Experiential Learning Theory : Carl Rogers's Approach To Psychology

[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]

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

For my classroom, I think that is it important to create student experiences because they may not be able to do so in their home life. So, being able to expose students to different situations in the classroom will prepare them for future situations that they may encounter. This can be associated to “project based learning” (McTighe & Wiggins, 2012, p.30). While reading this article, it shows me that curriculum is what drives instruction. It is those teachable moments for students to see in the classroom that allows them to understand a subject matter. Then, they are able to use that moment to guide them in every way they need in order to successfully complete a task on their

One incident which appears to have had a particular impact on Carl Rogers was when working in his first job as a psychologist, at Rochester New York, for an organisation for the prevention of cruelty to children,

Kolb states that learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes but rather all learning is actually re-learning requiring the resolution of conflicts along with a holistic process of adaptation to the world. Learning results from synergetic transactions between the person and the environment, this is the process of creating knowledge (Kozak

Carl Rogers’ humanistic beliefs and his accomplishments are what made him prominent in the world of psychology. Carl Rogers was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois in 1902. He originally wanted to major in agriculture, but later shifted towards religion. Rogers spent two years at a liberal Protestant seminary in New York and then transferred to Columbia University Teacher’s College. He received his Master’s in 1928 and his P.h.D in clinical psychology in 1931. In 1930, he became the director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize the last year of his life. Part of Rogers' life was creating his own theories and analysis' of how his clients should be treated and respected. He created his own set of theories, known as the Nineteen Propositions, and widely popular client-centered therapy.

Carl Rogers was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs of Oak Park, Illinois. He was born to Walter Rogers and Julia Cushing and was the fourth out of six children. The environment that he had grew up in was both strict and religious. He had received his bachelor’s degree in 1924, his master’s in 1928, and a PhD in clinical psychology in 1931. He had began his professional career in child psychology in 1930 with a high position, as the director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. And had also lectured at the University of Rochester between 1935 and 1940. He had published a lot of works as well such as, The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child in 1939, Counseling and Psychotherapy in 1942, and more ( Carl Rogers).

Kolb, Da. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and development, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

As a learner, I connect best as an experiential cognitivist, therefore I am able to delineate the process of learning through experience and learning through reflection of doing. The experiential learning provides me focus so I may reflect on such hands on experience so I may gain conceptual insight with pragmatic expertise (Bates, 2015, p.1, para. 3.6.2).

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.