Experiential learning

What is experiential learning?

Experiential learning is learning by doing and experiencing. If someone asks you the question ‘where do you learn?’ many will answer ‘at school’. We indeed learn many theoretical things at school, but the question is whether everything you learn will stick and even if you know the theory, you will also have to apply it in practice or experience it. If you have just gotten your driver’s license, you cannot drive yet. You will really learn that by doing. Experiential learning uses this principle. By experiencing something, you can learn from it and what you have learned will stick around for much longer.

This is also clearly visible in the learning pyramid of Bales (1996), which indicates what percentage of what is learned remains (click here or on the image to enlarge – image will be added later):

A good example of how I discovered the power of experiential learning was during a conference. During this conference I came into contact with experiential learning: a game was played in teams in which a team consisted of an office and a field service team.

The aim of the game was to obtain as many points as possible (which were scattered throughout the village). Given my passion for being outdoors and being active, it quickly became clear that I would become part of the field service team.

After the starting signal was given, I ran like a maniac in my nice clothes through the village looking for the points. At that time I was also passionate about adventure racing (where you have to find as many check points as possible with a map and compass). During this conference, I ran straight through meadows and jumped over ditches in the hunt for as many points as possible. Happy that I had found almost all the points, I ran – still in net, but slightly less fresh, suit – sweaty and back to the starting point, back to the team and the office staff. It turned out that I had achieved the most points of all. Unfortunately, not all points were equally valuable: the office staff had received detailed information (some points were worthless, some points could be negotiated with other teams, etc.).

For me, this was a wise lesson that I will never forget: running like an idiot and without consultation to achieve the goal is not always the best way.

Moral of the story: internal and external staff must communicate with each other to achieve the best results, if this does not happen, a lot of effort will lead to little result. Of course, that was something I already knew in advance, but it was confrontational to see that in practice I acted differently than how I had learned in the books. Now when I get ready to take action again, I always think for a moment before I start running.

This experience will stay with me all my life, and has made me realize that you do not learn many things in school, but that you learn by doing. It wasn’t until many years later that I heard the word ‘experiential learning’, but I immediately thought back to what had happened then.

How do experiential activities differ from team building or ‘fun activities’?

Many of the activities offered for groups are called team building activities. In reality, they are often fun group activities that provided the group with a fun day, but did not encourage learning. The activities that UPPTÄCKK offers are also fun group activities, with the difference that conscious attention is paid to the things that happened in the process and the role that the participants had in this. Only in this way can you learn from each other, discover your own patterns and, if you wish, work on them. This way you have a fun day and you can work on your own personal development or group or organizational development.

What added value can UPPTÄCKK offer?

A fun but also educational and valuable day where participants gain insight into their own behavior and the influence it has on the group. This enables groups to grow into successful teams.