Education Week – John T. McCrann
“‘I learned more because I did it instead of just talking about it.’ This analysis came from a student on an outdoor “winter survival” trip that a colleague and I lead a few weeks ago, called Harvest Survivor*. It was clear from this feedback that the student got the essence of what I call “experiential education.” Experiential education is when learners actively engage in activities or experiences. I’ve written before about the fact that I was an experiential educator, leading backpacking and other outdoor trips in North Carolina, before I was a classroom teacher. I brought the teaching skills I’d learned in the outdoor environment into my math class on my first day as a teacher, so my practice has always leaned towards the idea of “learning” as inherently tied to “doing.”.”(more)