Experiential learning: The what, when, how, where and, most importantly, why?

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Experiential learning: The what, when, how, where and, most importantly, why?

By Stuart Clark, Director of Experiential Learning

WHAT IS EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION?

The Association of Experiential Education (n.d.), which was founded in 1972 and currently has members from 35 countries, summarises experiential education as “challenge and experience followed by reflection leading to learning and growth”. Experiential education is a teaching philosophy that informs many different methodologies that educators use in their craft. In experiential learning, educators purposefully engage with learners in creating and facilitating direct, concrete experiences that challenge the learners to communicate and collaborate with others to problem solve, achieve a goal, possibly to face fears and anxieties, and challenge preconceived notions of the world and of themselves. It is a feature in experiential learning that these experiences are followed by focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values and develop people’s capacity to contribute to their communities.

Importantly, there is also an emphasis that adventure and challenge should be core principles of the learner experience, as such experiences push the learner from their comfort zone to the learning zone, where the greatest educational gains can occur. Further, experiential learning has the opportunity to crucially deepen interpersonal skills like collaboration, leadership and problem-solving, which will positively influence the learner’s future performance in all aspects of life. The general concept of learning through experience is ancient. Around 350 BCE, Aristotle wrote in the Nicomachean Ethics: “for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them”. But as a formal educational theory, experiential learning is much more contemporary. Beginning in the 1970s, David A. Kolb helped to develop the modern theory of experiential learning, drawing heavily on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin and Jean Piaget.

Summit climb in the Myall Lakes National Park

KOLB’S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING MODEL

Experiential learning focuses on the learning process for the individual. A good example of experiential learning involves learning how to ride a bike, a process which can illustrate the four-step Experiential Learning model as set forth by Kolb and outlined in Figure 1 below.

Concrete Experience (Doing/having an experience)

Active Experimentation (Planning/trying out what you have learned)

Reflective Observation (Reviewing/reflecting on the experience)

Abstract Conceptualisation (Concluding/learning from the experience)

Figure 1, Kolb’s Experiential Learning model

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In relation to the learner experience in this model, McLeod (2017) notes that effective learning is seen when a person progresses through a cycle of four stages of: 1. having a concrete experience followed by, 2. observation of and reflection on that experience which leads to, 3. the formation of abstract concepts (analysis) and generalisations (conclusions) which are then, 4. used to test hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new experiences. Kolb and Fry (1974) view learning as an integrated process with each stage being mutually supportive of and feeding into the next. It is possible to enter the cycle at any stage and follow it through its logical sequence. However, effective learning only occurs when a learner can execute all four stages of the model. Therefore, no one stage of the cycle is effective as a learning procedure on its own.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: THE PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICE

According to Kolb, knowledge is continuously gained through both personal and environmental experiences. Kolb states that in order to gain genuine knowledge from an experience, the learner must: • Be willing to be actively involved in the experience, • Be able to reflect on the experience, • Possess and use analytical skills to conceptualise the experience, and; • Possess decision making and problem-solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.

These four conditions do not happen by chance. A number of factors need to interplay to ensure the deepest outcomes.”

Learning activities, whether in a traditional classroom environment, in an outdoor environment on a school campus, or in an offsite location such as a national park, must be planned very carefully, and the right staff are essential to achieve planned, genuine outcomes. If time away from standard curriculum delivery is required, a commitment from academic leaders is needed to ensure adequate time is allocated for training prior to the experiential learning experience, and debriefing and reflection afterwards. This is a significant challenge in schools when the demands on teachers to elicit high performance from their cohorts is so great.”

In relation to staff, it is important to note that having classroom teachers involved in experiential learning experiences beyond their academic area brings great value for students as the reflection phase can extend into the regular classroom environment. The development of the teacher-student relationship is a complementary and multifaceted benefit as well. An example of this is a classroom teacher attending an outdoor education program. This concept is expanded on later in this paper in relation to the finding of the Learning Away study (Kendall and Rodgers, 2015). Another interesting factor to consider in relation to the conditions above is the difference between compulsory and discretionary outdoor education programs. If students are made to participate, we should question exactly how actively involved in the experience they will be. However, if given the option, some students would opt out and therefore miss out on a potentially beneficial experience, albeit an uncomfortable one. We know that learning takes place when a situation is psychologically challenging. As Yale Medical School Professor of Neuroscience Daeyeol Lee (2018) tells us, “When you enter a more novel and volatile environment, this might enhance the tendency for the brain to absorb more information”.

