The Experiential Learning Cycle

I want to take some time at the beginning of this blog’s life to talk about the basics of the Adventure Learning Industry. Over the years I have had the opportunity to learn from some of the best facilitators in the field. There have been times when I thought that I knew all that I could know, only to sit back and watch someone like Paul Radcliff facilitate a group and realize that I barely have a grip on the basics. Please note that while these basics are universal to the industry, I first learned of them through trainings at Project Adventure. Some of the language used to describe these basics is taken from those PA Trainings.

Those basics are the most important part of life as a facilitator. If you can learn to fall back on the basics, you can work with almost any group. The first one of these that I want to discuss is the concept of the Experiential Learning Cycle.

Learning happens most effectively in a four-step process called the Experiential Learning Cycle.

Image from Project Adventure: Adventure Programming Manual

EXPERIENCE – Action

• Activity provides opportunity for participants to work together and to experience a broad range of interactions and behaviors
• All activities are doable and have solutions
• Activities generate a higher level of participation and involvement

REFLECTION – “What?”

• Discussion after activity to understand what happened
• Analysis of the team, actions taken, behaviors of team members, and actions and interactions that did not occur
• Focus on: effectiveness of a team process as well as task accomplishment, individual contributions

GENERALIZATION – “So What?”

• Participants expand on reflection to examine consequences of what happened and the impacts upon both the team and individuals
• Participants determine what worked well and what opportunities exist for improvement and change

APPLICATION – “Now What?”

• Participants consider how an activity reflects issues beyond the experience – focus on achieving a higher level of performance in future situations.
• Participants analyze and identify behaviors and skills to improve their team and themselves.

Experiential Learning provides concrete experience where results – both task and processes – can be identified and explored. By analyzing the details of what happens, participants can learn more form the programmatic experiences. While the experiences are the catalyst of this cycle, the three-phase reflection process provides the real value. It is during this discussion and analysis where people can explore the meaning of the experience and make connections to their own lives.