Jayson O. Seaman

Experience, Reflect, Critique: The End of the “Learning Cycles” Era

According to prevailing models, experiential learning is by definition a stepwise process beginning with direct experience, followed by reflection, followed by learning. It has been argued, however, that stepwise models inadequately explain the holistic learning processes that are central to learning from experience, and that they lack scientific or philosophical foundations. Criticism also centers on the way complex cultural, social, and physical processes during experience and learning are reduced to a rational, excessively cognitive, individual phenomenon. This article reviews this criticism and adds a historical dimension to the analysis, concluding that existing cyclic models might be better valued for their important historical contribution, rather than as active theories of learning in experiential education.

Adopting a Grounded Theory Approach to Cultural-Historical Research: Conflicting Methodologies or Complementary Methods?

Grounded theory has long been regarded as a valuable way to conduct social and educational research. However, recent constructivist and postmodern insights are challenging long-standing assumptions, most notably by suggesting that grounded theory can be flexibly integrated with existing theories. This move hinges on repositioning grounded theory from a methodology with positivist underpinnings to an approach that can be used within different theoretical frameworks. In this article the author reviews this recent transformation of grounded theory, engages in the project of repositioning it as an approach by using cultural historical activity theory as a test case, and outlines several practical methods implied by the joint use of grounded theory as an approach and activity theory as a methodology. One implication is the adoption of a dialectic, as opposed to a constructivist or objectivist, stance toward grounded theory inquiry, a stance that helps move past the problem of emergence versus forcing.

An Overburdened Term: Dewey's Concept of "Experience" as Curriculum Theory

From the start, John Dewey’s ideas about education have been prone to misunderstanding. One of the greatest casualties has been “experience,” a term so routinely misappropriated that Dewey ultimately decided to abandon it. He wrote, “I would abandon the term ‘experience’ because of my growing realization that the historical obstacles which prevented understanding of my use of ’experience’ are, for all practical purposes, insurmountable. I would substitute the term ‘culture’ because with its meanings as now firmly established it can fully and freely carry my philosophy of experience” (1981, p. 361). Dewey evidently recognized that a main challenge to understanding experience was the conceptual weight the term had been made to carry. Because it was so central to his entire metaphysics, the challenge of understanding experience spills over into the project of grasping his vision for schooling, including what he was fundamentally attempting to do by employing experience in an educational sense in the first place. Adding to this challenge is the range and organization of Dewey’s ideas on the matter: he sometimes wrote or lectured about experience and education together (1938), sometimes independently (1932, 1934a, 1990), and sometimes in relation to other issues (1899, 1958, 1980). He also did not always mention them directly, yet they are often implicated in discussions of other topics (1999a, 1999b). After devoting so much time to developing his concept of experience over the years, it is noteworthy that Dewey abandoned it; he might have anticipated the misconstruals that would persist throughout the latter half of the twentieth century as they did in the first. In this article, Dewey’s core educational concept of experience is interpreted in light of his broader aims for reconstructing American democracy, his critique of political economy, and his identification with anthropological thought. We mean to propose a more expansive interpretation of experience than what is commonly represented in the educational literature. We suggest that, for Dewey, experience was a polysemic term serving several functions across different philosophical con-

Repertoire of practice: Reconceptualizing instructor competency in contemporary adventure education

Abstract Historically, adventure educators have used the metaphor of hard and soft skills to understand their practice: hard skills representing technical competencies, and soft skills representing interpersonal competencies. In light of current research and in the face of increasingly complex varieties of adventure practice, the categorization of skills into “hard” or “soft” may obscure important aspects of experiential learning and limit the development of an effective pedagogy for adventure education. This paper interrogates the hard/soft metaphor from various perspectives and offers “repertoire of practice” (Wenger, 1998) as a possible framework to further discuss instruction and learning in contemporary adventure education. ‘What we have learned to see something as, becomes in turn, the guide to our outward practical activity’. (Wartofsky, 1979, p. 207)

Circle talks as situated experiential learning: Context, identity, and knowledgeability in 'learning from reflection'

This article presents research that used ethnographic and sociolinguistic methods to study ways participants learn through reflection when carried out as a “circle talk.” The data indicate that participants in the event (a) invoked different contextual frames that (b) implicated them in various identity positions, which (c) affected how they could express their knowledge. These features worked together to generate socially shared meanings that enabled participants to jointly achieve conceptualization—the ideational role “reflection” is presumed to play in the experiential learning process. The analysis supports the claim that participants generate new knowledge in reflection, but challenges individualistic and cognitive assumptions regarding how this occurs. The article builds on situated views of experiential learning by showing how knowledge can be understood as socially shared and how learning and identity formation are mutually entailing processes.