Treading lightly while exploring our beautiful NSW coastline

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The Association of Experiential Education (n.d.) identifies the ‘Principles of Practice of Experiential Learning’ as follows:

• Occurring when carefully chosen experiences are supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis. • Experiences are structured to require the learner to take initiative, make decisions and be accountable for results. • Throughout the Experiential Learning process, the learner is actively engaged in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and constructing meaning. • Learners are engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully and/ or physically. This involvement produces a perception that the learning task is authentic. • The results of the learning are personal and form the basis for future experience and learning. • Relationships are developed and nurtured: learner to self, learner to others and learner to the world at large. • The educator and learner may experience success, failure, adventure, risk-taking and uncertainty, because the outcomes of experience cannot totally be predicted. • Opportunities are nurtured for learners and educators to explore and examine their own values. • The educator’s primary roles include setting suitable experiences, posing problems, setting boundaries, supporting learners, insuring physical and emotional safety, and facilitating the learning process. • The educator recognises and encourages spontaneous opportunities for learning. • Educators strive to be aware of their biases, judgments and preconceptions, and how these influence the learner. • The design of the learning experience includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes and successes. From the list on the left, the four most relevant factors for Pymble to explore as we investigate innovative ways to develop experiential learning are: • Experiential Learning occurs when carefully chosen experiences are supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis – this crucial feature of experiential learning requires a whole school approach be adopted, and time is afforded for the periphery activities, not just the experience itself.

This may cause challenges in many schools given the saturation of their academic timetable. • Experiences are structured to require the learner to take initiative, make decisions and be accountable for results – this concept must be embedded across all Experiential Learning programs, as too often those activities are predominantly teacher/instructor-led and the learners miss out on significant parts of the experience as a result. In some cases teachers will need training to understand how to facilitate rather than instruct. • Relationships are developed and nurtured: learner to self, learner to others and learner to the world at large – developing self-awareness, self-efficacy and identity are fundamental but often overlooked skills in a busy student’s life. Experiential Learning programs should allow genuine time for reflection and looking inward, then looking outwards again and allowing students to connect with the world. Service learning is certainly a powerful tool in the paradigm of self-awareness. • The design of the learning experience includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes and successes – setting up opportunities for students to fail safely, and learn from it, is vitally important. Controlled risk taking can also be explored in this context, setting students up to assess personal and professional risk in their lives.

IMPLEMENTATION OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Moon (2004) has elaborated on Kolb’s cycle to argue that Experiential Learning is most effective when it involves: 1) a reflective learning phase 2) a phase of learning resulting from the actions inherent to experiential learning, and 3) a further phase of learning from feedback. This process of learning can result in “changes in judgment, feeling or skills” for the individual and can provide direction for the “making of judgments as a guide to choice and action” (Hutton, 2001, p.51). As discussed previously, what is vital in experiential learning is that the individual is encouraged to directly involve themselves in the experience, and to then reflect on their experiences using analytic skills. Learners can then gain a better understanding of the new knowledge and retain the information for a longer time. Reflection is a crucial part of the experiential learning process. Dewey (cited in Kompf & Bond, 2004) wrote that “successive portions of reflective thought grow out of one another and support one another”, creating a scaffold for further learning, and allowing for further experiences and reflection. This reinforces the fact that experiential learning and reflective learning are iterative processes, and the learning builds and develops with further reflection and experience. Facilitation of experiential learning and reflection is challenging, but “a skilled facilitator, asking the right questions and guiding reflective conversation before, during, and after an experience, can help open a gateway to powerful new thinking and learning” (Jacobson & Ruddy, 2004, p.2).

