BY: DR. ANILKUMAR B.
To make use of the learning is to apply the learning, the last step of cognitive transfer. This assumes that the understanding is clear and the learning is deep enough to be used in practical, relevant, and meaningful ways…applied in purposeful ways, they take on a deeper level of meaning and become solidified”.
Bellanca et.al.
The goal behind all cognitive taxonomies is to prepare learners to be able to think and apply the knowledge and skills they developed during their learning to new contexts. Education must extend beyond achieving academic excellence and must result in thoughtful and socially responsible productive action, initiated by the learners as the outcome of the learning process. Every facilitator should accept the challenge of offering all learners the opportunity and the agency (authority) to choose to decide , act and reflect on the actions to bring a positive difference in the world.
The major challenge the facilitators confront is that every learner does not absorb the information in the same way, at the same speed and does not own the same level of comprehension. It is therefore worthwhile, to make wise choice of child centred holistic approach, a flexible and vibrant method which embraces all learners with diverse learning styles, enhances learning and yields meaningful results.
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”- Confucius
Experiential Learning or Project based Learning is a boon to the facilitators where the first and foremost beneficiary is the learner. Learning by Doing (Project based /Inquiry based) is more meaningful than assessments because it gives an opportunity to the learners to ponder, design and take responsibility to accomplish their ideas and goals set according to their capacity to produce something from their own creativity which makes learning joyful, productive and concrete. Experiential learning first immerses learners to experience the learning experiences and then encourages reflection about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes or new ways of thinking.
It is the learner’s environment—the home, the school and the community—that shapes the his/her cognitive experience. The facilitator’s role in this process is to create a conducive environment first that inspires learners and makes them confident to take responsibility for their own learning. First, the facilitator must be conscious and alert of the needs and interests and should be aware of the cultural and social contexts in which the learner lives and learns. The facilitator also needs to provide a secure learning environment in which the individual learner is valued and respected. This can be best achieved with the support of the parents. Parents must be involved as partners in learning, with a distinct role to play in supporting the school and their own children.
Next, the facilitators have a responsibility to enable the learners to choose the action carefully and ensure learners’ active participation in their own learning. Initially, the actions in which the learners engage may be chosen based on the needs of the school community and the local community grounded in learners’ concrete experiences that are most beneficial to them. Action selected by the learners does not need to be grandiose. On the contrary, they can begin at the most immediate and basic level: with the self, within the family, within the classroom and on the playground. This will encourage them to take voluntary role and involve in exercising their own initiative, anticipate consequences/results, and accept responsibility with confidence and forethought for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them and treasure and celebrate the outcomes of their commitment and service. They also develop personal commitment to service and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. Effective action is a demonstration of sense of ownership and responsibility and respect for self, others and the environment.
Learners understand what is significant and relevant and become more enduringly knowledgeable and skillful when the learning is authentic. They should have clarity of purpose with tasks they undertake. The facilitator should emphasize on active construction of meaning so that learners’ learning become purposeful. It is also important for all facilitators to foster and support the development of skills like creative and critical thinking, problem solving, conflict resolution, communication skills, social skills , self management skills, etc., that are necessary to work successfully both alone and in groups by providing opportunities embedded in authentic learning experiences.
Emotional involvement is another key factor in learner learning.Therefore, the facilitator should get learners emotionally involved first so that they become passionate about their topic of inquiry.The facilitator must take lead to facilitate the process of learners becoming the initiators rather than followers by creating opportunities for and supporting learner-initiated inquiries by initiating carefully thought-out provocations and open-ended questions for them to wonder at and be curious about and to stimulate purposeful play and also by inspiring learners to be inquisitive, explore and interact with the environment physically, socially and intellectually. Resources should be provided for each learner to become involved in self-initiated inquiry, in a manner appropriate to each learner’s capability, aptitude, skill and modalities of learning. Explicit learning outcomes and the learning process should also made transparent to the learners by the facilitator.
The facilitator should ensure that no child is left out. The facilitator should also ensure that each learner is engaged in purposeful endeavour and the learning activity is personally relevant to the child. In experiential learning, every learner is a self facilitator. Learning becomes practically easier, appropriate, joyful and productive when the knowledge constructed is related to every learners’ first-hand experience. The learning experiences are differentiated to accommodate the range of abilities and learning styles of the learners so that they actively enjoy learning and this love of learning is sustained throughout their lives. Actions that usually begin in a humble way may require parent and facilitator support initially in order to facilitate, appreciate and encourage learners’ efforts and to provide them with substitutes and choices. Adequate freedom is allowed to the learner to purse his/her research at one’s own pace. What seems to be important in this context is to train them to compete with one’s own self .In this process, the best out of them emerges and results in furthering self esteem and self dependence of the individual which would simultaneously facilitate empowerment of the learners.
In experiential learning, the learners manage their own learning, rather than being instructed what to do, how to do and when to do it. Learning may not be confined to the classroom, and there may be no prescribed textbooks. How a learner approaches a learning situation or a challenge is different from another learner, and what one learner takes away from an experience is also be different from others.Therefore, outcomes of the learning process will be varied and often unpredictable. Facilitators in an experiential classroom must consciously work hard to help learners overcome the stigma attached to mistakes and failures by actively celebrating them as opportunities for concrete learning. Making learners ready to face challenges lead to a situation where they retain more information and grow through their own process of self-discovery during the challenging learning process.
“To be truly educated, a learner must also make connections across the disciplines, discover ways to integrate the separate subjects, and ultimately relate what they learn to life.” – Boyer
Experiential learning differs completely from traditional academic instruction based on rote memorization of figures and facts. The facilitator must be well acquainted with inquiry based method based on transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning. Compartmentalized learning cannot reflect the real world/big picture of the theme of inquiry. Experiential activities must allow the learners to make connections between the learning they are doing and the world, i.e., to gain insight into themselves and their interactions with the world. The role of education is to enable the learner to unravel his/her latent strength to enable him/her to participate in social reconstruction meaningfully and productively as a world citizen and contribute productively to the world. Experiential learning represents an approach to teaching and learning that is broad and inclusive and accomodates a wide variety of teaching and learning strategies.It is driven by a spirit of inquiry and has a clear sense of purpose – Education for a better world. School-wide adoption of the experiential approach to learning requires substantial support from the whole school community- administrators, teachers and parents. This change process is definite to bring beneficial impact on the whole school and most significantly, on the quality of student learning. Students, parents and teachers are seen as partners in this journey united by a spirit of inquiry and a commitment to continuous improvement, working towards the common goal of providing every student with an education of the highest quality aimed at promoting international-mindedness.This holistic approach to learning will empower the learners to value their learning and take ownership for it and equip them to become be active inquirers and lifelong autonomous learners who will take responsibility to carve a better and peaceful world.
