Our Cabin Leaders are critical to the success of camp and to making a difference in the lives of the campers, but our goal is also for the Cabin Leaders to experience growth and development themselves. We believe that leadership can take many forms and each of us will have our own leadership styles and gifts to offer. Leadership can be quiet and behind the scenes as well as in front of others. Cabin Leaders can expect to gain valuable skills and lessons that they can use to enrich their own lives and those of others around them.
CampOUT! takes an experiential approach to developing youth support skills. Here are a few examples of sessions included in the Leadership Training Program:
- 4 types of peer support (educational, concrete, referral, emotional)
- Working Well Together – Stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning)
- Anti-oppression training
- Anti-discrimination response training
- Using skits to roleplay potential challenging scenarios with campers
This year, Leadership Training for Cabin Leaders will take place from May 19-22, 2023 at Camp Fircom on Gambier Island, Unceded Squamish Territory.
Leadership Training Program Learning Outcomes:
Leadership Development: Develop and apply leadership skills to lead collaboratively within the CampOUT! program, and beyond. Some of these skills include the following:
Communication Skills: Engage in respectful and effective communication with others in different formats and settings.
- Effective and active listening
- Give and receive feedback
- Convey ideas or information creatively and effectively through appropriate modes of communication (e.g., email, social media, skits, songs, activities, Google Docs, crafts, etc!)
- Facilitate engaging and productive meetings
Decision-Making Skills: Assess a situation and make a decision with critical and creative thinking.
- Assess situations and address problems by drawing on multiple perspectives and information sources.
- Evaluate solutions to make recommendations or decisions.
- Identify, seek out and refer others to relevant resources and services.
Inclusive Collaboration: Develop and contribute to an inclusive collaborative team to achieve a common goal.
- Seek the involvement of others for collaboration, including collaboration with other Cabin Leaders and Volunteers, and with individuals who are different from oneself and/or with different points of view.
- Welcome and respect different thoughts, opinions, and contributions by community members.
- Share responsibilities in a mutually rewarding and fair manner.
- Address and resolve conflict in community.
Social Responsibility: Recognize various dimensions of diversity (including culture, religion, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and age) and their relationships with power structures. Become aware of one’s identity and social responsibility, and act to create a positive change in the CampOUT Program, in B.C.’s queer and trans communities, and beyond.
Intercultural and Social Awareness: Understand the complexity of diversity – how power and privilege are related to differences in society.
- Understand how power and privilege are related to social and cultural identities, including one’s own.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the significance of Indigenous cultures, identities, and communities, and their contribution to queer and trans communities.
Civic Engagement: Demonstrate willingness and ability to create an inclusive and just environment at different levels.
- Embrace and respect diversity in all its forms.
- Demonstrate willingness and ability to engage in learning about the social or cultural issues with which one feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
- Hold a positive sense of affiliation with one’s communities and identify how one can make a positive difference to thier communities.
- Identify and challenge the implicit and explicit stereotypes and/or discrimination expressed by others and self.
- Think and act in socially and ecologically just manner.
Personal Development: Take ownership of experience and apply to personal development and development of future goals.
Autonomy and Responsibility: Function autonomously and responsibly.
- Understand and show commitment to the requirements of the position.
- Adopt responsibility for own actions and the impact on others.
- Effectively plan and manage time.
- Identifying, naming, and taking actions on personal and group needs.
Personal Growth: Demonstrate openness and ability to pursue further growth.
- Articulate personal interests, values, strengths, and areas for development.
- Critically and positively assess one’s experience and growth.
- Seek and reflect on feedback from others.
- Opportunity to get to know self & body.
Future Goals: Consider how this process contributes to one’s future goals.
- Draw connections between one’s experiences in the CampOUT Program, life experiences, and future goals.
- Identify and set action plans for areas of development in light of one’s future goals.