Living your values at Trinity’s Field Studies Centre
When Year 9 students head to the Field Studies Centre for the first time, it’s safe to say they’re still figuring out who they are, what their values are, and what they want to do with their skills, knowledge, and passion.
The term-long Field Studies Program (FSP) is an opportunity for students to grow further, alongside their peers as they are challenged and supported in equal measure. The program is designed to push them outside of their comfort zone while also bolstering them to harness their potential.
Living in community is central to the program and, in particular, this setting offers the boys many opportunities to learn about forgiveness.
“Sharing a dorm with a bunch of other boys is very different to what most of our students are used to, having their own bedroom at home,” says Mr Tim Knowles, Head of the Field Studies Campus. “It means putting up with the habits, quirks, relative tidiness standards, and general willingness to complete chores of all those other people you are sharing with.
“Dorm living requires humility, tolerance and an ability to forgive quickly.”
Holding on to grudges doesn’t do us too many favours in life, and the boys get an appreciation for that very quickly on the FSP. It takes a lot of energy to hold a grudge, so practicing forgiveness, as hard as it may seem at the time, may in fact be the easier option when you have 8 or 10 weeks of living in close quarters with someone.
Mr Knowles says that the boys are reminded about the community values at the Field Studies Centre regularly: Be safe; be respectful; be productive; and show unconditional positive regard to others.
“When members of our community are not conducting themselves in line with these values, I encourage the staff, and the boys as key members of the community, not to walk past that behaviour,” he says. “We all have a responsibility as members of the FSP community to hold each other to an acceptable standard in terms of the way these values are lived out. Having accountability to a community can be a helpful thing.
“Something that I appreciate about working with Year 9 boys is that they are actually pretty good at forgiving one another. They are pretty good at moving on. They are pretty good at demonstrating unconditional positive regard towards their peers. They are pretty good at wiping the metaphorical white board clean for one another each day and starting fresh.”
Trinity is invested in helping students develop their character as they navigate the path to adulthood. Learning to forgive quickly and being confident enough to hold others accountable to agreed values, are valuable things to learn in one’s formative years.
Learn more about the Field Studies Program.
