Experiential Learning for Teachers

Getting students to interact will have far more lasting impact than lecturing.

The object of most facilitation is to make something easier for a person or group to learn, grasp, or accomplish something. This is particularly true for learning facilitators, who are also called "teachers." Many teachers choose to lecture their students. They feel that they must appear to know a lot and their egos very often depend on this perception being conveyed to their students. And it's easier than facilitating experientially. I know. I did that for many years. This is not to say that there is never a time for lecture. There is. Balance is the key.

So what's the point? The point is that not everybody is auditory. People will better learn, engage, shift, and change by actually participating in some behavior that engages their multiple senses. Providing your students with an experience that engages multiple senses is far more powerful than anything a mere lecture can provide.

Example

I was asked to present a 20-minute keynote at a luncheon for 80 members of a local Chamber of Commerce. Few people knew each other. I was asked to help them get to know each other better and talk about better communication --- in those 20 minutes. I told them I do not do miracles.

Now I could have talked about communication processes and bored them to death. Not to mention, when people are eating, they are a step away from napping. My work was cut out for me.

I broke them into pairs and asked them to answer one question: What was the most outrageous thing each pair had in common? Partners left for a quiet place and returned 5 minutes later.

When they shared their answers with the room, people were falling off their chairs laughing! They learned more about each other in 5 minutes than they would in a lifetime. This works for students, too.