Advantages And Disadvantages Of Experiential Learning

By having art programs in schools students gain skills such as, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, integration of multiple skill sets, and working with others. Qualities such as these are very necessary for creating exemplary students. Arts have already proven to help with many long standing problems but critical thinking is needed for jobs in the outside world. “ … Creating art supports problem-solving, creative thought and critique like no other discipline.” ( Schoales,2) By participating in artistic classes students gain discipline that most classes fail to teach. These valuable lessons learned from art can’t be found anywhere

Despite taking the place of a core class, fine arts can bolster and strengthen a student’s abilities in said core classes. Art is accessible to everyone and therefore can create a new sense of unity and connection among peers in and out of school. Students often don’t have many ways to express themselves, but by taking classes in the fine arts, students would have an expressive medium to do so inside of school. Skills learnt in fine arts classes can be used for a student’s entire life, regardless of age or condition, and thanks to the many other advantages of these courses, should be required for students to

The importance of education is seen in the goals of society from the dominance of math and science to launch the space race, to the back-to-basics program in order to improve world education ranking and ensure America as a strong educational nation. As a teacher I hope to enrich the lives of students and educated them to the best of my ability. Furthermore, I hope to set an example for students that is based on respect, truth, honor and fairness. Students come from diverse backgrounds and struggle to reach individual goals. As a teacher, I am obligated to see those challenges and help students set and meet their goals. For students in my classroom, that of an art class, must also deal with expression and individual ideas that will allow students to interpret their surroundings.

Teachers are in a profession that requires a lifelong approach to learning; the direction of this unit is at exploring one's own capabilities, and to start scaffolding our own learning. Knowing what one can do, can direct one to further improvements (Dinham, 2014, pp. 62-63). This unit is a great start to personal learning of the arts. There is evidence of improvement of learning and have responded to the above in an appropriate way with in text references, in a creative thinking self-expression meaning making of ideas.

Experiential learning however is closely related to vocational education in that it relies on learner’s ability to apply knowledge to situations that they have a personal interest in. In doing this, it creates opportunity for valuable learner involvement and significant learning (Beard and Wilson, 2006)

They will analyze and describe this in the verbal and written communication. They will be able to continue the classroom experience in their own lives through discussions of the value of art that they will share with their families, friends and other acquaintances.

As an experiential cognitivist I delineate the process of learning through experience, and learning through

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” During my past career as an art teacher at Intel Academy, introducing and demonstrating aesthetic techniques and materials have thrilled me as much as completing an art piece. Through workshops and demonstrations, I learned how to communicate and suggest better ways of developing their ideas and expressions. Some children had difficulties encountering art due to their behavioral problems; however, respecting their accomplishments and encouraging their process of following the curriculum became a part of the solution. My decision to apply to masters program in art education was pursued as I faced these

It is through completing the Art Making and Responding activities that I have demonstrated my learning of contemporary arts education through developing an appreciation for authentic practices through observing and reflecting on the processes. These activities have changed my perception of arts education as a meaning-making experience; demonstrating my abilities through the form of performance and written analyses. With this, I have learned that it is important to critically reflect on my responses to the Art Making and Responding activities to further my development as an educator. It is because of these activities that I have been able to position myself as an authentic learner of the arts and recognise the skills which will influence positive

David Kolb developed a learning theory that involves concrete concepts which learners process experience. Kolb’s theory is based on intentions that learning takes place through four linear cycles based on experience and the personal changes that occur throughout that experience. As Kolb (1984) states, “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (p. 38). Similar to other scholarly theories of learning, Kolb has many critics. I will discuss Kolb’s theory and summarize some of the critics to this theory. Also I will use Kolb’s theory and the critic’s comments to improve my approach to teaching.

Teaching and Learning consists of various different theories that educators may or may not feel applicable to their individual philosophy. There are bits and pieces of a variety of theories that many educators feel are important in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to explain the personal learning theory and how it is applied in a classroom. After an educator takes the time to research and do further learning by reading a variety of written books, the educator may or maynot change things in the classroom or focus on a different topic that they had not previously focused on in the past.

I selected Engaging the Adolescent Mind: Through Visual Problem Solving to analyze for its curricular components written by a veteran art educator named Ken Veith. Veith’s goal was to create a book for art educators to use as a resource to initiate visual problems skills and incorporate the importance of critique. Inspired by art theorist Elliot Eisner, Veith (2005) believes writing a curricula that transforms consciousness opens the door to the imagination and is necessary to inhabit an environment conducive for learning (2). Eisner argues a similar thought, the school should be the environment to create a culture to prepare students to use their imagination and explore the senses through art. Furthermore Eisner expresses, (2006) “A major aim of art education is to promote the child’s ability to develop his or her mind through the experience that the creation or perception of expressive form makes possible” (24). This form of consciousness allows the student to awaken an interest in the world around them. In other words, when teachers create a curriculum, which provide the opportunity and space for students to develop a visual language, they are nurturing the student’s mind (Blasco & Veith 2014; Eisner, 1996; Eisner, 2006).

There are several schools of thought on how art should be taught, if taught at all. Some artist believe that art cannot be taught and must come within while other artist believe that there is only one correct way to execute a project and that must be taught. Here we can look at two different approaches to this idea.

In the reading Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development by David Kolb (1984), he proposed that learning is a cycle process in which individuals learn through their own experiences in life. This notion of the learning cycle in which he was influenced by the ideas of three other theorists (Piaget, Dewey, and Lewinian) called it Experiential Learning Theory. Kolb’s theory was based on how people learned by imputing information and processing the information. Within this two abilities, there are four steps in which Kolb’s believe the learning process occurs. The first one he calls “concrete experience”, in which one actually does the learning right then and now. The second one is “reflective observation” when the learner thinks about what they did as a reflection of the experience. The next step is the “abstract conceptualization”, where the learner makes a generalization of the experience. The last step is “active experimentation”, where the learner puts to practice his/her understanding and adapts to it. The learner does this by taking all the first three steps of the learning cycle and seeing the results (pg. 30). Learning is a process in which individuals learn through trial and error. This process can then be reused with our prior experience to strengthen the outcome of our first experience. It is shaped as a cycle in the way we process information cognitively. This is how I understood of the reading on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.

Art as mere creative expression has been the dominant theme for much of the twentieth century. However, researchers have been finding connections between learning in the visual arts and the acquisition of knowledge and skills in other areas. Art like text can be used as a source to practice critical thinking. Art can also be used to teach children about culture, traditions, history and even social issues. The process of creating art contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of