90
5.4 Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Oasis Unit
After four years, participants in the Oasis Unit generally consider that the unit has
increased their understanding of the multiple dimensions of environmental issues
and helped to improve their leadership skills/competencies. An et al. [ 23 ] reports
the results of a questionnaire survey directed at Oasis Unit participants. The key
points from this survey and students’ comments after they joined the Oasis Unit are
included as follows.
The questionnaire in An et al. [ 23 ] was adopted and modifi ed from Gordon and
Berry [ 24 ] to examine the educational effects of the Oasis Unit. The questionnaire
was designed to monitor the students’ way of thinking about environmental leadership, skill acquisition, pedagogy etc., before and after their participation of the fi eld
exercise. The questionnaire contains eight statements that refl ect the most common
current ideas about leadership. The respondents were asked to choose from fi ve different points on a scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” The
results revealed obvious changes in awareness before and after the students participating in Oasis Unit. The Oasis Unit participants identifi ed the participatory, open
model and visible leadership through “fi eld exercise.” In addition, most of the Oasis
Unit participants put more emphasis on the importance of leadership education development through practical experience. Oasis Unit participants tend to disagree with
the statement that “leadership skills are inborn and intuitive.” However, they also
tend to have a higher awareness about the diffi culties of developing environmental
leaders. They seem to realize that participatory leadership requires time and resources
which in turn requires a consensus among the stakeholders to achieve time-bound
goals. This is presumably because in a fi eld-oriented course, most of the students
have their fi rst experience of working with people from different cultural and academic backgrounds. In many cases, there is also a language barrier, which often hinders their ability to express their own ideas and to reach agreements with each other.
In general, former participants were satisfi ed with the content provided by the
Oasis Unit. They think that a fi eld-oriented environmental leadership course promotes positive cross-cultural interactions among students and faculty members.
Many of them also mention that the involvement of local stakeholders and faculty
members from different academic fi elds provides a comprehensive, balanced understanding of environmental issues. The students feel that their leadership skills were
developed throughout the unit.
However, the Oasis Unit also has some clear shortcomings. The main problem is
how to limit the amount of knowledge conveyed in advance by faculty members as
well as a guarantee of the depth of the understanding of students. During the past
four years, since we have put an emphasis on student initiatives and consensus building, the faculty members have been trying to limit the contents of pre-survey lectures
to relevant fundamental knowledge. The students are required to fi nd specifi c
research questions and make detailed survey plans by themselves. Often, they start
to realize after departure that their research proposals do not refl ect local realities.
The students sometimes need to make major adjustments to research proposals after
T. Akiyama and J. Li
5.4 Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Oasis Unit
After four years, participants in the Oasis Unit generally consider that the unit has
increased their understanding of the multiple dimensions of environmental issues
and helped to improve their leadership skills/competencies. An et al. [ 23 ] reports
the results of a questionnaire survey directed at Oasis Unit participants. The key
points from this survey and students’ comments after they joined the Oasis Unit are
included as follows.
The questionnaire in An et al. [ 23 ] was adopted and modifi ed from Gordon and
Berry [ 24 ] to examine the educational effects of the Oasis Unit. The questionnaire
was designed to monitor the students’ way of thinking about environmental leadership, skill acquisition, pedagogy etc., before and after their participation of the fi eld
exercise. The questionnaire contains eight statements that refl ect the most common
current ideas about leadership. The respondents were asked to choose from fi ve different points on a scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” The
results revealed obvious changes in awareness before and after the students participating in Oasis Unit. The Oasis Unit participants identifi ed the participatory, open
model and visible leadership through “fi eld exercise.” In addition, most of the Oasis
Unit participants put more emphasis on the importance of leadership education development through practical experience. Oasis Unit participants tend to disagree with
the statement that “leadership skills are inborn and intuitive.” However, they also
tend to have a higher awareness about the diffi culties of developing environmental
leaders. They seem to realize that participatory leadership requires time and resources
which in turn requires a consensus among the stakeholders to achieve time-bound
goals. This is presumably because in a fi eld-oriented course, most of the students
have their fi rst experience of working with people from different cultural and academic backgrounds. In many cases, there is also a language barrier, which often hinders their ability to express their own ideas and to reach agreements with each other.
In general, former participants were satisfi ed with the content provided by the
Oasis Unit. They think that a fi eld-oriented environmental leadership course promotes positive cross-cultural interactions among students and faculty members.
Many of them also mention that the involvement of local stakeholders and faculty
members from different academic fi elds provides a comprehensive, balanced understanding of environmental issues. The students feel that their leadership skills were
developed throughout the unit.
However, the Oasis Unit also has some clear shortcomings. The main problem is
how to limit the amount of knowledge conveyed in advance by faculty members as
well as a guarantee of the depth of the understanding of students. During the past
four years, since we have put an emphasis on student initiatives and consensus building, the faculty members have been trying to limit the contents of pre-survey lectures
to relevant fundamental knowledge. The students are required to fi nd specifi c
research questions and make detailed survey plans by themselves. Often, they start
to realize after departure that their research proposals do not refl ect local realities.
The students sometimes need to make major adjustments to research proposals after
T. Akiyama and J. Li