DR. DHEERAJ MEHROTRA

Notion Press Old No. 38, New No. 6 McNichols Road, Chetpet Chennai - 600 031 First Published by Notion Press 2017 Copyright © Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra 2017 All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-947988-92-7 This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The Author of this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, statements, information, opinions and references [“Content”]. The Content of this book shall not constitute or be construed or deemed to reflect the opinion or expression of the Publisher or Editor. Neither the Publisher nor Editor endorse or approve the Content of this book or guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the Content published herein and do not make any representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose. The Publisher and Editor shall not be liable whatsoever for any errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause or claims for loss or damages of any kind, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of use, inability to use, or about the reliability, accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in this book.

Contents

Preface vii 1. What is Experiential Learning?

1

2. Ingredients of Experiential Learning

15

3. Teaching via Experiential Learning

21

4. The Activated Classrooms

29

5. The Ignited Learning

33

6. The Experiential Teaching Strategies

39

7. Experiential Learning Initiatives by Govt. of India

49

8. Teachers’ Pride & Survival Guide

55

9. Integrating NLP Towards Excellence via Experiential Learning 63 10. Experiential Learning Using the Power of Technology Integration in Academics

67

References

71

About the Author

73

Preface

Experiential Learning for Educators, defines the job of a teacher, an educator by means of learning to learn as a hobby rather than just being an occasional occurrence. Managing and teaching in a class School is a science more than an art. The Quality Arena today demands more of reflection rather than a perfection. The parents today are Smarter than the gone years and over and over again they pay emphasis on the Quality of Care and Supervision being guarded to their wards over the time. The same phase of business from the side of the promoter or the principal of the school has to see to the strength which otherwise would prove out to be a comparative analysis for the Parents, the ultimate customers to feed their value into the taste of the cake. The classroom scenario today demands more of an experiential experiences and story modes and real time fascinating teaching environments, unlike my or your years of learning as individuals. My 27 years of experience in the field of Education, now an Industry has targeted many evidences which brought forward my ignition to compile this as a book. I am thankful to Mr. Vishwas Parchure, a renowned Experiential Educator, for being my Quality Guru for this wonderful experience and Learning. I am sure the book, “Experiential Learning For Educators” shall certainly come out to be a great PRACTICING TOOL for the educationists further. I invite queries and comments on [email protected] – Dheeraj Mehrotra Lucknow, INDIA

1. What is Experiential Learning?

Learning is our fundamental right and it comes as an exercise to us ever since we are born. We tend to breath on our own, the very moment we come out of our mother’s womb. We learn to recognise things, people and develop our taste buds with time, all out of an experience. Experiential Learning is a method of education through a first hand experience. We explore more by doing rather than by listening about a concept or a theory. Our objective from Experiential Learning: ¾¾ To achieve better skills. ¾¾ To achieve greater knowledge. ¾¾ To achieve wider perception. The term experiential learning reflects participation of individuals out of their own experiences and sharing. It is the process of learning through experience and is more specifically defined as “Learning through reflection on doing.” It is a broad category for teaching methods and activities in particular which involve the learner in the learning process. Here the students are given the responsibility and the opportunity to learn by experience by themselves. The tests have revealed that EL

Experiential Learning for Educators

(Experiential Learning) provides an array of learning styles and gives the students hands on examples with a broader understanding of the concept in a physical environment. Here the four boundaries of the classroom have no value and majority of the learning happens under the sky and in nature. It entirely operates on the concept that learning is a process whereby knowledge is created through transformation of experience. It is really simple. It is not a BRAIN SURGERY! The very core of Experiential Learning is GAMING. This gaming is working with groups and enjoying the threats involved while working in groups. Engagement is the power of Gaining Experience. It is all about activity based learning activities. The “KUCH NAHI” syndrome at schools must need a change. “I Did not learn anything today!” must change. We as teachers need to encapsulate this dimension to the new role and let learning outcomes be recorded for a showcase as “KAIZEN” for the day. Our job as a facilitator is the state of learning too. This engages students in critical thinking, problem solving and decision making in contexts that are personally relevant to them. The concept of Experiential Learning was first developed by John Dewey and Jean Piaget among others. It was further made it popular by David A. Kolb and John Fry. ¾¾ This approach to learning also involves making or generating opportunities for debriefing and consolidation of ideas and skills through feedback, reflection and the application of the ideas and skills to new situations. There is a threat involved in working in groups and they include: ¾¾ Being productive all the time. 2

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

¾¾ Being Second! ¾¾ Being Compared. ¾¾ Dealing with the unknown ¾¾ Withdrawn ¾¾ Rigidity ¾¾ Success ¾¾ Failure ¾¾ Mistakes ¾¾ Low Competency ¾¾ Not understanding The very purpose of experiential learning is to learn from one’s: ¾¾ Mistakes ¾¾ Consequences ¾¾ Achievements “Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” What are the requisites for experiential learning? Accordingly, one has to have self-initiative and self-assessment. As William Glasser rightly says: 3

