As most say, experience is the best teacher. Those who teach are often described as being good at what they do, are given their honors as an end result of the performance of their students. It’s a fact that most teachers aim at learning as opposed teaching even though their job is to teach. In other words, the crucial objective for teaching is to have a positive effect on learning. In a nutshell, we can infer that the best way to learn is simply by experience. This has been established by (Boud, Cohen and Walker 8) that both experience and learning go hand in hand and is extremely inseparable.
Kolb-the originator of experiential learning contends that “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb 38). Although this idea is not entirely acceptable by many of his critics who claim that Kolb has limited the learning condition to only that of knowledge achievement and experiential situations. (Beard and Wilson 2000). It is suitable to state that experience and learning has a strong connection and that the two are almost entirely interchangeable due to the effect of the two in change of behavior.
Learning in the working world has become certainly vital to most organizations due to the current nature of customers, employers, employees, and the business atmosphere that is being branded by both technological growth and competitive edge. It has advanced to an amount that certain organizations that may take it for granted lose ground pay for it. Those organizations are usually either put out of business or take copious amounts of loss in the market. It is suggested that organizations are indeed changing and that it takes active organizations that are able and willing to le...
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...ring in a classroom cannot do. Studying abroad is another great example. An individual can learn all they want about what a certain culture entails, but nothing beats going to a different country and experiencing that culture for yourself. Experiential learning is extremely beneficial and although there are many critics, it is vital to getting the full grasp of a particular experience. As the famous Chinese proverb goes, “tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” Getting the ball rolling in experiential learning proves extremely beneficial. The concept of this way of learning is proven to be very dynamic in both employee and educational learning and growth. As the world becomes induced with competition and innovation, experiential learning proves to be essential and an endeavor widely pursued in the upcoming future.
David Kolb published his learning styles theory, in 1984, after many years of development. His theory stated that people learn in two different steps, inputting information and processing information. How people do this is also different. Think of inputting information on a vertical line, one person may prefer concrete examples at the top and abstract concepts at the bottom. Processing information is on a horizontal line with active experimentation on the left and reflective observation on the right.
Teacher knowledge has always been the basis to an effective learning experience. Without a knowledgeable teacher, students are not able to receive a quality educational experience. This pillar encompasses the influence teachers have on student learning and achievement, possession of research based knowledge, and effective teaching practices. I thrive to be educated and knowledgeable on the information presented to my students. By having a variety of teaching techniques that work and I use often in my classroom, I am able to mold my instruction around student needs and provide efficient and
I believe that teaching and learning is both a science and an art, which requires the implementation of already determined rules. I see learning as the result of internal forces within the person student. I know that children differ in the way they learn and grow but I also know that all children can learn. Students’ increased understanding of their own experience is a legitimate form of knowledge. I will present my students with opportunities to develop the ability to meet personal knowledge.
What started out with futures planning at RDS has now become something much more. A major force behind the creation of a school of thought coined the learning organization; Royal Dutch Shell and U.S. Shell were successful in transforming themselves into competitive and effective enterprises. Their work is not done however, because the work of a learning organization is never done. It must continually improve and develop, and every employee in the company must commit to this, from the janitor to the CEO.
Stage 2 of Kolb’s 1984 four-stage Experiential Learning Model, involves reflective observation of an experience. The cycle treats reflection as an imperative part of learning. Upon reflection of the patient counselling scenario, I have realised that actually experiencing an event, rather than simply observing, has proven effective in my learning. This is supported by Bonwell and Eison (1991) who discuss how active learning is important in aiding student education.
Modern day organizations have to constantly change to meet the demands of customers. Workers have to change with the organizations to be able to perform new functions and complete new sophisticated tasks.
The learning organization is the opposite of the traditional organization. It believes that there is always a better way to do things, it listens to those who work within the company, utilizes a systems approach, is orientated towards people and ideas, prevents problems, quality and customer-service is essential, and accountability to the team is essential (Anderson, 2003). The lear...
Experiential Learning is a powerful form of learning. As stated by Lewis and Williams “In its simplest form, experiential learning means learning from experience or learning by doing. Experiential education first immerses learners in an experience and then encourages reflection about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes, or new ways of thinking.” (1994, p.5). Learning through experience is something that each one of us do in our daily lives, often on a subconscious level. Rather than reading, viewing or thinking of how to do something with experiential learning we can learn by doing. Traditional teaching or training may not always be the best way for all students in both the educational setting or corporate setting to learn. Often when you use reading a book, or listening to a lecture the
"Learning and knowing are integrally and inherently situated in the everyday world of human activity" (Wilson, 1993, p.71). Learning is situated in the context in which it is taught. In other words, the context in which something is learned is very important. The activity in which the learner is engaged in at the time of learning is also important (Griffin and Griffin, 1996, p.293). If the goal of a learner is to solve day-to-day life experiences, they must engage in such opportunities.
Upon entering the field of education, I am faced with many questions. Will the students like me? Will I have a large class? Will I be a good teacher? A few of the questions that definitely need to be answered before I enter the classroom, are what methods should I use to teach? What aspects of which methods will work best for me? What philosophy best exemplifies the way I want to bestow the learning process to my students? In my quest to become an elementary teacher I shall use a variety of aspects from past philosophers of education. As long as each child is learning, I feel that I am fulfilling my goal, and a difference is being made, I am on my way to a successful classroom.
An effective teacher will excite, inspire and motivate students to be active in their learning, investigate new areas of knowledge and make connections to future learning (Whitton et al 2010). When a teacher is successful, their students are motivated, mutually respectful and ready to build on their knowledge and solve real-world problems. To be a teacher of value, one must have many skills and qualities to cater for a diversity of learners and their individual development; this includes many personal traits that are noticed students.
Over the course of observations, I learned that there is no one way to do anything in teaching. After a few weeks of observing, I was relieved because I thought that I could stop worrying so much about doing the “right” thing with the students. I saw a successful teacher doing, or neglecting to do things that went against what I had been taught. I incorrectly assumed that the choices the teacher made about how to organize the day, approach a lesson, or manage the classroom were mostly a matter of personal preference and that several approaches would produce equally desirable results.
In order for learning to take place in the classroom the teacher has to put in place an effective teaching and learning strategy. Being an effective teacher is not something that can be achieved instantaneously but rather something that has to be continuously developed and improved upon over time. Petty mentions how good teachers are not born but rather make themselves and that effective teaching comes from learning from your mistakes and successes. Petty, p. 516, 2009. This process involves teacher reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of different teaching strategies used in the classroom. It is only then that teachers can learn and advance themselves.
My time observing was not only educational for me on how to become the teacher I desire to be, but as well as how to better myself as a student and improve my own learning. I observed some wonderful learning tools that I have since implemented into my own education to develop my own learning.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.