Description:
In this paper we use an example of when students appear not to have learnt from their experience to examine some of the 'orthodoxies' of experiential education. This frames a discussion exploring how it is possible for a teacher to declare that students have got it 'wrong' in relation to learning from experience. It is argued that both learning through experience and who has experiences is viewed through specific forms of reason within contemporary experiential education. The paper concludes with a challenge to open reason up to greater scrutiny in experiential education and consider the possibilities that emerge through the indeterminacy of relationships inherent in experience and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Description:
Abstract: This paper presents one element of our research conducted in a contemporary, yet alternate, school setting. This setting provides ten-week residential programs for Year nine students. Year nine has been identified as a significant time when students become disengaged with schooling. These Year nine students also belong to a group known as Generation Y (Gen Y). This group is characterised as having difficulties with communication, developing relationships and functioning as a community. However, our research, at the 'Remote School' suggests that the students in this residential school develop skills that enable them to communicate more effectively and establish relationships with others. One of the key aspects of this appears to be the relationships they form with each other and with the staff while on the program. The environment, or the ecosystem developed in this unique setting, allows students to interact more explicitly with the complexity of life and, in doing so, recognise diversity and the shades of grey, which start to colour their worlds. The students talk about feeling challenged in forming relationships and about comprehending more about themselves, how they operate and how others operate. It would seem likely that there is a gap in understanding the capacities of Year nine students and Gen Y students, who are construed as being difficult to communicate with, form relationships with, or fail to function effectively in communities. It is this gap in understanding, based on the experiences of the young people at the Remote School, which we explore in this paper.
Description:
Abstract: This paper presents one element of our research conducted in a contemporary, yet alternate, school setting. This setting provides ten-week residential programs for Year nine students. Year nine has been identified as a significant time when students become disengaged with schooling. These Year nine students also belong to a group known as Generation Y (Gen Y). This group is characterised as having difficulties with communication, developing relationships and functioning as a community. However, our research, at the 'Remote School' suggests that the students in this residential school develop skills that enable them to communicate more effectively and establish relationships with others. One of the key aspects of this appears to be the relationships they form with each other and with the staff while on the program. The environment, or the ecosystem developed in this unique setting, allows students to interact more explicitly with the complexity of life and, in doing so, recognise diversity and the shades of grey, which start to colour their worlds. The students talk about feeling challenged in forming relationships and about comprehending more about themselves, how they operate and how others operate. It would seem likely that there is a gap in understanding the capacities of Year nine students and Gen Y students, who are construed as being difficult to communicate with, form relationships with, or fail to function effectively in communities. It is this gap in understanding, based on the experiences of the young people at the Remote School, which we explore in this paper.