I know a man who grabbed a cat by the tail and he learned 40 percent more about cats than the man who didn’t. –Mark Twain
Greetings Gentle Reader. I concluded PART IV with a question: So, what is this ‘ELE?’ [Experiential Learning Experiences].
Teaching, as we know, involves putting in – the teacher provides the content via, for example, verbal and written content. The learner gains what we call knowledge. We also know that knowing is not enough if we want to learn and not just know. Learning is highly experiential; some refer to it as applied knowledge.
In 1973 I began to develop what I came to call: Experiential Learning Experiences. The healthcare providers I was privileged to serve would engage the experience by serving those who came to them for help. With the consent of the one(s) to be served, some experiences would be audio-recorded, some would be video-recorded (a one-way mirror would be employed), and some I would observe in ‘real-time’ by sitting in with the provider or by viewing the provider and the one(s) served through a one-way mirror.
After the experience the provider would take 15-30 minutes to reflect upon the experience and then respond in writing to a number of questions. Within an hour or two of the experience I would meet with the provider (and perhaps one or two or three other providers) and we would listen or view and share our ‘notes’. This ‘debriefing’ would also entail feedback and more questions and the identification of what capacities needed to be developed, developed more fully or enhanced. We would then identify and name one, two or three specific practices that the provider would focus on. The practices might be reinforced by book-learning (think: techniques).
Our watch-words were: Essential, Experiment & Experience. [AN ASIDE: It is crucial to note that those served knew that the provider was in training or was learning and they signed a form stating that they agreed to help the provider with his/her development.] I served those providers (see PART IV for a short-list of who these providers were) for five years. During this time I had the privilege of ‘demonstrating’ ‘ELE’ for more than 100 providers at two different large teaching hospitals/universities.
To put all of this in a simple (not simplistic) sentence: The recipients were the educators. I continue to employ aspects of ‘ELE’ today.
At this point you might ask: What are some of the interpersonal skills that need to be developed, developed more fully or enhanced? I continue to experience that many of these are under-valued for folks generally assume that all human beings learn these as a ‘matter of course.’ A common refrain or two: ‘Everybody knows how to listen.’ ‘Everybody knows how to ask questions.’ True.
What almost everybody lacks, however, is the capacity to use these effectively especially in high stress environments. To put it another way: We have developed the skill but not the capacity. For example, most adults can ride a two-wheeled bicycle – they have integrated the skill so that it has become ‘second-nature’ to them. Most, however, do not have the capacity to ride a bike 100 miles without stopping. In order to do so they have to identify a need and then develop the capacity so the need can be addressed [AN ASIDE: we ‘address’ needs, we do not ‘meet’ them].
Now, there is another important piece to this. Once we stop maintaining capacity we lose it. If I have developed the capacity to ride a 100 miles without stopping and then I do not ride a bike for five years I will lose the capacity to ride a bike for 100 miles without stopping. This last point is crucial.
To return to my question: What are some of the interpersonal skills that need to be developed, developed more fully or enhanced? We will explore some of these next time.
Practice any art. . .no matter how well or badly, not to get money or fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. –Kurt Vonnegut