Experiential Education and its Potential as a Vehicle for Social Change

Mary Breunig
Lecturer
School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
E-mail: mbreunig@lakeheadu.ca

At the most recent annual conference of the Association for Experiential Education (AEE), I was struck by the number of conference workshops and conversations that addressed the topic of experiential education and its potential as a vehicle for social change. As a result of this recent experience, I felt impelled to revisit the philosophical roots of experiential education as a means to remind myself of why it is that experiential education has identified social change as one of the intended aims of its practice. My discussion of both the philosophy of experiential education and its modern day principles and practices will reveal that experiential education is rooted in the educational ideal of social change. One of the limitations of this paper, however, is that it will provide only an overview of some of these principles and practices. The purpose of this overview is, in essence, for the reader to review and then independently examine how well experiential educators are doing at fulfilling the intended aim of social change.

There are numerous published definitions of experiential education (Joplin, 1981; Luckmann, 1996; Itin, 1999). For the purpose of this paper, I will use the definition of the Association for Experiential Education. According to AEE (2004), experiential education is both a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values. Central to this definition is the distinction between experiential education as methodology and experiential education as philosophy. This distinction suggests that there is a difference between experiential learning and experiential education.

Clifford Knapp, a prominent experiential educator, helps to highlight the difference between experiential learning and experiential education. Knapp (1992) explains that experiential learning consists of four distinct segments: "(a) active student involvement in a meaningful and challenging experience, (b) reflection upon the experience individually and in a group, (c) the development of new knowledge about the world, and (d) application of this knowledge to a new situation" (pp. 36-37). The experiential learning cycle in Figure 1 helps to illustrate this:

This cycle helps illustrate how experience, reflection, new knowledge, and application can be employed as a way of teaching experientially. Many experiential educational initiatives are based on this learning cycle but do not prescribe an intended learning outcome or aim. In essence, employing the experiential learning cycle without an intended educational aim represents experiential learning as methodology, implying that there is a certain way of teaching that makes the learning experiential.

Experiential education as philosophy employs both methodology (experiential way of teaching) and philosophy as part of the educative process. Experiential education as philosophy implies that there is an intended aim toward which the experiential learning process is directed. In essence, what I was observing at the AEE conference, what I have been reading in research on experiential education (Itin, 1999), and what I have observed in experiential education curriculum is that one intended aim of experiential education is its potential as a vehicle for social change.

The Roots of Experiential Education

In this section I will examine the historical and philosophical roots of experiential education as a means of identifying how and why experiential education is regarded today as having potential to be a vehicle for social change.

Experiential learning represents one of the earliest forms of education in the Western world. In fact, examples of experience-based learning are found in some of the earliest forms of teaching, including learning being passed through storytelling and oral tradition. However, with the advent of the printing press in 1470 and the economic changes resulting from the industrial revolution, the idea of providing a universal and compulsory system of education at the state's expense was born. The first state public school began in Europe in the late 1660s by an order requiring student attendance (Good & Teller, 1969). The result of this was an educational trend that supported a socially efficient means of educating young people to prepare them to enter a work force that was rapidly changing and evolving. More students in schools meant that more efficient means of transmitting knowledge were required. School curriculum became an assembly line by which economically and socially useful citizens would be produced (Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery, & Taubman, 2002) en masse. Social utility was the sole means by which school curriculum would be judged.

Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

In reaction to this "traditional" and socially efficient approach to teaching and learning, an educational project that focused on the learner himself and the development of the student's character was also gaining momentum. At the forefront of this educational initiative was the German philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart. Herbart was influenced by the Italian educator Pestalozzi, who believed that students were inherently "good" and should be governed by the principle of love and not fear. Herbart suggested that school curriculum should be developed in accord with the following principles: 1) preparation: the teacher should consider students' previous learning experiences; 2) presentation: the learning materials are outlined; 3) association: new information is compared with what is already known by the student(s); 4) generalization: rules and general principles are derived from new information; and 5) application: generalizations are applied in practice (Herbart, 1895). The similarities between Herbart's five learning principles and Knapp's (1992) experiential learning cycle in figure 1 are remarkable. Herbart's first principle, that the teacher should consider students' previous learning experience, provided the child-centered advocates with further endorsement of the importance of this. In On The Education of Man, Froebel (1826) purported that play was the best method for both learning and development.

