“Experiential education is the leading of students through a process of learning that makes conscious application of the student experience by integrating them into the curriculum” (Carver 1996:150)
In Higher Education, experiential education has long been used to enhance the ‘soft skills’ that employers frequently complain students lack when entering the job market (Carver 1996, Davies 2000). One way is by providing students with opportunities to experience the world of work informally, through work experience, work placements and paid/ unpaid internships. However, despite its many claims, relatively little is known about how this type of informal learning impacts on students’ long-term employability. The central proposition in this paper is that by failing to locate this informal type of learning within its epistemological roots of ‘experiential learning theory’ prevents students from reflecting critically on ‘how organisations work and how people in them do their jobs’ (Davies 2000). Rather, by drawing on this experience inside the classroom, students can better reflect on the nature and purpose of work, and re-construct its meaning for future encounters. This paper draws on literature from management education and management learning to explore the intersection between ‘experiential education’ and ‘experiential learning’ and consider how it might be used to build the cultural, moral and social competence (‘know-how’) required for 21st Century global leadership (Ng et al 2009). The findings will appeal to professional service staff as well as academic/teaching staff currently involved in attempts to build employability in Business Schools, by exploring practical ways of capturing this type of informal learning (when it happens) and articulating what it means for businesses/ organisations (and how they are designed, managed and led) in the future. The paper ends with a consideration of the wider pedagogical implications of using ‘experiential learning’ activities in the classroom and how this might be better conceptualised through a more strategic approach to ‘curriculum alignment’ in the formal and informal curriculum, by ‘aligning what the learner does to construct meaning through learning activities’ (Biggs 2002).
References
Biggs (2002) Aligning the curriculum to promote good learning. Constructive alignment in action. Imaginative Curriculum Symposium. Monday 4th November 2002. The generic centre: Learning and teaching support network.
Carver, R. (1996) Theory for practice: A framework for thinking about experiential education. Journal of experiential education, 19 (1), 8-13.
Davies, L. (2000) Why kick the ‘L’ out of ‘Learning’? The development of students’ employability skills through part-time working. Education and Training, 42 (8): 436-444.
Ng, Kok-Yee, Dyne, Van Linn, Ang, Soon (2009) From experience to experiential learning: Cultural intelligence as a learning capability for global leader development, Academy of Management Learning and Education 8 (4):511-523.
The practice panel (Connecting researchers and practitioners SIG)