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Another exhilarating outdoor education experience comes to an end

Jacobson and Ruddy (2004), building on Kolb’s model, and Pfeiffer and Jones’s (1975) five-stage Experiential Learning Cycle, took these theoretical frameworks and created a simple, practical questioning model for facilitators to use in promoting critical reflection in experiential learning. Their “5 Questions” model is as follows:

• Did you notice? • Why did that happen? • Does that happen in life? • Why does that happen? • How can you use that? These questions are posed by the facilitator after an experience, and gradually lead the group towards a critical reflection on their experience, and an understanding of how they can apply the learning to their own life. Although the questions are simple, they allow a relatively inexperienced facilitator to apply the theories of Kolb, Pfeiffer, and Jones, and deepen the learning of the group.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AT PYMBLE

At Pymble, experiential learning is facilitated in a number of ways. Some programs are ingrained as part of the standard experience of each student in a specific year group, such as the Year 10 Service Learning program and the Year Group Outdoor Education programs which currently run from Kindergarten to Year 9, and others are optional allowing students to tailor their journey, and choose their own adventure.

Further, many teachers across a range of curriculum areas actively seek ways to use Experiential Learning techniques in their practice on a daily basis.” Naturally, some curricula provide more opportunities than others to tap into the powerful techniques available beyond teacher-centred education. An example of this from Mathematics is the work Bryan Morrison does with Secondary students in surveying (see page 25). Other programs with an experiential learning foundation available to Pymble students occur through the Co-Curricular program, including Robotics, the Pymble Model United Nations (PMUN) program, the International Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Australian Army Cadets program. These programs put students in situations where they are challenged to push their boundaries, build personal attributes and life skills, and learn from setbacks and failure. Certainly, some of the sports Pymble offers have the opportunity to leverage experiential learning techniques to improve outcomes for students beyond just the thrill of victory and the benefits of physical conditioning. Simon Pennington’s article in Illuminate Edition 3, 2019, ‘Brain versus brawn in the Pymble Rowing program: Research informing practice’, studied effects on self-confidence, mental preparedness and developing better people through rowing. These concepts certainly equate to transferable life skills given the right application in training. Some experiential learning programs at Pymble are selective, with limited numbers and an application and interview process. Examples include international tours and exchanges which require time away from the Pymble campus and a student’s own home. The environment can be unfamiliar and sometimes challenging which provides an opportunity for valuable learning to occur. Tours into developing countries where there is significant disadvantage, such as the biennial Tanzania tour, have a particular ability to act as change agents in a student’s life.

THE BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR EDUCATION AS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

A significant component of the Pymble Experiential Learning program is currently facilitated through the Year Group Outdoor Education program for students from Kindergarten to Year 9. For these programs to be truly impactful and outcomes-based, a logical sequence of skills and experiences must be embedded in a continuum. There is work currently underway to review

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this sequence and improve outcomes with some adjustments to the context, location and activities of certain programs within the continuum.

of students’ engagement with, and progress in, their learning, as well as their self-belief and expectation that they would make progress and succeed.

Outdoor Education can be a very effective way THE BENEFITS OF to facilitate experiential EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING learning, and there is Franklin D. Roosevelt much research into once reflected that the benefits for school Mountain bike riding is a popular activity for our students “a smooth sea never students. One of the made a skilful sailor”. most fundamental and Experiential education compelling reasons to encourage our students to provides a safe vessel in which to expose students connect with nature is that, more and more, they are to stress and challenge and cultivate their ability to disconnected from it. In his seminal book, Last Child in navigate uncertainty and adversity. This preparedness the Woods, Richard Louv (2008) directly links the lack of is now increasingly essential as globalisation continues nature in the lives of today’s ‘wired generation’, which to engender economic and cultural disruption. Young he calls nature-deficit, to some of the most disturbing people must become more agile and multi-skilled, and childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention schools need to innovate how and why their programs disorders and depression. Researchers Dickson, Gray translate into competent, resilient and creative graduates. and Mann (2008, p. iv) in their report for the Outdoor Council of Australia, Australian Outdoor Adventure Problems often have more than one solution, and Activity Benefits Catalogue, comment. interpersonal creative problem solving, and intrapersonal collaboration and communication are essential for The main benefits of outdoor adventure activities, success. Experiential Learning enables students to engage as shown in the evidence-based literature, include and expand their creative brains and seek unique and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills developed through versatile solutions to challenging tasks and situations. engaging in outdoor adventure activities in meaningful This creative pursuit, and the variety of results produced, ways. Benefits were evident in the psycho-social, enriches the learning experience of individuals and groups. psychological, physical and spiritual domains, particularly with regards to developing self-efficacy, intellectual When experimenting, mistakes are valuable learning flexibility, personal skills, and relationship building. experiences – Experiential Learning involves trial by error. As students engage in hands-on tasks, they find The Learning Away study in the United Kingdom that some approaches work better than others. They was undertaken from 2008 to 2015 with 60 partner discard the methods that don’t work, but the act of trying schools (Kendall and Rodgers, 2015). The researchers something and then abandoning it, which could ordinarily captured long-term benefits of outdoor education be considered a mistake, becomes a valuable part of the programs. This study shows that an outdoor education learning process. Thus, students learn not to fear mistakes, program with an overnight, residential component but to embrace and leverage them. provides opportunities, benefits and impacts that cannot be achieved in any other educational context or setting. Throughout the evaluation process, impact on relationships (both studentstudent and staff-student) and on students’ confidence were strongly As Sir Richard Branson says, “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” THE FUTURE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AT PYMBLE As already discussed, preparing young women for the world beyond the College gates is a rapidly evolving and consistently demonstrated. The challenge. As the fourth industrial strength of relationships developed was significant and revolution takes shape, we need as a often unexpected. There was also strong evidence that school and a community to provide opportunities for impacts in these areas led to positive outcomes in terms young people to develop the personal attributes that will

