Rock climbing, abseiling and canoeing, building rafts and taking on the white-water may not be traditional academic pursuits but for students studying business management at the University of Wales Lampeter they are an essential part of their Leadership Development course.
Taking part in this year’s event, held near Llandysul, were a group of international students studying at Lampeter. The students were encouraged to put what they have learnt into practice developing their leadership and team working skills, and for some it was their first visit to the Welsh countryside.
Among student comments were ‘The weekend of outdoor activities at the Llandysul Paddlers Centre was brilliant’. ‘It brought everyone the excellent experience of being close to nature, and also taught each student about leadership in a practical way.
And ‘Activities such as these develop confidence…..you never know what will happen, just trust yourself and try, you will find you are much stronger than you thought. You learn to trust your judgement and to trust your teammates, they will help you to success’.
Steve Emmens, the Lampeter lecturer who organised the activities said ‘Our leadership modules provide a balanced approach to teaching and learning. Outdoor activities are used to underpin the academic theories and models, providing practical experience in team leadership and problem solving. Aspiring business leaders must realise that whilst individual performance is still important, we now live in an era where success is also dependent on our ability to work effectively with others, often from very diverse backgrounds, in groups and teams’.
Gareth Bryant, Centre Manager at Llandysul Paddlers Canoe Centre, helped arrange the outdoor activities and said ‘We were delighted to work with the students from the University of Wales Lampeter. Some of the key aspects of working in groups are communication, interaction and problem solving skills, and the climbing, abseiling and canoeing tasks helped students to experience these in a new way…..thanks for the weekend, a great bunch of students’.
Following the event, the students were presented with certificates to mark their achievements by one of the senior instructors at Llandysul Paddlers.
The Department of Management & IT in Lampeter incorporate leadership and team building skills into the curriculum of both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes such as the BA Business Management and the MBA (Masters in Business Administration). For further information on these and other courses, please visit www.lamp.ac.uk/mit.