An interdisciplinary view and analysis of "constructivism" in kinesiology.

Discussions related to constructivist learning theories have become more prevalent within various subdisciplines of Kinesiology. This discourse, however, has typically been placed within the context of K-12 education. The purpose of this article is to examine constructivist theories (cognitive and social constructivism and situated learning theory) within the context of higher education. We first place “constructivism” within the context of education in general, and then examine through relevant literature its uses within kinesiology. We then describe examples of “constructivist” pedagogy and learning within our program and higher education in general. Ultimately we urge further discourse related to constructivist learning theories within higher education subdiscipline fields in Kinesiology.

Service-Learning and Outdoor Education: Promising Reform Movements or Future Relics?.

Two current movements of experiential learning receiving attention in mainstream educational reform are service-learning and outdoor education/adventure programming. Although sharing common philosophical roots, these movements have branched out into a variety of different applications and approaches. With increasing pressures on educational reform movements, both fields could benefit from critically examining the effectiveness of their theories, practices, and organizational strategies. One potential way to enhance the practice and strengthen the presence of both service-learning and outdoor education is to examine their complementary strengths and areas for growth. This article offers a broad illustration and examination of strengths and areas for growth in each field and their associated methods, followed by suggestions for the future sharing of inquiry and action.

A Dialectical Approach to Theoretical Integration in Developmental-Contextual Identity Research.

Future advances in identity research will depend on integration across major theoretical traditions. Developmental–contextualism has established essential criteria to guide this effort, including specifying the context of identity development, its timing over the life course, and its content. This article assesses 4 major traditions of identity research—identity status, eudaimonic identity, sociocultural theory, and narrative identity—in light of these criteria, and describes the contribution of each tradition to the broader enterprise of developmental–contextual research. This article proposes dialectical integration of the 4 traditions, for the purpose of generating new questions when the tensions and contradictions among theoretical traditions are acknowledged. We provide examples from existing literature of the kinds of research that could address these questions and consider ways of addressing the validity issues involved in developmental–contextual identity research.

The Evolution of Experiential Learning Theory: Tracing Lines of Research in the JEE

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 psychological process and a grounding for pedagogical reforms. The eight articles included in the issue reflect the way JEE authors have contended with problems arising from the concept’s departure from its origins in practice. We suggest that experiential learning’s evolution into a general theory was accomplished by decoupling it from its roots in a particular social practice and ideology, and then focusing on the concept’s technical problems. It is now important for researchers to revisit assumptions underpinning current theory and practice, situate research on experiential learning in wider practical and scholarly traditions, and develop new vocabularies concerning the relationship between experience and learning in educational programs.

Balancing Evidence and Authenticity in Research on Experiential Education and Youth Development in Diverse Settings

Even though these papers represent radically different types of research in different environments and with diverse populations, I think they are appropriately grouped under the theme of “experiential education and youth development in diverse settings.” In their own way, each of them deals with the role of experiential education in mitigating the effects of social and historical forces on groups that have been marginalized within (or by) schooling. This is an understated feature of these projects that becomes pronounced when viewed side by side. This shared feature has framed my interpretation of these papers. Individually, they demonstrate the results of experiential programs in different settings and with diverse populations. However, I think their contribution is greatest when considered together—not just in what they communicate about program outcomes, but what they capture about experiential education research in its current historical moment. This might be described as a tension between evidence, on the one hand, and authenticity, on the other. I’ll elaborate on this first by addressing each individual paper, then by discussing their joint contribution to research on experiential education and youth development in diverse settings.