experiential learning at the school level

[meenaks...@gmail.com]

hi everyone, iam more and more convinced about the necessity of schools
to develop a curriculam based on experiential learning--any ideas!

[James Neill - Wilderdom]

hi meenakshi

i suspect this small group would be happy to share ideas on this topic
of experiential curricula in schools.

there have been lots of interesting attempts over the years and we
could have an interesting conversation about one's we know of, the
ideas behind them & the practical realities - past, present, and future

could you give us more information about your specific interests/needs?

sincerely,
james

[meenaks...@gmail.com]

Hi James,
Thanks for responding.I would like to know of some
activities/games in decision making and problem solving/conflict
management, in the context of teaching History to students of the
middle and high school.Also inputs on the role of a teacher in
experiential learning .Can you help?
Regards,
Meenakshi

[seguin...@gmail.com]

Hi Meenakshi,

Great conversation!

In experiential learning, I see the teacher as taking on the role of
"guide" or "facilitator". Her pre-experience role becomes to create
the context in which the learning can take place. During the exercise,
she facilitates the process but not the content. In her
post-experience role, she is to help students integrate their learning,
therefore help students "process" the expereince through guiding
questions that help them reflect on and making meaning of the
experience.

In terms of experience-based activities in History, might there be a
way of creating "simulations" or "role-plays" of great battles or
treaties that the students can live in small groups (as they they are
playing out the roles of the opposing forces). Then they would be ask
to reflect on their experience, which conflict styles they used
(forcing, problem-solving, accomodating, compromising, avoiding) asked
to discuss why the chosen style worked or not, and when the style would
be most appropriate. This could be linked to problem-sovling as well.

Hey, to kick it off, the whole could be researched by the students
where they actually have to come up with which scenarios to play out.
You could do a little teach piece on the different conflict styles to
(see Thomas-Kilman model for conflict styles).

Any hoots, this was off the top of my head, so hope you find a little
something helpful in there.

Take care,
Dan

[vidyu...@gmail.com]

This is fine, but how does it help them learn history? Their
perceptions may not lead them to identify with actual events from
history, or even great decisions. Sure, some perspective might be good,
but any ideas for a way of getting them to absorb and identify stuff
that does not necessarily operate on a level they associate with?

[seguin...@gmail.com]

Great question. As I see it, this is where the teacher as guide and
facilitator comes in. Part of the role is to have "guiding questions"
for the students that help them get on track to finding the relevant
information. Though experiential, it doesn't become a laissez-faire
classroom, but a guided learning experience.

Another idea I had, depending on how much technology you have in class,
could be to get students to present special topics to each other. In
groups, they choose a topic of interest, do the research on the topic,
create some PowerPoint slides they will use to engage the rest of the
class, setup some sort of small evaluation piece, and present to the
class. Part of this could be that each group needs to develop their
OWN experiential piece to their presentation... Just a thought!

[michael...@cms.k12.nc.us]

This is a topic of great interest to me. I am currently a special
education administrator and have been for the past 10 years. Prior to
that I taught special education and had a class and provided
instruction based on experiential education principles: student
choice, student involvement, thematic-based curriculum, learning
experiences with socratic discussions, etc. I thought it was a very
effective way to teach students and the various components were all
supported by school reform research. Students loved the class
structure and made some very significant improvements.

As I entered administration I have watched various "packaged programs"
come down the pike with most falling victim to the No Child Left Behind
teach to the test expectations. Creativity on the part of the teacher
and students has faltered and motiviation and morale on everyone's part
has nosedived everywhere. It seems that the quest to implement a
system for "true education" has been effectively squelched. Alternative
schools lin traditional school districts often look more like academic
and behavioral bootcamps than really doing something different to meet
the different needs of students. The NCLB Act may have resulted in
higher test scores, but has it done anything to improve actual
education????

I am currently working on a way to tie all the pieces of an
Experiential Based Learning Environment together as a way for a teacher
or school to fully "transform" their programs to meet various student
needs. It will though take a lot of time, writing, research and work.
I firmly believe that it can be done. I have done one presentation of
my beliefs and a draft of the program at a regional Association of
Experiential Education conference and hope to do so at the national
conference in November. I would be glad to discuss this concept or
your ideas further!

MRM

[meenaks...@gmail.com]

Hi Michael,
Would love to know more about experiential learning
from your point of view.Also how would you connect experiential
learning to transformational leadership?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Meenakshi Myer

[michael...@cms.k12.nc.us]

Meenakshi,

I see Experiential Ed (EE) as being much more than a individual or set
of activities for a teacher to use in a classroom to teach a particular
skill or concept (i.e, hands-on science activities). I see EE as
existing as an educational philosophy which can be implemented through
a unique learning environment in a classroom. The first step of course
would be in getting the classroom teacher to see the value in having an
EE focused classroom through: 1.) Studying the philosphy and writings
of Dewey, Kolb, Lewin, Piaget and others, 2.) Seeing how in public
schools that the concept of "knowledge is power" is really a fallacy as
"power is knowledge" is the real basis for public education (and how
damaging that approach has grown to be) and 3.) Coming to fully
understand the experience to learning connection and how crucial it is
to have experience as the basis for everything that occurs in the
classroom.

The next step is putting that philosophy into practice in not some
small, isolated, occasional "teachable moment" kind of activity, but by
weaving EE philosophy into lesson planning, classroom organization,
learning activities, teaching strategies and so on. This integration
of philosophy and practice would occur through the use of teaching
students to make appropriate choices about their own learning and
behaviors, seminar teaching, experiential activities, integrated
curriculum, independent learning centers, mnemonics, student-developed
materials and similar such activities. The true basis of the
foundational writings in EE is that the learner constructs their own
learning and/or determines their own ways and methods of learning. The
teacher becomes a "coach" of sorts who guides the whole learning
process. If the teacher is skillful, they can use the above strategies
to "manipulate", (which is not the best word to use as it denotes
unintentional negative connotations) the educational environment and
parameters around student choice to ensure that the requirements of the
state mandated curriculum are met. Student motivation increases, fun
in teaching and learning improves, and retention of the curriculum is
stronger.

This is an overview of how I see EE in the public school setting. As
stated in another post, I am working to somehow pull all of this
together in a clear, concise program which teachers can access and
learn how to use EE to transform their careers and their classrooms.

I haven't thought much about how to apply this to transformational
leadership as that is an area outside of my current expertise and
interest. I think it is a good discussion to start though.

MRM