Experiential Education

Experiential Education

When it comes to learning there are two forms of education, traditional education in the form of a classroom setting, where information is given by the teacher in the hope that the learners will remember. The other form of education is experiential education; this is where new knowledge is learned through physically taking part in activities (Henry, 1989)

Smith (1980) state that experiential learning is based on three assumptions:

1. .       People will learn the best when they are personally involved in the activity and learning experience
2. .       The learner will have to discover new knowledge from the activity for any significant meaning to occur to them or change their behaviour
3. .       An individual’s commitment to learning is highest when they are free to set their own learning objectives and to actively pursue them  

Experiential learning is a difficult topic to understand but is summed up by Heron (1999) ‘learning by encounter, by direct acquaintance, by entering into some state of being. Actually being there face to face with the activity’ 

There are four sections to Kolb (1984) ELC, concrete experience, a new experience of a situation or a previous experience is reinterpreted. Reflective observation is where the learner will reflect upon their new experience. Abstract conceptualization is where the learner uses the reflection to generate new ideas or modify existing concepts. Active experimentation is where the learner applies what they have done to real world situations to see what results will come about.  

Kolb (1975) states that the learning cycle can begin at any one of the phases with each subsequent experience building on from the previous one. As well as this, learners can skip out phases of the ELC if they become too scared of one task, preventing them to continue with the tasks.

There are two different dimensions to Kolb (1984) ELC, perceiving and processing information. Perceiving information consists of Concrete Experience and Abstract Conceptualization, this is where new information is grasped by the learners and processing information consists of Active Experimentation and Reflective Observation, where the learners will make sense of all the information and transfer it into knowledge. Kolb (1971) found that there are four different learning styles that accompany experiential learning, Diverging, Assimilating, Converging and Accommodating.

1.       Diverging learners learn best through observation and making sense of those experiences (Feeling and watching).

2.        Assimilating learners prefer to place the information in a logical and concise form (Watching and thinking)

3.       Converging learners are problem solvers who tend to technical tasks rather than social tasks (Doing and thinking)

4.       Accommodating learners are action orientated but rely on working with others to get jobs done (Doing and feeling)

Personally I believe that the ELC will portray the notions of every child that is involved in experiential learning, even though all children will learn in different way to one-another. I personally believe that the facilitator will play a huge role within experiential learning as they will be the ones who have to make sure that the learners have the opportunity to reflect on what has happened or what is happening. Without a facilitator there a learner may carry out an activity and have no real understanding of what they have achieved and just brush it off as if nothing has happened but with the inclusion of the facilitator being there and providing an understanding for the reasoning behind what has just happened, the learners will be more likely to recall the information.

 

Allison (2003) states that the learning environment needs to be a combination of social physical and emotional aspects in the form of the student, the curriculum and the facilitator within experiential learning. Allison (2003) also states that experiential learning is placed in the centre of the student in the learning process.

Experiential education is a beneficial way of providing learners with new experiences to heighten their knowledge rather than sitting in classrooms obtaining knowledge through traditional educational methods. However, the facilitator will not be able to cater for the needs of every single learner.

When it comes to my personal involvements in experiential learning comes in the form of being a facilitator in snowboarding, I was able to observe the differences between two separate groups. One group were just told to follow me down the mountain and the other group were given different learning tasks along the way. The group that just followed me down the mountain found that they were able to do what they wanted but didn’t really learn anything and didn’t improve their abilities as they weren’t given anything to do, on the other hand the other group who were given different learning tasks to do along the way down, in the form of demonstrations and static/dynamic movements, found that they understood more of how they actually performed the skills and were then able to replicate them in future scenarios. I found that the younger the learners the more they just wanted to go and have fun, rather than to learn new skills, so it was my job as the facilitator to integrate the learning through the use of enjoyable experiences. At the end of the lessons where the learners had just followed me down the slope, they were unable to recall what had been learned as well as show me what they had remembered, whereas the group that were given learning tasks all wanted to tell me what they had learned and wanted to show me what they had remembered. They were able to recall the information more easily compared to the first group was because they had hands on experiences where they were able to feel, watch, think and do all of the learning tasks.

References

Allison, P. (2003). Key Principle: Trust, Risk and Learning. In: Wurdinger, S & Steffan.J Developing challenging course programs for schools.: Iowa: Kendall Hunt. p17-29.

Henry, J. (1989). Meaning and practice in experiential learning. In S. Weil & I. McGill (Eds.), Making sense of experiential learning: Diversity in theory and practice (pp. 25-37). Bristol, PA: Open University Press

Herron, J. (1999) The Complete Facilitators' Handbook, London: Kogan Page.

Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., & McIntyre, J. 1971. Organizational psychology: An experiential approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Smith, M. K. (1980) Creators Not Consumers: Rediscovering social education, Leicester: National Association of Youth Clubs.