This paper locates the concept of learning among real-life human experiences and events. Functioning as a sign, a meaningful event can be understood in terms of a cultural extra-linguistic "text." Reading and interpreting diverse cultural "texts" are equivalent to constructing and learning critical symbolic lessons embedded in a continuous process…

States that the perception of failure will determine a person's reaction when faced with a problem, how he/she tries to solve the problem, and if he/she is successful/unsuccessful at solving the problem. Argues that failure need not be a threat to personal being but should be a learning tool--an experience necessary for mastery. (PA)

Knowledge gained from literature is not knowledge that can be classified, abstracted, and transferred to the general context of a body of knowledge such as constitutes psychology or sociology. Extensive literary examples demonstrate that literature can, however, enrich an understanding of what it is to interpret and make sense of things, increase…

The concept of independent learning is discussed. Independent learning is defined as learning in which the learner, in conjunction with relevant others, can make the decisions necessary to meet his or her own learning needs. This must be regarded as a direction or goal to be pursued, not as an absolute standard and not as a set of identifiable…

Hunkins asserts that the curriculum has been splintered in reaction to myriad demands upon the schools. He outlines a plan for a "curriculum of encounters" which seeks to enable students to become complete human beings and has the potential for bringing unity and purpose to school programs. (SK)

In addition to regular training, workers learn from and during work itself. Organizational change affects the learning potential of jobs. The challenge consists in integrating personal development and organizational development. (SK)

This paper reflects on the motivations for doing photography and examines the therapeutic use of photography with various populations. The paper provides an account of how one person was trained as a teacher in the early 1970s but could not find work. He moved into and then out of social work with the elderly in Chicago. Having learned photography…

The author describes her difficulties as an adult learner at age 37 in a dance class and relates her experience to the unrealized potential of adult education as an alternative to therapy and to her own work as a professor of adult education. (MF)

Discusses the origins and limitations of the rites of passage model; the types of outdoor education courses the rites of passage and its notion of transformation can inform; and how neglecting the third stage of the model, "reincorporation," limits the longevity of transformations. Outlines the elements needed to successfully bring the…

A composition teacher recounts the changes undergone during a teaching career. (FL)

Summer learning comes from reading books, singing songs, playing games, listening to stories, taking trips, and all kinds of other fun activities that kids rarely realize are actually good for them. However, this kind of summer learning can be more difficult for children of low-income and other disadvantaged families. Careful analysis of…

Strong leadership in education is mandatory if change is to occur. Issues examined include: (1) the special needs of a modern democratic society; (2) an environmental versus hereditary view of human development; (3) academic achievement and the effect of schooling on children; and (4) methods for effective preparation of teachers. (JN)

Views experiential learning as metaphor development. If a participant's enactment of a personal metaphor leads to an impasse during an adventure activity, this moment of "stuckness" is an opportunity to develop new images that generate new options for action. Facilitators must be sensitive to such situations and assist in widening…

A professor of outdoor and experiential education reflects on the development of group relations and on lessons in outdoor ethics learned during a canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic. Written to celebrate a transforming experience, this paper illustrates the experiential learning and individual development that can result from intensive outdoor…

Basic information learned in outdoor education classes and applied on camping trips can give students a sense of achievement, self-assurance, and fulfillment. (CM)