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Education is not preparation for life; Education is the life itself. John Dewey

 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.

Kolb, David A., Richard E. Boyatzis, and Charalampos Mainemelis. "Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions." Perspectives on Thinking, 

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