
in one way or another.
Finally, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for subscribing to
NAUTICAL EDVENTURES. Our mission is to promote educational sea-
based journeys to all. Do look forward to our newsletters covering
our latest EDVENTURES, events and promotions.
Yours Truly,
Ahmad Bahktiar Othman,
Your Skipper @ Nautical Edventures.
Email me at ahmad@nauticaledventures.com

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INTRODUCTION
After almost 10 years in the field, I have actually adopted and come
out with a very simple model in planning an educational expedition.
But what is an ‘Educational Expedition’?
In summary, an Educational Expedition is an expedition with an
educational aim in mind. Although an expedition is a very good
platform to gain impactful learning, I argue that not all expeditions
are educational.
The educational gains have to be specifically intended. It is true that
an expedition could take a 180° turn due to unexpected twists and
events that might come along. However, if there is no objectives set
at the beginning, the expedition and all its dramas will JUST be a
journey.
As an outdoor educator, your primary role is to facilitate an
educational experience out of the activity that you bring your
charges to. As such, nothing is more critical and fundamental than
spelling out the educational objectives of a particular expedition.
EDUCATION EXPEDITION

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A Useful Model
As an outdoor educator, your primary role is to facilitate an
educational experience out of the activity that you bring your
charges to. As such, nothing is more critical and urgent but to ensure
an educational objective in starting out to plan an educational
expedition.
The model below is the gist behind planning an educational
expedition. You need to SPEND, DEVOTE and COMMIT time and
resources to decide and specify the educational aims of the
expedition.
How to set the educational objectives of the expedition? Here are
some quick questions to discuss with your team:
 What do each of us want to achieve out of the expedition?
 Are there any parallels between each of our individual
expectations?
 What are the expectations by the organisation/stakeholders?
1EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE
PEOPLE EQUIPMENTENVIRONMENT PROCESS

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P.E.E.P
This model is actually a risk identification model. However, I
personally find it useful for the following reasons:
 It is holistic and ensures that I consider all factors potentially
affecting the expedition.
 It also contains the categories to consider and plan out for prior
to the expedition.
 It allows me to keep track and cover all safety issues.
PEOPLE
You might be surprised to know that regardless of the location and
terrain where the expedition takes place, the PEOPLE factor is the
most critical. I refer PEOPLE to the profile and readiness of the
participants’ and staffs’.
Key Considerations about PEOPLE:
 Is the whole team aware of the expedition objectives?
 Does everyone know what to expect from the expedition?
 Have all roles and responsibilities been sorted out?
 What are the competencies and experience required for the
expedition?
 How prepared are your team for the expedition?
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ENVIRONMENT
Next in my list will be ENVIRONMENT since the expedition WILL be
taking place at a particular location or place.
Key Considerations about ENVIRONMENT:
 What do you know about the place that you are going to?
 What do you NEED to know about the location you are going
to?
 How are the locals or residents?
 Were there any reports or write-up by groups who went to this
location before?
EQUIPMENT
This is the non-human side of the planning which includes
considerations on the usability, limitations or defects of equipments
used for the activities
Key Considerations about EQUIPMENT:
 What equipments are needed (for operations, shelter, cooking
etc)?
 What are the terrain-specific equipments needed?
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 Where can the equipments be acquired?
 Are the equipments prepared suitable for the expedition?
 Are there any unnecessary equipment?
 Does the team know how to operate the equipments?
PROCESS
The final KEY TIP. This is made much more important in our times
where there are regulations and procedures just about everywhere.
(But it is actually a good thing as information are all in order)
Key Considerations about PROCESS:
 What are the safety and administrative procedures required,
both for the ‘home side’ and the ‘local side’?
 Have you covered all safety and administrative procedures?
 Have you adhered to all the local protocols?
 Have you planned out all the emergency plans and procedures?
 Have the team been made aware of all the plans and
procedures?
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SUMMARY
Personally for me, the above model works! First of all, I get focused
on the educational objective of the expedition. Secondly, it is not
only holistic but also ensures that I manage safety in a systematic
manner.
I strongly recommend to fellow trainers, educators and teachers who
will be leading educational expeditions. It is a perfect ‘thought
process’ system that have greatly helped me planning out my
expeditions.
---Happy Expeditioning! ----

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WHAT’S NEXT?
If you managed to read this guide up to this point, I believe it is safe
to assume that you are really INTERESTED to learn more about
managing an educational expedition (or at least an expedition).
In the aim of promoting quality and safe educational expeditions out
at sea (or even land), Nautical Edventures provide the following
training:
 PPCDL Theory Preparation (Singapore-based)
 Coastal Expedition Management
 Coastal Navigation
 Outdoor Safety Management
 Adventure Facilitation
 Outdoor Games Design
To find out more, contact us at ahmad@nauticaledventures.com or
visit us at www.nauticaledventures.com