Odyssey Institute offers bespoke learning adventures and academic experiences designed to complement the integrity of each school’s individual curriculum needs, ethos and core values
We share our learning and experience in delivering world class programs and are committed to making each school and educational institution’s experience uniquely its own.
Odyssey schools
Unique | Educational | Adventure | Experiential
With Indonesia’s breathtaking cultural and ecological diversity at our doorstep, our team of educators and logisticians create unique learning adventures, embracing the concepts of experiential education, holism, global citizenship and service learning.
Whether delivered from our facilities in West Java or anywhere else in the archipelago, Odyssey Institute specializes in delivering world class Experiential Learning programs for International and Domestic schools, working with upper Primary, Middle, and Secondary school groups.
We are an end to end service provider, meaning we take care of the following so you don’t have to!
Pre Trip
During Trip
Post Trip
Pre Trip
We work with lead teachers to identify learning objectives. Based on those objectives we propose an itinerary that we will continue to edit throughout the design process, integrating your feedback/input.
We arrange all logistics. We book, liaise with, and manage all aspects of your program such as:
- Accommodation
- Catering
- Transportation
- 3rd Party Activity Providers
We conduct a full risk assessment and create Risk Management profiles for all activities, amenities, and 3rd party providers.
During Trip
From the moment you arrive, our team of skilled Facilitators lead every step of the way; from an enthusiastic airport greeting to a (usually) tearful goodbye as you depart.
- Facilitate all activities, delivering upon all identified learning objectives
- Health and Safety first responders. We’re there on the frontlines for any illness or injury that occurs; activating and leading an Emergency Response plan as needed
- Logistical support: whatever arises we’re here to troubleshoot and support!
Post Trip
We conduct post-trip surveys to collate and integrate program feedback.
- Offer ongoing support for any identified learning objectives and educational deliverables
Budgets
We will work hard to meet your school’s budget. We have the flexibility to be creative with the itinerary and accommodation and have a number of exciting programmes that can suit all ages and quests for learning. We understand that as well as meeting learning objectives you need to demonstrate that the school trip you are organising is excellent value for money without compromising on safety, experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.
Curriculum Themes
The following is a list of curriculum subjects, or “themes”, our programs hinge upon. Almost without exception, Odyssey Institute experiential programming for schools spans across multiple themes, enabling a more well-rounded experience.
01
Environmental Education
While this could be considered an ethos that is central to all our programming, as a curriculum foundation Environmental Education programs hinge upon highly-engaging activities that allow students to explore a diverse range of marine and terrestrial ecosystems whilst also looking holistically at their social and economic contexts.
Programs can be delivered from the comfort of select resorts throughout Indonesia, or our “glamping” facilities in West Java, which also provide opportunities for supportive activities such as campfires, night hikes and a myriad of team building challenges.
Environmental Education programs are fundamentally about building relationships. Whether it’s between student-nature, student-student, or student-self, we ensure each activity and experience is carefully curated and facilitated to nurture healthy interactions and behaviors, thus forming pillars to effective Global Citizenship.
Years of Experience
Students Served
Turtles Released
The IB Learner Profile Objectives and Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Caring
Balanced
Inquirers
Caring
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Caring: Environmental Education is first and foremost an exercise in developing empathy and understanding. Our activities deliver on education goals while fostering positive connections with the natural world and the communities who comprise the places we visit.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Foster meaningful connections with the natural world.
Balanced
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Balanced: How to immerse fully into relationship with nature without exemplifying a measure of balance? After all… nature strives for balance! A well-facilitated activity is a symbiosis of introspection, exploration, and communication.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Stimulate a natural curiosity for understanding the complex ecology of natural systems.
Inquirers
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Inquirers: The tools of science engender an orientation towards inquisitiveness. We leverage natural curiosity by bringing students to awe-inspiring places, facilitating the students’ learning through our inquiry-based methods of teaching.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Explore the dynamics of human participation within varied environments.
Seek to contribute meaningful service to the places we visit.
Seek to contribute meaningful service to the places we visit.
02
Arts and Culture
Indonesia’s diverse cultural heritage and rich artistic traditions lends itself to deeply immersive educational opportunities, designed in conjunction with classroom learning objectives.
