Hammond Tarry

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Experiential Learning
 Experiential learning
 Lewin (1935) and others strongly advocated that the best way to
understand a concept was to try to use and/or change it in real life.
 Action research is built on the premise that it is only through acting
on our understandings that we can hope to achieve mastery.
 This experiential learning involves a cyclical process where we
develop our action theories to guide our behaviours, reflect on their
outcomes, revise our action theories accordingly, which are then
ready to guide our new behaviours and so on.
 Experiential learning hence adds to more traditional forms of
academic learning. For example, it is one thing to know about the
research into the benefits of adopting a democratic leadership
style. It is quite another to be able to skillfully implement this style
when in leadership positions.
 Experiential learning
 An important type of experiential learning is procedural learning, which
is learning and then practicing a skill until a degree of mastery is
reached.
 In support of the distinction between this applied form of learning and
more abstract, academic forms of learning, there is abundant
neuropsychological evidence that procedural learning and memory
have distinct neural substrates from other types of learning (e.g. Sacks,
2008).
 Applied to the study of group dynamics, procedural learning involves
the following steps:
 Understanding the concept of the skill
 Practicing using the skill
 Getting feedback on your use of the skill
 Practicing using the skill, making adjustments based on the feedback received
 Experiential learning
 These steps closely parallel those alluded to by Lewin and
colleagues as central components of experiential learning in
general:
 Taking action on the basis of one’s current action theory
 Assessing consequences and obtaining feedback
 Reflecting on how effective actions were & refining action theory
 Implementing the revised action theory

A group context is thus essential for many types of experiential

learning, as groups can provide crucial components of the process,
including provision of feedback and a flexible and supportive social
environment in which we can practice new behaviours.
 Experiential learning
 Specifically, groups can facilitate change through experiential learning in
their members through a number of processes (Forsyth, 2010). These
include:
 Universality – we are all in the same boat.
 Hope – if others can do it, so can I.
 Vicarious learning – seeing others do it has helped me to learn.
 Interpersonal learning – I am learning to relate better to others.
 Guidance – I am getting some good suggestions from the group.
 Cohesion and support – the group accepts me for who I am.
 Self-disclosure – it is good to share my experiences.
 Catharsis – it is useful to get things off my chest.
 Altruism – being a useful group member has made me feel better
about myself.
 Insight – the group members have helped me learn a lot about myself.
 Experiential learning
Why is experiential learning often so effective?
One idea here is that, when successful, it changes not only our
knowledge base, or cognitive systems, it also changes our
attitudinal and behavioural systems as well (Johnson & Johnson,
2012). For example, someone learning about assertiveness
experientially would not only learn more about what assertiveness
is, they would also develop more positive attitudes towards using
assertiveness skills and develop their behavioural repertoires in
order to do so.
Other reasons include:
We tend to have greater conviction about knowledge that we’ve
actively gained through personal experience rather than that
which we have passively received from others (see Piaget, 1928).
 Experiential learning
▪ Information alone often does not lead to lasting behavioural
change (see, for example, Krahe & Altwasser, 2005).
▪ Behavioural change typically requires a supportive and
changeable social environment, which groups can provide.
▪ Experiential learning places the primary responsibility for
learning with the learner, as opposed to the
teacher/facilitator. In turn, when we are responsible for our
own learning, we often experience ‘psychological success”
(Lewin, 1944), which occurs when we are able to define our
own goals, which are personally meaningful and relevant to
us and to specify how we will achieve those goals.
 Applications of experiential learning –
Participant-observation skills

 There are many skills that are an important part

of being an effective group member and leader.
 It is now time to apply the steps of experiential
learning outlined to some example skills.
 One key skill in being an effective group member
is being able to make accurate observations of
behaviour in the group. For example, this skill is
essential in being able to give accurate feedback
to other group members and to reflect on the
development of the group more generally.
 Applications of experiential learning –
Participant-observation skills

These assertions are reflected in the stages in

developing participant-observation skills
outlined in Johnson & Johnson (2012): 1.
observing; 2. giving and receiving feedback; 3.
reflecting and setting goals for improvement; 4.
modifying behaviour in the next group meeting;
5. repeating the cycle over and over again.
The parallels are clear between these stages and
those of experiential learning more generally.
 Applications of experiential learning –
Participant-observation skills
 However, being an effective observer in a group is complicated by
the dual-role that most observers occupy as participant-observers,
where they are simultaneously asked to take part in and to observe
the group.
 In addition to the attentional demands inherent in this dual role
situation, there are also threats to objectivity when we are asked to
observe content and process that we ourselves are involved in (e.g.
Hastorf & Cantril, 1954).
 In order to reduce some of these biases, it can be useful to try to use
clearly defined categories of behaviour to guide group observations.
 These can help to improve inter-rater reliability, which is the extent to
which different observers agree with each other in their observations
of the same events.
 Applications of experiential learning – Participant-
observation skills

A clear operational definition is thus of paramount

importance, as this helps to ensure that each observer
is looking for the same things and interpreting them in
broadly the same way.
For example, if an observation of “group process” is
wanted, then choosing a specific and measurable set of
behaviours to observe will help the reliability of the
observations.
An instance of this might be to observe and make
tallies of who speaks to whom and how often during a
session.
Applications of experiential learning –
assertiveness skills
A skills training session is often structured around a
series of steps, such as the ones outlined below:
1. Introduction to the skill
2. Identification of relevant past situations where the
skill would have been useful
3. Development of specific goals by the group member
4. Group member engages in skills practice
5. Group member receives feedback on their practice
6. Group member develops new goals based on feedback
7. Group member engages in additional skills practice
Applications of experiential learning –
facilitation skills
 When facilitating a skills practice, from, for example,
a cognitive-behavioural perspective, it is important to
help the group members to identify their own
situations to practice in, and to develop their own
action theories (goals) to pursue.
 Some useful sets of skills to develop as a facilitator
here are:
 Open and Socratic questioning
 Reflection and paraphrasing
 Reframing
 Role-playing
 References
Forsyth, D. (2010). Group dynamics (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Hastorf, A.,& Cantril, H. (1954). They saw a game. Journal of Abnormal
and Social Psychology, 49, 129-134.
Johnson, D.W., & Johnson, F.P. (2012) Joining Together – Group Theory and
Group Skills (11th ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Krahe, B., & Altwasser, C. (2006). Changing negative attitudes towards
persons with physical disabilities: An experimental intervention.
Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 16, 59-69.
Lewin, K. (1935). A dynamic theory of personality. New York: McGraw-
Hill.
Lewin, K. (1944). Dynamics of group action. Educational Leadership, 1,
195-200.
Piaget, Jean (1928). Judgment and Reasoning in the Child. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Sacks, O. (2008). Musicophilia. New York: Knopf.