Throughout 2011 we will be publishing extracts from The New Learning Architect. We move on to the second part of chapter 4:
Experiential learning occurs whether we want it to or not, but there are good reasons why we should be supporting and encouraging it:
- Because everyday work experience is rich with opportunities for learning.
- Because we don’t always take the best advantage of these opportunities.
- Because, if something goes well, we want to repeat it.
- Because, if something goes wrong, we want to avoid it happening again.
Without experiential learning, all we are left with is the ‘doing’. We repeat the same actions over and over again, never improving and constantly at risk to every new threat that appears in our environment. Experiential learning is ‘doing’ plus an essential additional ingredient – reflection. Without reflection, we can have many years of experience and learn less than someone who is a relative newcomer but who has learned how to learn.
Coming next in chapter 4: The need for on-demand learning
Return to Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
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