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assist them to navigate through change and uncertainty, to succeed professionally and most importantly, to be happy, fulfilled and connected to others and the Earth.

As important as teaching technical literacy for future readiness is, we need to be acutely aware of the risks related to the relentless integration of technology in our lives, which, as Klaus Schwab (2015), Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, says “has the potential to diminish some of our quintessential human capacities, such as compassion and cooperation”. Our relationship with our smartphones is a case in point.

Taking in the sights on Mt Kosziosko

Experiential Learning has the capacity to offer this balance. In the future, Experiential Learning at Pymble has the capacity to be innovated and embraced further in many ways. An understanding of the principles, benefits and methods of implementation is essential for stakeholders to both support and leverage

Constant connection may deprive us of one of life’s most important assets: the time to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversation”.

the enablers of Experiential Learning. And, as we, as a school, and more broadly, a professional community of educators, explore ways to redesign and revolutionise pedagogy, it is vital that “challenge and experience followed by reflection leading to learning and growth” is an integral part of schooling.

References Association of Experiential Education (n.d.). What is experiential education? Retrieved from https://www.aee.org/what-is-ee Dickson, T.J., Gray, T., & Mann, K. (2008). Australian outdoor adventure activity benefits catalogue. Centre for Tourism Research. Canberra, Australia: University of Canberra. Gass, M.A., Gillis, H.L., & Russell, K.C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. New York, NY: Routledge Hutton, M. (1980). Learning from action: A conceptual framework, in S. Warner Weil and M. McGill (Eds.) pp. 50–59. Making sense of experiential learning. Milton Keynes: SRHE/ Open University Press. Jacobson, M., & Ruddy, M. (2004). Open to outcome: A practical guide for facilitating and teaching experiential reflection. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Wood ‘N’ Barnes. Kendall, S., & Rodger, J. (2015). Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation of Learning Away: Executive Summary. London: York Consulting. Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning as the science of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. E. (1974). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. MIT Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Kompf, M., & Bond, R. (2001). Critical reflection in adult education (pp. 21-38). In T. Barer-Stein & M. Kompf (Eds.), The craft of teaching adults. Toronto, Ontario: Irwin. Livni, E. (2018). A new study from Yale scientists shows us how uncertainty helps us learn. Retrieved from https://qz.com/1343503/anew-study-from-yale-scientists-shows-howuncertainty-helps-us-learn/. Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. McLeod, S. A. (2017). Kolb’s Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/ learning-kolb.html Moon, J. (2004). A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice. London: Routledge Falmer. Nicomachean Ethics (1911). Book 2. Translated by D.P. Chase. Pfeiffer, W. & Jones, J. E. (1975). A handbook of structured experiences for human relations training. La Jolla, California: University Associates. Schwab, K. (2015). The fourth industrial revolution: What it means and how to respond. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ articles/2015-12-12/fourth-industrialrevolution.

Enjoying the outdoors on the South Coast of NSW