Discussions about texts can offer valuable opportunities for critical conversations about power and privilege. While we know such conversations are important to have in school, many teachers report feeling unprepared to facilitate them. In an effort to understand the in-the-moment decisions preservice teachers (PSTs) make in response to children's…

In this article three stages of a holistic early field experience are presented. Before the early field experience, focuses of knowledge acquisition for both classes are highlighted. During the early field experience, the cycle of concrete experience, observation and reflection, and modification application is explained with the structure and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how learners describe their experiences with short-term, introductory maker experiences and to test a method for assessing learners' experiences authentic to short-term learning. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected written responses from participants at a two-day event, STEM Center…

This edited volume focuses on best practices in experiential learning. Chapters address service-learning, community-based research, international efforts and other experiential methods, highlighting innovative approaches, successes, and issues of concern. Further, the book also demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of experiential education,…

The relationship between teacher and student is instrumental to learning (Davenport & Davenport, 1985; Holmes & Abington-Cooper, 2000; Houle, 1996; Knowles, 1980; Knowles et al., 1998; McGrath, 2009). This essential partnership supports instruction and student achievement (Bernstein-Yamashiro & Noam, 2013; Hen & Goroshit, 2016;…

Adult learners benefit from a playful approach to learning (Whitton, 2018). Similarly, students experiencing immersive learning using virtual reality headsets can benefit from a playful and exploratory approach to language and culture learning (Arnold, 1979), which includes the opportunity to experiment and create content using accessible,…

Experiential learning exercises, such as field trips, are a common pedagogical practice in geoscience curriculums. Their purpose is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge gained in a classroom or lab setting into a field setting, but can be considered a barrier for entry into the geosciences for those with disabilities, caregiver/employment…

The current study aimed to investigate Saudi preschool teachers' beliefs about emergent literacy skills and practices. To this end, an explanatory, sequential mixed methods research design was adopted. The study involved two phases. The first involved a Q methodology approach to answer the overarching questions, "What are Saudi preschool…

The purpose of this exploratory study of adult learning was to investigate the lived experience of 15 employees who encountered a significant job loss event (an unplanned loss of employment with no immediate replacement of employment--coupled with an unintentional and tangibly significant reduction in income), and how the resultant fear(s) from…

This paper explores selective literatures in the two fields of action learning and innovation, and seeks insights into the processes of, and connections between, innovation, engagement and implementation. We searched the action learning articles for references to innovation, beginning with the work of Revans, who highlights the innovation paradox,…

This essay introduces a collection of past articles from the "Journal of Experiential Education" ("JEE") focused on the concept of experiential learning. It outlines the historical trajectory of the concept beginning with human relations training practices beginning in 1946, as it came to be understood as a naturally occurring…

The contemporary education system aides in the development of students' cognitive learning skills to better prepare them for the future; however, education can also prepare students to be more engaged citizens in a democratic society. Civic literacy is a valuable skill for students to learn as it provides a foundation for a better understanding of…

This essay frames design thinking (DT) as a form of experiential learning and describes what we, as DT educators, have come to consider its "shadow side." We are concerned that, through uncritical promotion of instrumentalist approaches to creativity, DT classes unwittingly marginalize from the curriculum other forms of creativity, such…

Experiential learning is, for the author, a preeminent means to accomplish goals that are fundamental to the entire educational enterprise. It is a set of strategies that structure acquisition of information, analysis of ideas, and self-reflection in order to pull people into active engagement with their world. Among these strategies are skills of…

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has a huge collection of unique and curious objects from the natural world that have been loaned to us by HM Revenue and Customs after being seized at the UK border. Among the turtle shells and snake skins, the strangest of these is perhaps the freestanding rhino-foot ash tray. This single object can open up…