Experiential Learning Essay

Students engage in experiential learning and co-curricular activities that take abstract ideas and anchor them in real-life problems. (Coye 20 [9])

[3] Infed - (2010) David A. Kolb on experiential learning [Online] Available from: http://infed.org/mobi/david-a-kolb-on-experiential-learning/ [12/01/15]

Using experience as a catalyst of learning is almost as old as learning itself. Experience-based learning is how mankind started learning from his most primitive position (Hansen 23). Essentially, experiences taught early human survival techniques which allowed them to grow and develop into more complicated societies with vaster amounts of knowledge to understand and utilize. However, "in the formal education system, it has tended to be developed and regarded as somehow fundamentally inferior to those organized forms of knowledge which have been constructed as subjects or disciplines" (Hansen 24). Past decades

When you picture a classroom, what do you think of? You more than likely picture a chalkboard, desks for all the students and teacher. A new way of teaching has developed that removes students from the stereotypical environment and places they in a new and engaging environment. This is experiential education.

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)

Another of my teaching methods delivered is by way of ‘on the job’ training which allows me to assess their progress, explore their knowledge and skill by observing and questioning their processes. This method of teaching falls in with Kolbs (1984) four stage experiential learning cycle.

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

To do this, you always find other ways of doing things based on our must think of a particular moment in time, ponder over it, learning from previous experiences. We will go back through it and only then will you gain new insights into different aspects of that situation. According to Kolb Building up experience is a gradual process. The student (1984) reflecting is an essential element of learning. This is will develop reflective abilities during the course of their shown through an experiential learning cycle illustrated learning on placement.

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.

Learning is unique to each individual. Some students learn well in a structured group setting. There are visual, auditory, and hands on learners. Others find it easier to learn with one on one instruction some are capable of teaching themselves like Fredrick Douglas. An ideal educational experience would incorporate the various procedures highlighted in the video “Unschooling: the new class of learning”. These learning methods include those of Dale J. Stephens, a student who started a self-directed school and Arno Stern an educated researcher who “created a space for children to play and paint without restraint, without goal, and without competition”.

Many people in history, as well as my mentors, have influenced my personal learning philosophy about early childhood learning.

Students are placed in the responsibility of their own learning and understanding while the teachers encourage students to be more independent and more exploratory. The teachers will foster a sense of autonomy in the learning process as they act as a source of experiences. In addition, as the students watch their teacher makes mistakes, they will learn those failures are part of the learning process. The students will soon realize that mistakes are natural in life and it will serve as stepping stones to

Although this limitation can become a barrier for the experiential learning theory Rogers’ developed, it is possible for this to overcome this with patience. As the main purpose of this theory is to allow personal growth within the student, we must note that personal growth appears differently for each individual learner. The role of the facilitator is to help engage all types of students in self-motivated learning to help them improve their overall growth from significant information.

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.

Learning is best for students whenever their teacher applies emotion, gives them the requisite support and challenges them. It is through such process that students gain in-depth learning and thus discover their values, abilities, passions as well as responsibilities in learning situations that provide adventure. In most school lessons, students undertake tasks that require them to use their creativity, self-discipline and craftsmanship. It is thus the work of the teacher to assist the students discover their hidden abilities and overcome their fears in applying their knowledge to classroom and job problems through in-depth teaching practice.