EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Gillian's short reflection............
Introduction
As the name suggests, experiential
learning is the process that creates knowledge through the transformation of
experience (Kolb, David 1984. 26). Experience plays a critical role in the
learning process, which distinguishes it from other learning theories. The term
"experience" differentiates experiential learning from cognitive
learning theories, emphasizing cognitive over affect, and behavioral learning
theories that deny any role for subjective experience in the learning process (Kolb,
Richard, Charalambous, 2014, 3). Experiential learning originates in the experiential work of Dewey and Piaget (38).
Kolb goes ahead to use the work of Dewey
to substantiate his model. Though he does not present an alternative model, he
suggests a holistic, integrative perspective (combining experience perception,
cognition, and behavior. (Kolb, 1984, 21).
In his analysis of education, Dewey, John. 1997, in his book
Experience and Education argues that "humans organize thoughts and
ideas as Either -Ors between which it recognizes no intermediate possibilities."
(17). Analyzing both traditional and progressive education, Dewey suggests that
"neither the old nor new education is adequate and that each is
mis-educative because neither of them applies the principles of a carefully
developed philosophy of education" (21). Dewey (1997) advises that the rejection of traditional
education's philosophy and practice is not the way to go. After all, it sets a
new type of difficult educational problem for those who believe in the new kind
of knowledge; indeed, the departure from the old solves no problems (26).
Experiential
learning proceeds an assumption that ideas are not fixed and immutable and Kolb.
David (1984) argues that "elements of thought are formed and re-formed
through experiences. Therefore, learning is seen as "a process whereby
concepts are derived from and continuously modified by experience and not a
product/outcome" (27). Freire, Paulo.2000 describes this concept in the oppressed's pedagogy as the "banking concept," which conceives education as the transmission of fixed content (72).
Dewey (1997)
describes the continuity of experience as a "powerful truth of human
existence, central to the theory of learning" (35). He helps us appreciate
the interaction with the world, "which promotes an understanding and
provides a context rather than the traditional schools, which are an insular
environment" (36). Kolb (1984) similarly believes that the implications of
learning being a continuous process grounded in experience is that all learning
is relearning (28).
Kolb explains that "People have held beliefs whatever quality, and they have worked for them, so the role of an educator at this point is not only to implant new ideas but also to dispose of or modify old ones; this presents resistance to the new ideas, which conflict with old beliefs (29). It is essential to test and examine beliefs and theories people bring and then integrate the new, more refined ideas into the personal belief system; that way, the; learning process is facilitated." (29).
Learning by its very nature is therefore seen as a tension
and conflict-filled process.
Dewey
(1997) seems to see the dialects between the impulse that gives
ideas their "moving force" and the reason that offers desire its
direction (29). Freire, Paula. 2000 describes this dialect nature of learning
adaptation as a praxis – "reflection and action upon the world to
transform it" (84).
Kolb explains this holistic, adaptive process "provides
conceptual bridges across life situations such as school and work, portraying
learning as a continuous, life-long process" (33). "This process
includes adaptive activities that vary in their extension through time and
space" (34). Dewey (1997) calls for a need to have a "social learning
community that allows instructors to assess the students on a deeper level
because of outward freedom" (63). Students need time to make observations
of the world (63). Kolb agrees with Dewey and further argues that "unlike
the traditional educational process, which concludes that learning was a
personal, internal process requiring a limited environment of books, teachers,
and classrooms, learning involves transactions between the person and the "real-world."
environment" (34). They both agree that the transactional relationship between
the person and the atmosphere is symbolized in the dual meanings of the term "experience."
Kolb further argues that" 'transaction' is more
appropriate to describe the relationship between the person and the environment
than "interaction" as used by Dewey (36). interaction, he argues, "has
a connotation of somehow too mechanical, and involves unchanging separate
entities that become intertwined but retains their separate identities" (37).
Dewey's observation that the "experiential learning cycle was not a circle,
but a spiral" is very intriguing. He explains that learners go through
cycles of concrete experience, reflecting on the experience. "His comparison
of the progression in the learning experience to the advance of an army."
makes it simple to understand (56).
Traditional concepts suggest that the two processes (learning
and development) are relatively independent. Still, Kolb suggests that "learning
is a subordinate process not actively involved in development." Learning
is, thus, a "process whereby development occurs" (132). He continues to explain that the "Experiential
learning theory of development focuses on the transaction between internal
characteristics and external circumstances, between personal knowledge and
social knowledge" (133). One would agree further with Kolb that it is the
process of learning from experience that shapes and actualizes developmental
potentialities.
Kolb describes how "learning shapes
development by the level of integrative complexity in the four learning models:
affective complexity, perceptual complexity, symbolic complexity, and
behavioral complexity" (140). Dewey (1997) suggests that an "experience-based
model of education implies that the learner must find ways of integrating the
new concepts learned with ordinary life experiences" (75).
The educator's role in creating an educative experience then
must allow assimilation of the new concepts. (76). "The educator must
structure the materials studied in a manner that facilitates linked learning."
(80). The structure must acknowledge experience as a vehicle of learning (82).
Kolb (1984) emphasized the importance of "having
opportunities to reflect on the experience" (41). Cranton (2016), in her book Understanding
and promoting transformative learning, suggests that "although the
experience may, in itself, stimulate reflection, there are things that the
educators can do to help this process along." Cranton suggests, "Critical
discourse during and after the experience expressed through journaling or any
other format." She encourages critical questioning emphasizing any
discrepancies between people's perception of the experience and theoretical
positions. She further urges learners to brainstorm and share and compare other
related experiences, generating insights, thoughts, and feelings from
experience. Lastly, she encourages participants to develop plans for change in
their practice of personal life (116).
Conclusion
Cranton eloquently sums up the characteristics of
Experiential learning as follows. First, "it includes adaptation and
learning, as opposed to content and outcome" (26). It seeks further than
the product but the process. Second, the view of knowledge as a "transformation
process continuously created and recreated, not an independent entity to be
acquired or transmitted" (27). Third, that "learning transforms
experience in both its objective and subjective forms" (29). Finally, to
understand learning, he argues that "we must understand the nature of
knowledge, and vice-versa" (31).
He seems to analyze how
experiential learning occurs for individuals but not very specific on how one's
interaction with a group impacts learning.
Gillian Gathoni Mwaura
References
Cranton, Patricia. Understanding
and Promoting Transformative Learning: a Guide to Theory and Practice.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2016.
Dewey, John. Experience
and Education. New York: Touchstone, 1997.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy
of the Oppressed. New York, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2000.
Kolb, David A. Experiential
Learning: Experiences as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984.
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