by Daniel Cape

Many people, including some practitioners, find it difficult to explain experiential education in a few short sentences. This may be due to the various applications or diverse methodologies that can be used in experiential education. It is most often and most easily described as "learning by doing". This is not entirely true, nor is it entirely false. Much of the learning in experiential education is done through the act of "doing" on the part of the student. To further explain experiential education, one might go so far as to say it is a process. The learner is actively engaged in the process, seeking out the information, connecting it and making it relevant to one's life. The Association of Experiential Education (AEE.org) defines experiential education as: "a philosophy that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people's capacity to contribute to their communities."

Another way to define experiential education might be to explain what it is not. Experiential education is not traditional education, as most people are accustomed to. Traditional education is also a process. It begins with the teacher being the main source of information from which the student, for the most part passively, receives information that she is required to learn. There may be discussions and debates, worksheets, problems to solve, projects, and readings to supplement and reinforce the learning. After a determined amount of time a test is given to gauge the individual's ability to retain the information. The end product is an assigned grade that demonstrates the student's efforts and ability to memorize the subject material. In the future, the information may be revisited, or expounded upon. One can easily see the lack of real world application in traditional education.

Let us return to the initial statement of experiential education being defined as "learning by doing". The "doing" piece is inherently present throughout experiential learning process. This process, simply put, can be described as: problem, plan, test, and reflect. The teacher, or rather advisor, guides the student through the process. This is by no means a linear process. Student involvement in the process will look different depending on the learning environment, emotional maturity of the student, student motivation, and a number of other factors.

To begin, the "problem" is the knowledge the student is seeking to gain. This could be anything from an eighth grade state history standard to acquiring the self esteem needed to live a healthy lifestyle. A student in an academic setting will typically have a clearer understanding of the problem than a student in a therapeutic or wilderness program. For example, a student in an academic setting will know she must study some form of geology in order to satisfy a twelfth grade science credit assigned by the state. On the other hand, a student in a therapeutic setting is there for a less explicit reason. She may initially believe the problem is acting out in negative manner. Through experience and investigation, the student could come to realize any number of underlying problems that are the cause of her behaviors.

Next, is the "plan" phase of the process. This phase may require careful consideration on both the student's and advisor's parts on understanding how the "problem" will be solved. The student should understand where the problem originated, and begin considering possible favorable outcomes. The student, however, might not even be fully invested in the fact that a "problem" exists at this point. It is the advisor's responsibility to guide the student through the journey. One may use leading questions such as, "what do you hope to gain from the experience?", "where can you find the information about the topic?", "What problems do you foresee while pursuing this knowledge?" At this point the student may be ready to "test" the "plan", or may need to reevaluate the underlying "problem".

The "test" phase is where the student puts into action what she has been "planning". This may look like an internship, research on invasive species of Prince Williams Sound, backpacking with ten strangers through the Appalachian Mountains, a Socratic style discussion with a group, or challenging herself to complete the Giant's Ladder with a trustworthy friend on a high ropes course. The student is actively seeking, organizing, and presenting information. The advisor is assisting the student in the discovery process, keeping the student on track and bringing clarity to the learning that is happening. Again, since the experiential learning process is not linear, the student may be required to return to the "problem" or "plan" phase.

Finally, the student enters what is arguably the most crucial phase of experiential learning, "reflect". At this point the student has presumably undergone an extensive learning process that has provided her with new experiences and knowledge. Here, the student must answer some of the toughest questions yet. Not only will the student be required to explain what she has learned, but what has changed within her, what will she do with the information, how does this information affect others, and "now what"? Reflection requires one to make sense of knowledge, experience, and life. The student internalizes the process, and carries it forward with understanding that can only be gained from experience. Sometimes after long meaningful reflection, despite the student's most formidable arguments, she may need to revisit the "problem".

Where traditional education has the teacher as the main source of knowledge, and requires the student to memorize information in order to be successful at testing; experiential education allows the student to own the learning process, actively seek out the knowledge, and reflect on the experience as a whole in order to internalize what has been learned. One could argue that experiential education is a greater teacher of real world experience and better prepares the student for lifelong learning. Experiential education has numerous applications, most notably that of outdoor education, where the student is provided a plethora of experiences to challenge herself and test her views about the world. Other examples include project based learning, internships, service learning, international travel programs, independence transition programs, place based learning, and team building and leadership development.

Further reading about experiential education can be found at: AEE.org and wilderdom.com/experiential/

About the Association for Experiential Education: The Association for Experiential Education (AEE) exists to connect a global community of educators and practitioners and expand their capacity to enrich lives through Experiential Education. For more information, explore
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