Experimental education

Luckner and Nadler (1997) state that experimental learning as an approach to education has grown in popularity over the past 20 years. They also claim it is the most effective way of promoting self discovery and provides the foundation for most adventure education programs. Whereas Beames (2010) states that these claims of people learning best through experiences rest on assumptions.

Experimental education and it use in promoting learning is clearly supported by various research and theorists (Dewey, 1938 and Kolb 1984). The Kolb cycle is a well established and widely used model incorporating four stages.

For several years I was actively involved and headed up several programs for the Prince’s Trust. These courses were created for participants to be challenged, exposed to new experiences, reflect as groups and individuals and generalise to a degree.  Hopkins and Putman (1993) state all education is composed of experiences, some experiences however are more experimental than others.

Wattchow & Johnson (2004) state that participants compartmentalise these experiences and no link to everyday life is ever established, without generalisations the move to application becomes very difficult.

During the programs I was involved with the main focus was providing experiences and reflection, however generalisation and application was overlooked.  This meant that the experimental process came to an abrupt end and as facilitators we failed to provide our participants with the tools and understanding to take these experiences into everyday life.

My learning’s from this research is that the programmes I design in the future really need an element of follow up to ensure that the generalisations made on the program are implemented and applied in their workplace and life.  These applications are then experienced again to reinforce and confirm the learning. Also the selection of facilitators involved within my programs will have to have life experience and be intuitive to allow programmes to be flexible thus allowing individual pathways.

Although we cannot dictate what is learnt we can create situations in which learning is likely to occur. Bateson (1980) explains that we do not automatically learn from our experiences and the importance of facilitators is to ensure that the experiences provided can then be made sense of and have meaning to everyday life.

References:

Bateson, G (1979) Mind & Nature: New York, Dutton.

Beames, S (2010) Understanding educational experiences: Sense Publishers.

Hopkins, D & Putman, R (1993) Personal growth through adventure: David Fulton Publishers.

Luckner, J & Nadler, R (1997) Processing the experience: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Wattchow, B & Johnson, D (2004) Students perspective of Camp Mallana outdoor experiences: International Outdoor Education, Australia.