William James (1842-1910)

The importance of concrete experience led to the development of pragmatism, which represents both a method for analyzing philosophical problems and a theory of meaning that turns away from abstraction toward concrete facts and actions. Charles Sanders Pierce is considered the founder of pragmatism. He and fellow pragmatic William James concluded that humans generate belief through their "habits of action." Ideas and truths are developed through experience (Noddings, 1995). James considered pragmatism to be both a method for analyzing philosophic problems and a theory of truth. Theories, he felt, are "instruments" that humans use to solve problems and should be judged in terms of their practical consequences for human conduct.

Colonel Francis Parker (1837-1902) and John Dewey (1859-1952)

Colonel Francis Parker, who many regard as the father of progressive education, used the pragmatic educational ideals to argue the case of child-centered curriculum reform. In what became known as the "'Quincy system,' children learned to read, write, spell, and think simultaneously" (Pinar, et al., 2002). Progressive education was inaugurated in Quincy, Massachusetts with Parker's work (Pinar, et al., 2002). A more well-known progressivist, and colleague of Francis Parker, is John Dewey, who is often regarded as one of the "founders" of experiential education. Dewey believed that the child's experience must form the basis of the school curriculum. He believed that subject matter should not be learned in isolation, maintaining the importance of acquainting students and teachers with the conditions of the local community (physical, historical, economic and occupational) in order to utilize them as educational resources. Dewey believed that the main aim of education was the preparation of individuals to participate in social change (Dewey, 1938).

Dewey's theoretical principles were formulated into a practical application with Kilpatrick's "project method." A project was "a wholehearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment" (Kilpatrick, 1918). Students should practice all four aspects of any given project, including purposing, planning, executing, and judging. For Kilpatrick, the "project method" became an organizing principle of the curriculum. He conceived of the curriculum as "a series of experiences in which by guided induction the child makes his own formulation. Then they are his to use" (Kilpatrick, 1925). For both Dewey and Kilpatrick, student experience alone was not enough. Experiences needed to be formulated based on both previous experience and the intended outcome of the present experience. Dewey (1938) referred to this as continuity of experience. He further argued that an experience was genuine only when it met the above criteria of continuity and was purposeful and directed toward some intentional end. It is clear that the early work of the progressivists laid the groundwork for our present day understanding of experiential education and the importance of education as a means for social change.

Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner

Many school reform efforts were also influenced by progressivism. Numerous educators brought the progressive ideals of experience-based teaching and learning into the classroom. Maria Montessori (The Montessori Method) and Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf School), in particular, deserve mention. Reports of Montessori's success made her teaching methods look to be the most rapid route to fundamental reform. According to Montessori, the aim in education is two-fold: biological and social. From the biological side the goal is to help the natural development of the individual; from the social standpoint the aim is to prepare the individual for the environment. Discipline, reflection, muscular education, nature in education, education of the senses and the intellect were all important aspects of schooling (Montessori, 1974).

The basic premise of the Waldorf School is that reconstruction of society must begin at school, and education could develop new understanding and human values appropriate for the times. Waldorf schools, acting upon the insights of Steiner, use a curriculum and methodology that fit the child's various stages of development. Another fundamental insight Steiner brought to education was the intimate relationship between the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual in the human being. In September, 1919, the first Waldorf School opened its doors, and the first North American school was founded in New York City in 1928 (Toronto Waldorf School, 1972).

The pragmatic and progressive philosophers and educators helped establish the foundation for some of the early attempts at implementing experiential education in the K-12 school system:

Early Experiential Education Initiatives in K-12 Schools

It is hard to say when and where experiential education formally entered the North American school system. This section explores some of the ways in which the above progressive principles influenced the early experiential education initiatives in schools, including: folk schools, Quaker schools, the organized camping movement, Outward Bound, K-12 public school initiatives, and outdoor and environmental education centers. It will provide a brief overview of each of these programs as a means to explore the ways in which K-12 experiential school-based initiatives have built upon the educational ideals of the progressivsts.

