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Dragonfly: Social Emotional Learning Goes Outdoors

They trek the Himalaya, study mangroves in Malaysia, and build schools in Bali. They are students at Dragonfly’s outdoor education program and they are doing more than having adventures; they are learning social and emotional skills that will last a lifetime.

Overview

Situation: After observing how young people discover life-changing personal insight through outdoor education, Dragonfly’s director Will Heutinck sought to more intentionally integrate emotional intelligence into the program.

Solution: In partnership with Six Seconds, Dragonfly brought powerful tools and training to both employees and participants, while consciously prioritizing EQ in program design and hiring.

Results: Nearly 1000 students have participated thus far. Initial feedback has been positive, and the Dragonfly team is continuing to refine the program and future research will assess efficacy.

“We want a valuable reflection on the rest of your life when you’re done with a course.”

Situation

Established in 2002 in Hong Kong, Dragonfly is a leading provider of outdoor education and experiential learning in China and throughout Asia, running year-round outdoor education, Mandarin immersion courses, and service learning projects for primary, secondary, and university students. Dragonfly is also a Preferred Partner of Six Seconds. For Dragonfly’s Director, Will Heutinck, Six Seconds brought him a whole new way to instill social emotional learning (SEL) in his program, his staff, and his students.

Solution

They use the Brain Brief Profiles with every student to generate and explore Dashboards within their activity groups. Group leaders were trained in the art of teaching soft skills, debriefing experiential learning, and guiding students through the process of self-discovery and growth. For training their instructors, Dragonfly put together an EQ onboarding course in partnership with Six Seconds. And for the long-term staff members, Dragonfly is working to send more and more through intensive Six Seconds training programs, including EQPC and EQAC.

Results

The project was highly successful. Engagement increased, as did quality and safety. The plant became a positive place to work.

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HOLISTIC EDUCATION

EQ tools have been integrated into many of Dragonfly’s outdoor programs.

RIPPLE EFFECTS

Around 1000 students have experienced EQ development as part of their outdoor education training.

TRAINED STAFF

Over 50 staff members have been trained to use EQ frameworks in debriefing experiential activities.

Products & Services Delivered

Brain Brief Profiles with Dashboard

BBP – Rooted in the Six Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence Assessment, these reports help students both explore their own thinking and how their styles interact with the rest of the group.

Custom Program

To address the organization’s specific needs using Six Seconds’ methodology, a custom program was developed, tested, and implemented.

Expert Development

To build capacity to develop and implement the new leadership academy, staff members completed certification training from Six Seconds to build internal expertise on EQ.

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