Experiential Learning for Educators

How we learn: 10% of what we READ 20% of what we HEAR 30% of what we SEE 50% of what we SEE AND HEAR 70% of what is DISCUSSED with OTHERS 80% of what is EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY 95% of what we TEACH TO SOME ONE ELSE. The above justifies the framework of learning and creates a dose for learning and exploring via classroom discussions and giving the pace to teach the colleagues at ease. Hence, Experiential Learning is the process of acquiring skills and expertise by doing things. Popularly, the experience should involve the student’s whole person, including the senses, personality and emotions. In addition, the previous knowledge on the subject matter should be acknowledge in particular to make it meaningful and result oriented. The statistics say and prove that 60 percent of the children are visual learners. To much to say, even in a California based study, it was observed that the children who attended the outdoor school programs significantly improved their science scores by 27 percent. Also the children who participate in an experiential learning based activity are more more likely to remember what they have been told and asked to explain. The objectives we have with implementation of EL in academics tend to have following framework: 4

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

a. To appreciate the value of student centered experiential learning. b. To analyse the elements of experiential learning. c. To develop guidelines for teaching through experiential approaches. d. To relate experiential learning to education for sustainable futures. In simple language towards understanding, the kolb’s cycle of experiential learning rightly fetches the learning capsule in order as follows: Active Experimentation  leading to Concrete Experience  Giving pace to Reflective Observation  Paving way to Abstract Conceptualization and the journey goes as an infinite routine of the all. Learning from mistakes is a priority for experiential learning initiatives in particular. Our Success & Failures Really make What we are! The experiential learning is a result of such incidences. The more we learn the more we earn. The core arena of EE is thinking out of the box is a necessity and not a luxury any longer. The process of EE involves the following trait of cycle: a. Experiencing the incident. b. Sharing the experience. c. Processing the learning. d. Generalizing the learning as a habit. e. Applying the learning as a process for the new phase of working. 5

Experiential Learning for Educators

The process repeats for itself as a continuous philosophy towards KAIZEN, the philosophy which deals with continuous improvement in particular. The quality here must be a hobby for any individual rather than an occasional occurrence. Keeping the pace of learning and learning to learn via experience, has to be risky to think out of the box. When the learner is ready the teacher will appear and therefore the most important element of the learner engagement has to be put in place, well before the learning session happens or begins. Henceforth, the learning cycle activates, wisdom towards the following structural format: Doing it  Leading to What (What happened, what are the results)  Activating into the resultant of So What (About what do these results imply, how did I influence the outcome) and further relate to  Now What? (Actively relating to What will I do differently next time)  leading to Again doing it. While being at a learning preface, one as a participant has to Intentionally go planned to death (Involvement). One has to kill himself to the process. One has to live with the project and live in the moment. Start as a WARRIOR and end up being a sage! The circle time activities is one of the most fascinating moments of learning for the group in Experiential Learning. We call it Quality Circle Activity in process.

Formation of Quality Circle ¾¾ Ideally a group is formed with 5 to 15 members in a group. Ideally 8 in number. ¾¾ The members are seated in a form of a circle. ¾¾ A leader and a deputy leader is appointed. 6

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

¾¾ A name of the circle is given by consensus. ¾¾ The problem is discussed with inputs from each using Brainstorming. ¾¾ The assignment of the project is solved using the given activity now. ¾¾ Note the learning out come and share in public for the other groups to learn.

Development of Experiential Learning Moment Education theorists who have influenced the Experiential Learning Theory include the following: a. John Dewey John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and an education reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reforms. He is also lauded as the “Modern Father of Experiential Education.” He is often seen as the proponent of learning by doing- rather than learning by passively receiving. He believed that each child was active.

The core concept of his theory on education was Continuity and Interaction. Continuity refers to how experiences, both past and present, influence the future and Interaction relates to how the current situation influences the experiences. He also suggested that one’s present experiences are a direct result of how their previous experiences interact with and influence their present situation. He once said, Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.

b. Kurt Lewin As a German- American psychologist, he developed the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change in the 1940s and it still holds a true story. The beauty of his 7

Experiential Learning for Educators defines the job of a teacher as a life long learner and as an educator using learning as a hobby rather than just being an occasional occurrence. Managing and teaching in a class or school is a science more than an art and is reflected using experiential form of learning. The Arena of Quality in education, today demands more reflection away from classrooms and through doing for self. The classroom scenario today demands more of an experiential experience and story modes and real-time fascinating teaching environments, unlike your or my years of learning as individuals. The book empowers learning by doing and encapsulates fun and framework based sharing of knowledge in particular.

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra is an Academic Evangelist with Next Education India Pvt. Ltd., an Author, a National Awardee, an educational innovator and Limca Book Record Holder & India Book Record Holder. An innovative practitioner of NEURO-Linguistic Programming with the highest degree of competence and skill from the American Board of NLP. He is also a former  school principal and has been serving  as an Educationist with over twenty-seven years of experience in the spectrum of teaching, implementation of Six Sigma in Education, Quality Circles in Education, TQM in Education, etc. He is also the Resource Person for Computer Science, Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC) and has published over forty-five books on Comp. Sc. for ICSE/ ISC/CBSE/State Boards. He has been awarded the National Teacher Award by the President of India, in the year 2005. He has also won the Best Science Teacher State Award by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and the Young Quality Leader Award by World Council For Total Quality and Excellence in Education, India Chapter. Dr. Mehrotra has been a TEDx Speaker of #TEDxSarjapuraRoad, Bangalore, India and was recently invited for the Leading Talk Show SRIJJAN, on Education by the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

Price 150