Folks Schools and Quaker Schools

In the United States a number of folk schools were established by Danish-Americans. These schools were particularly attractive to progressives wanting to bring together economic, political, and educational experiences (Kett, 1994). The main mandate of these schools was for people to not only obtain knowledge that was practical, but to obtain the sorts of values that would prepare them to be good citizens.

In 1786, Friends Seminary opened in New York City. Quaker education grew out of the belief that "if Friends were to be useful members of society, Quaker schools were needed to teach both basic subjects and the particular viewpoint toward life by which Friends try to live" (New York Yearly Meeting, 1974). Education should include not only those things that are practical but also those things that make students good citizens and participants in society. It is believed that the "[t]hree R's of reading, writing, and arithmetic should be taught as deliberately as material that educates to the purposes of imagination, reflection, and intuition. A Friends school should so educate experientially that the word and life become one" (Heath, 1979). Experiential education in both folk schools and Quaker schools was reflected in the curricular emphasis on physical activity, hands-on learning experiences that were both useful and practical, and wilderness trip experiences. The intended aim of these experiences was to prepare people to be good citizens and to participate in society, helping to bring about the world that "ought to be" (New York Yearly Meeting, 1974).

Adventure Education and the Organized Camping Movement

One means by which experiential education entered the modern day K-12 school system was through adventure education. The purpose of adventure education is to bring about an awareness of positive changes in individuals through an outdoor or adventure activity (Priest, 1999). Activities may include: hiking, ropes courses, rock-climbing, skiing, snowshoes, and camping. The organized camping movement served as a model for the development of many K-12 school programs: "Educators began teaching through expeditions, camping and challenge activities in North America as early as 1861 within the organized camping movement" (Raiola & O'Keefe, 1999). YMCA Camp Pinecrest, near Toronto, is one of the oldest youth camps in North America: "Established in the early 1900s, Pinecrest focused on outdoor living skills, environmental education, cultural diversity, and leadership development. The mission of the camp is to offer opportunities for personal growth and service to others" (Hirsch, 1999).

K-12 schools began to adopt the wilderness trip model used by camps as early as the late 1800s. At the Gunnery School in Connecticut, the whole school went on a two-week, 40-mile journey at the end of the school year. Laura Mattoon was one of many activists in the early twentieth-century concerned with the instruction and personal growth of young women. She led an expedition in the summer of 1902 to the New Hampshire wilderness with her private girls' school students, integrating the outdoor experience with geological field studies (Raiola & O'Keefe, 1999).

Outward Bound

In 1941, Kurt Hahn established Outward Bound (OB), which represents another example of the application of adventure education in the K-12 school environment. Outward Bound, along with Hahn's other educational initiatives--Gordunston School, United World Colleges, Salem Schule, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme--were all based on the notion that educating youth for the purpose of building moral character was just as important as training the intellect.

The founding of OB was a reaction to the fact that many young British men were dying in lifeboats during World War II. Hahn believed that "character" could be taught to these young men, and character development was what was needed for young people to withstand the harsh and close-quartered living conditions on the lifeboats. According to James (1995), "Twenty-one years later, the founders of the Colorado OB School raised similar concerns about the character of Americans." The young in America were seen to be increasingly apathetic and self-centered. The purposes of the OB school were to use the mountains as a classroom to produce "better" people, to build character, and to instill a collective spirit into a group of individuals.

Project Adventure and Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound

As principal of Hamilton-Wenham Junior-Senior High School in Massachusetts in 1970, Jerry Pieh and colleague Gary Baker were interested in how to "mainstream" the OB process into a secondary public school setting. They called this new program Project Adventure (PA). Pieh's goal was to have the OB process become a part of the standard high-school curriculum. The largest component of the initial program was focused on tenth-grade physical education, but English, history, science, theater, and counseling were also explored in the context of what came to be known as "adventure activities" (Prouty, 1999). Project Adventure represents a successful attempt to bring adventure education into the classroom as an integrated, experience-based approach to teaching academic curricula.