As with all programming, our goal with Arts and Culture activities is to engage authentically with the tradition or practice, learning from those with whom the traditions reside.
Arts and Culture activities range from the visual and performing arts, to traditional agriculture, artisanal handicrafts and ceremonial traditions, and all across Indonesia.
Hours of Mud Wrestling
Rice Fields Planted
Happy Teachers
The IB Learner Profile Objectives and Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Inquirers
Open-minded
Reflective
Inquirers
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Inquirers: Encounter traditions unique to one’s own, engaging those traditions through the capacity for inquiry. Oscillate between action, reflection, and thoughtful dialogue.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Offer hands-on access to artistic cultural traditions.
Open-minded
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Open-minded: Whether it’s eating a traditional meal using only hands, failing miserably at the Balinese offering baskets (canang), or visiting a local family in their home, the approach is always the same: be open.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Connect students to the meaning, history, and function of various cultural practices.
Reflective
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Reflective: Immersing in an exotic culture has a deeply reflective effect. Our priority is to ensure each activity, every experience is thoughtfully considered; not only as insight into “other” ways of living, but also to contextualize our own behaviors and traditions.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Seek to celebrate diversity and practice inclusivity.
Engage students in meaningful reflection on personal artistic and cultural practice.
Engage students in meaningful reflection on personal artistic and cultural practice.
03
IB Biology and ESS
Our IB Biology and/or ESS field trips are primarily facilitated from sites in Java and Bali and are designed to provide students with a coherent perspective of the interrelationship between environmental systems and societies; one that enables them to adopt an informed personal response to the human impact on a range of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Fieldwork is typically conducted at numerous locations (ranging from pristine to heavily impacted), providing students with valuable field based survey methodology and data collection opportunities. All activities and locations are equally appropriate to the Cambridge International Curriculum.
Given the technical framework of these programs and the particular classroom needs that likely require support, we work very closely with the Lead Teacher in designing an itinerary and specific activities that complement curriculum needs.
We design these programs back to front, meaning we begin with the IB ESS Aims and Objectives specific to your trip, and then determine a course of action to achieve those ends.
Beach Cleanups
Hours Snorkeling
Campfires
The IB Learner Profile Objectives and Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Thinkers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Thinkers: Our Biology and ESS programs are an effort in implementing hard science methodologies. Field work. Students are challenged to contextualize those methodologies in real world applications.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Explore dynamic intersections of economies, society, and the environment in “real world” settings.
Knowledgeable
The IB Learner Profile Objectives: A Snapshot
Knowledgeable: What is knowledge if not usefully applied to initiate effective change? Students explore dynamic intersections of economies, society, and the environment. An example being the exploring of the crossroads between industrial farming, coastal development, and traditional land management.
Odyssey Environmental Education Programs:
Implement technical survey methodologies for field data collection.
Seek to develop critical thinking skills in consideration of complex challenges.
Take a solution-oriented approach in addressing those challenges.
Seek to develop critical thinking skills in consideration of complex challenges.
Take a solution-oriented approach in addressing those challenges.
Global Citizenship
Regardless of program objectives, on an Odyssey Institute learning adventure students will depart better equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Our programs focus on empathetic learning – the development of more self-aware and socially conscious students. To achieve these broad-reaching ends, we facilitate programs holistically – meaning all aspects of an Odyssey program attend to the value of global citizenship.
From start to finish, students will cultivate healthy dialogue amongst themselves and with the people they meet, reflect on one’s own practices and beliefs, and consider sophisticated solutions to the challenges of today.
Odyssey programs are committed to affecting positive change!
Odyssey Global Citizenship Programs:
- Educate students through values-based learning; facilitating connection to one’s own values and interests
- Stimulate connection and curiosity for diverse environments and exotic cultures
- Work towards action-oriented results and real world applications
- Help to traverse the murky waters of personal bias to generate empathy for people and places
Service Learning
Our service learning activities are made up of integrity-rich conservation and sustainable livelihood projects. We work collaboratively with NGOs and local communities to identify opportunities for contributing useful service, a symbiosis of relevant work for the community or organization with whom we’re working and meaningful learning opportunities for the students involved.
