THE WHAT AND WHY OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

Experiential education is a philosophy that utilizes many methodologies in which facilitators purposefully engage with the participant 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 and work environments.

The catalyst for the development of the adventure education movement was the development of Outward Bound by Kurt Hahn. Learning through doing was not developed to facilitate the mastery of academic content alone, but was oriented toward development of character and maturity (Russell & Hendee, 2000). It is often utilized in many disciplines and settings: Non-formal education, Place-based education, Project-based education, Active learning, Service learning and Cooperative learning.

SOME PRINCIPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL
EDUCATION PRACTICE ARE:

• Experiential learning occurs when carefully chosen experiences
are supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis.

• Experiences are structured to require the participant to take initiative,
make decisions and be accountable for results.

• Throughout the experiential learning process, the participant is actively
engaged in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious,
solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and constructing meaning.

• Participants are engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully and/or
physically. This involvement produces a perception that the learning task is authentic.

• Relationships are developed and nurtured: participant to self, participant to others
and participant to the world at large.

• The facilitator and participant may experience success, failure, adventure,
risk-taking and uncertainty, because the outcomes of experience cannot totally be predicted. The design of the learning experience includes the possibility to learn
from natural consequences, mistakes and successes.

• Opportunities are nurtured for participants and facilitators to explore and
examine their own values.

• The facilitator’s primary roles include setting suitable experiences, posing
problems, setting boundaries, supporting participants, insuring physical and emotional safety, and facilitating the learning process.