Outward Bound further developed its K-12 school-based initiatives with the introduction of the Expeditionary Learning OB program, which represents a proven model for comprehensive school reform for elementary, middle and high schools. It is based on the following ten design principles: 1) the primacy of self-discovery; 2) the having of wonderful ideas; 3) the responsibility for learning; 4) intimacy and caring; 5) success and failure; 6) collaboration and competition; 7) diversity and inclusivity; 8) the natural world; 9) solitude and reflection, and; 10) service and compassion (Cousins, 1998). Expeditionary Learning OB was founded in 1992 and currently operates within more than sixty schools throughout the United States. It emphasizes learning by doing, with a particular emphasis on character growth, teamwork, and literacy. It connects academic learning to adventure and service. It teaches educators how to teach traditional academic curricula (reading, writing, science, and math) through a challenging set of real world projects called learning expeditions.

Integrated Programs

While experiential education exists in a variety of forms within the K-12 school system, Project Adventure and Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound represent just two examples of an integrated approach.

There are a number of integrated programs that exist in Canadian schools. Ontario has a growing number of integrated environmental studies programs at the secondary level, and in 2000 there were approximately 30 of these in existence (Russell & Burton, 2000). Students in an integrated program spend the full day with one group of peers and one or two teachers for the semester. Four or five academic subjects are grouped together and taught by those teachers that have expertise within that particular area of study.

Outdoor and Environmental Education Centers

In addition to more "traditional" K-12 school settings and adventure-based programs, outdoor and environmental education centers represent another setting in which experiential education is employed. These centers are often funded by both state and provincial school boards. A visit to an outdoor center integrates students' classroom learning in science, math, social sciences and health and physical education with an outdoor experience (Henderson & Potter, 2001). These centers offer traditional outdoor activities and environmental programs as well as project-based work that integrates academic curricula with outdoor activities.

Many school programs offer adventure-based experiences as extra-curricular or "add on" activities: field trips, community service projects, wilderness trips, or even a trip to a city museum that have little or no link to academic curricula. Many outdoor clubs exist within the K-12 public school system, providing camping and outing experiences during non-school hours or holiday breaks. Some schools offer adventure-based experiences as part of the physical education curriculum (Breunig, 2001).

Many of these K-12 school-based initiatives are based on the principles of progressive education and "act upon" the ideal that experiential education is both methodology and philosophy. In essence, the ideal would be that the outdoor and experiential activities are the means. The intended educational aim of these initiatives would follow the pragmatic and progressive ideals of social change, preparation for citizenship, an ethic of service, and/or character development. The query that needs to be addressed here is: how successful are the present day K-12 experiential education initiatives at identifying an educational "end" and at achieving that intended "end"? Is the aim of experiential education as a means for social change being achieved as a result of these K-12 educational initiatives? Are these initiatives staying "true" to their philosophical roots? Are programs employing experiential education as both methodology and philosophy or are K-12 initiatives employing experiential learning and outdoor activities as the sole "ends" of their programs? I don't have answers to these questions, but they are important ones to ask as part of an examination of experiential education as a potential vehicle for social change.

Higher Education

This section provides an overview of some of the experiential settings and many of the principles and practices of experiential education involved in higher education. It serves as a reminder of the variety of contexts that comprise experiential education practice. It will be up to the reader to consider in what ways these contexts fulfill the intended aim of experiential education as a vehicle for social change. Hopefully, the reader will feel impelled to examine the educational aim of his/her own practice as a result of this overview.

L.B. Sharp was one of the early pioneers of camping education and the first person to receive a doctorate in camping education from Columbia University in 1929 (Raiola & O'Keefe, 1999). The Chicago School, Teachers College at Columbia University, and the Laboratory School of the University of Missouri were some of the earliest experience-based colleges and universities, influenced by Dewey and other progressivists. The curriculum for these schools was focused on primitive life activities, domestic occupation, nature study, and construction work. Reading and writing were closely related to these activities and arithmetic was connected with the activities as far as seemed feasible (Good & Teller, 1969).