We seek to create innovative solutions to global challenges and inspire students to think deeply about their roles as Global Citizens.
Odyssey Service Learning Programs:
- Seek projects that provide tangible impact – big or small
- Engage in community-directed initiatives – it’s never about what we say a community needs, but what the community itself identifies as a need
- Are hands-on – be it coral reef rehabilitation, waste removal, building energy efficient infrastructure, or applying organic agricultural practices – we take a DO first approach, involving the students at every step of the process
Geography
Our geography field trips can be facilitated at various locations throughout Indonesia. As an example, Odyssey Institute delivers a 5-day geography field trip designed to provide students with a coherent perspective of the geographical landscape of the Mt. Batur region of Bali; one that enables them to adopt an informed personal response to the physical environment, and the interrelationship between the people and the land.
Students are introduced to the basics of volcanology, geography, and plate tectonics through hands-on field work.
Odyssey Geography Programs:
- Engage students with physical and social data collection, analysis, and presentation
- When necessary, involve geographic mapping
- Allow students to facilitate local community panels
- Conduct professional-led workshops to deepen learning towards targeted education objectives
Camp Odyssey
During gaps in the school calendar (summer and winter), Odyssey offers a series of exciting eco-camps to complement classroom learning, enriching the life experience of your child or teen.
Starting in March 2020 we will be offering individual sign up programs designed to provide teens with real-world skills, valuable life experience and once-in-a-lifetime travel adventures.
Please get in touch or sign up
for our newsletter to find out about Camp Odyssey for spring and summer 2020.
Health and Safety
The health, safety and well-being of the students comes before absolutely everything else. Every activity on every program has undergone a thorough risk assessment and comprehensive risk assessment documentation pertaining to your program is provided to all participating schools.
We have a full suite of health and safety policies and procedures to which all Odyssey Institute staff adhere at all times.
We will always balance the enthusiasm of the students searching for adventure and meaningful learning experiences
We do this by ensuring that all activities and experiences are managed safely – the wellbeing of the students (and our reputation and that of our partner schools) depend on this.
The following websites contain reliable information on travel health and safety issues specifically for Indonesia.
Vaccinations
Please consult your doctor or travel clinic for advice before visiting Indonesia. It is also worth checking the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention website for up-to-date information. We are not able to give official advice on vaccinations, however, based on past experience we would normally expect you to be up to date with the following:
- Tetanus, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Diphtheria, Polio
- Rabies: it is recommended, though not essential, that you have the 0.1ml rabies vaccine
- Japanese B Encephalitis: not required for Bali
- Malaria: not required for Bali
Prescribed Medication
If a student needs to take prescribed medication whilst on a field trip please ensure they bring sufficient supplies to cover their stay and make sure the situation is clearly communicated to both the student’s teachers and Odyssey staff. All details can be provided by way of our confidential online Participant Information forms.
Physical Fitness
The level of fitness required to participate in our Learning Adventures varies depending on the program. The most physically demanding programs include rainforest trekking and snorkeling. In some instances, whilst trekking, participants are going to need to be able to carry a daypack and trek for 6-8 hours in temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius with very high humidity. Additionally, in order to be able to participate in snorkeling activities participants should be able to comfortably swim 100 meters and tread water for 3 minutes. All marine based activities require the mandatory use of personal floatation devices (PFDs), which are provided by Odyssey Institute.
Travel & Medical Insurance
All participants must have their own emergency health/medical/travel insurance. It is essential that the insurance covers medical evacuation. We also recommend travel insurance to cover loss of personal belongings and costs associated with cancelled or delayed travel plans.
Travel Documents
- Passports: Your passport must have at least 6 months validity (period before expiry) at the time of your arrival into Indonesia. Failure to have at least 6 months validity on your passport will result in denial of entry into Indonesia.
- Visas: Visa requirements do occasionally change so always check before travelling. At the moment there are over 160 nationalities that need no Visa if they are staying less than 30 days in Indonesia. Please visit the Indonesian Government website for details of the types of visit that fall under this category.
Please get in touch
If you would like to see any of our policies and procedures relating to heath and safety, risk assessments or any operational issues that you think are relevant to your planning preparation.