Experiential learning enables children to organise their pattern of thought and transform them into action more effectively, says MANDAR NATEKAR
Knowledge is believed to be transcending international boundaries overcoming regional barriers more widely and quicker than ever before. People along with their children are travelling the globe providing the young ones an enhanced exposure to experiences and more opportunities to learn new things. Educators believe that there is a need to scout for more innovative ways for children to gain relevant knowledge and skills in an easy and impactful way.
Experiential education is one such well-structured methodology of learning. It enables children to organise their pattern of thought and transform it into action more effectively. It helps them understand their existing environment and be better prepared to deal with real-life scenarios, as they grow older. Being a parent or guardian, one would observe that when children return from school they are more likely to initiate discussion about what all transpired that day rather than sharing what was actually taught in the classroom. Such is the power of an experience that allows more retention and can leave an ever-lasting impact on a child’s mind, over and above any traditional method of learning.
The benefits of experiential learning are embedded deep within the core of a child’s learning process. This methodology helps breakdown complex knowledge into simpler content that is engaging and quick to learn. As we know, in a traditional classroom setup the dominant mode of learning is listening, however, in an experience based environment learning goes beyond the classroom and forces a child to use cognitive abilities in combination with physical skills to take a desired action. This brings out various aspects of a child’s personality to the forefront and helps them recognise their skills and interests in unique ways.
When a child is rewarded for taking a particular action, it encourages them to further undertake those tasks repeatedly, therefore becoming better with each play.
Experiential education starts with a basic visit organised by the school to a Museum, voluntary work in the local community, or project oriented visits to National parks and so forth. These experiences were widely used across the globe as a part of the curriculum to make real-life scenarios informative and fun for children.
Later we saw that there truly was a need for more engaging means of learning for children. This gave rise to digitalisation of classrooms, educational toys, show events, and edutainment or theme-based parks with newer attractions. To complement these means, technologies like recorded audio headsets, audio books, simulated games can also be used to give on-ground learning a new dimension altogether.
The writer is CBO, KidZania India