In a meeting that led to the development of the Association for Experiential Education in 1974, a large number of conference participants were professionals from colleges and universities (Miner & Boldt, 1981). According to Michael Gass of the University of New Hampshire, however, most existing university programs have not developed through a general need perceived by higher education professionals, but rather through the self-designed efforts of one or two individuals at a particular institution (Gass, 1999). The applications of adventure programs in higher education are varied: student orientation, student development, residential life training programs, physical education activity classes, outing clubs, and to a lesser extent to enhance academic curricula.

There are also a growing number of degree-granting programs that award both undergraduate and graduate degrees for outdoor education and recreation (University of Minnesota, State University of New York-Cortland, Lakehead University, University of New Hampshire) and experiential education (Prescott College, Minnesota State University-Mankato), to give a few examples. Adventure programs in higher education have just begun to receive external professional acceptance and perhaps this is an area that represents the greatest growth potential within the industry.

Two additional outdoor schools deserve mention here. The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), founded in 1965, is a nonprofit school, recognized as the international leader in the field of wilderness-based education and outdoor leadership. The main program objectives of NOLS are leadership development, outdoor skills, minimum-impact conservation techniques, and expedition dynamics. Today, NOLS is regarded as the premier wilderness-leader school in the country, with a particular emphasis on technical skill training (Bachert, 1999). The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) is dedicated to certifying wilderness course leaders who are capable in planning, outfitting, conducting, and teaching certification courses of at least four weeks duration in an actual wilderness environment (Teeters & Lupton, 1999).

Higher education, degree-granting programs, and certification programs represent sites of experiential education that may provide great potential in emphasizing the importance of identifying an educational "end" toward which the teaching and learning is directed. At the moment, many of these programs emphasize experiential learning without identifying the potential for experiential education to work toward an intended educational aim. More work needs to be done in this area.

Contemporary Offshoots

Service Learning

Although every experiential program, application, setting, and population cannot be mentioned here, there are a number of closely connected experience-based programs that are noteworthy.

Service learning provides a bridge between the various forms of experience-based teaching and learning. Service learning is more than simple volunteerism or community service; it is service that is integrated with academic curriculum and is based on real community needs. People providing the service recognize their own learning and growth gained from engaging in the service project (Breunig, 2001). The Minnesota Department of Education defines community service learning as "an instructional strategy in which students are involved in experiential education in real-life settings and where they apply academic knowledge and previous experience to meet real community needs" (Minnesota Department of Education, 1992). Service is one of the pillars of Outward Bound, it is a basic tenet of Quakerism, and with the passing of the National Community Service Act of 1990 in the United States (Nathan & Kielsmeier, 1991), service has gained prominence in public education as well as colleges and universities. Adventure-based programs throughout North America incorporate service as a component to their field experiences. Service-learning provides a practical means to apply experiential education in working toward social change.

Experience-Based Training and Development

Experience-Based Training and Development (EBTD) emerged in the early 1980s. EBTD goes by many names: corporate adventure training, outdoor management development, and originally, executive challenge programming. EBTD is adventure education used with managers and executives of corporations, focused specifically on teamwork and group processes. The overall goal of EBTD is to improve workplace performance. Activities include problem-solving initiatives, challenge course elements, and wilderness or high-adventure programming (Miner, 1999).

Therapeutic Recreation

Wilderness therapy, now called adventure therapy or therapeutic recreation, emerged from some of the early camping movement programs, including Life Camps, a camp for underprivileged city children under the direction of L.B. Sharp. Adventure therapists have taken adventure education principles and applied them to diverse groups of "clinical clients." Adventure therapy is the deliberate, strategic combination of adventure activities with therapeutic change processes with the goal of making lasting changes in the lives of people (Gillis & Ringer, 1999). The use of adventure experiences for therapeutic purposes is documented with such clinical populations as substance abusers, adjudicated youth, clients served in private practices and psychiatric hospitals (Gillis & Ringer, 1999).

