the Young Canadian Leadership Challenge                     

The movie - which you can access above by clicking - combines scenes from several of the prototype YCLC events held between October 2000 and February 2005. It demonstrates the method used - a simulation game. Adult mentors and youth play into a medieval scenario as "participatory theatre." Simulation games evokes discovery learning - the drawing out of internal treasure - thus creating an initiation into a life of responsiveness and responsibility. Simulation gaming - a powerful training tool -  encourages each of us to be at our best.

For a DETAILED DESCRIPTION of the YCLC program CLICK

Participatory theatre is an imaginative form of drama initiated by the actors (in this case the team of adult mentors) which is also seen and enjoyed roundly in Murder Mystery Evenings. The amateur adult actors initiate the drama by casting a scenario - gradually drawing in the audience (in this case the youth) to participate in the play.

Our themes (or myths) are drawn from our own (and sometimes J.R. Tolkein's or another mythologist's) imagination, and involve the heroic quest to save one's tribe from the actions of a renegade Dark Knight who threatens to deprive the tribe of its water supply.

It becomes an all out race for the hidden treasure of the tribe which was cached away a hundred years before. The tribe knows it must train younger members in the skills which would both hold the Dark Knight at bay and secure the treasure.

Teams of eight boys and/or girls (we always allow them male or female space) are chosen by lot, and these teams work together for a weekend to discover the qualities which will unearth the treasure. In the course of working together on "challenge events" -  constructed so that only a cooperative effort will succeed, the youth discover new ways to hold themselves and their comrades.

The end result is self respect, a greater appreciation for others, initiative and authentic communication. Since the drama is played out in real time, skills evoked immediately appear in a youth's life.

"Challenge events" are drawn from Ropes Course training, which was originally designed for adults - and was felt to be beyond the skill level of teenagers. With the invention of video games, teenagers have actually become even better than adults in engaging these accelerated learning methods. For a further description of Ropes Course methods and history, CLICK

Ropes Course learning is "outside the box" learning - where puzzles, known as challenge events are presented to groups, who must work together to solve them. Typically they are not solvable by an individual, and force the group to pool its skills and work together. The events are varied enough that no one person has all the skills for all the events, and so discovery is distributed well among the group or team. For a video depiction of adults learning from Ropes Course training, see our other work as Teambuilding Facilitators at Econiche House in the Gatineau