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) has increased accessible adventure-based programming as well. Programs that include persons with disabilities and programming adventure for older adults are two areas that have received increased focus as a direct result of ADA. Persons with disabilities are going to private and public facilities to experience the benefits of participation in adventure activities: "The most integrated setting is one which enables interaction between persons with and without disabilities" (McAvoy & Lais, 1999). Wilderness Inquiry, Inc. of Minneapolis is one such organization that integrates persons with and without disabilities on wilderness trips. According to the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, the demand for outdoor recreation is steadily increasing, with 90 percent of Americans seeking enjoyment from the outdoors. The commission also found that the average age of outdoor enthusiasts is steadily climbing (Lucas & Krumpe, n.d.). Consideration needs to be given to designing outdoor programs for this growing population.

Women's Outdoor Adventure Programs

Women's outdoor adventure programs and outdoor programs that support a crosscultural perspective are continuing to grow and develop within the field of experiential education: "Forming networks of women who have found value in the outdoors, promoting adventure options through women's educational, social and cultural organizations, and offering short courses which allow women to sample the wilderness without making a huge time or financial commitment are all possibilities for adventure institutions to pursue to avert inaccessibility" (Warren, 1999). Programs such as Outward Bound, Woodswomen, Inc. and Women Outdoors, Inc. have all experienced success in offering programs for women.

Targeted programs for teaching cross-cultural perspectives (Washington & Roberts, 1999), programs for at-risk youth (Davis-Berman & Berman, 1999), and targeted programs for Native populations (Roberts, 1996) are also on the rise.

Many of the contemporary offshoots of experiential education would suggest that there is great potential for these programs to emphasize their capacity to effect social change. For example, using adventure and experiential education as a means to serve a community, enhance therapy, and/or support a cross-cultural perspective has great potential to evoke social change in a very tangible way. Further exploration about how to work toward the educational "end" of social change through meaningful contemporary experiential education initiatives is also worthy of mention.

Conclusion

Despite its early roots in the progressive education movement, experiential education as a practice is still relatively "new." This may be due in part to the fact that experiential education practice has not yet found its way into more mainstream school environments; it continues to exist most notably within the field of adventure education. As future trends are considered within the field of experiential education, educators need to consider how to better mainstream experience-based programs into "more traditional" schools and environments. It is time for experiential educators to "come inside" and enter the public school system as a means to engage in a more meaningful and integrated experiential education practice.

It is interesting to note how our philosophical roots share the common educational ideal of social change. Herbart, Froebel, James, Parker, Dewey, and Kilpatrick were all dedicated to using education as a means for social change. Hahn developed a number of modern day experiential schools on this same ideal. Montessori, Steiner, and the early K-12 school initiatives that employed experiential education share this common goal as well. Clearly, experiential education has widespread applications and transformative potential as both an educational philosophy and as a vehicle for social change. Perhaps just as clear, however, is that more work needs to be done in this area.

One question that I am often asked by students in my fourth-year experiential education course, is, "since experiential education practices and educating people to be actively engaged in social change was such a seminal part of pragmatism, progressivism, and experiential education, why is it not employed in practice more globally in the K-12 school system today?" This question always reminds me of the work that needs to be done to continue to develop both the theory and practice of experiential education. One response to this is that I believe educators need to further develop ways of integrating experiential education more fully into various sites of learning. Experiential education needs to continue to explore how to implement a more widespread application beyond the field of adventure education. Identifying and emphasizing the potential of experiential education as a vehicle for social change may be one way to better accomplish that.

Additionally, more work needs to be done to integrate experiential philosophy into a more meaningful classroom practice. It is easy to espouse the theory, but it can be time-consuming and challenging to actually engage in meaningful experiential practice within the classroom. Clearly, there is work to be done as we come to better understand our philosophical roots and the transformative potential of experiential education.

REFERENCES

Academic Exchange Extra invites reader response to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.

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Breunig, Mary. (2005). AE-Extra. April. Available Online.
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