Who Does Experiential Education Serve?

WHO DOES EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION SERVE?

CLIENTELE

The major consumers of EE tend to be: school children, corporate employees, and youth at risk. Others might include alternative learners, university students, public at leisure, or others.

School children may be enhancing self-esteem, modifying behaviors, and improving academics.

Corporate employees clearly will benefit from leadership training or teamwork development.

Youth at-risk may be seeking an ability to resist temptation and resilience to manage difficulty. These clients are served in various settings or by many activities that are introduced differently.

SETTINGS

The more well-known games and activities like group initiatives, challenge courses, and rock climbing can take place indoors or outdoors.

Indoor settings include corporate boardrooms, school gymnasia, classrooms, camps and hotels.

Outdoor settings range from local school fields or city parks, through regional forests and lakes, to distant rivers or wilderness mountains.

ACTIVITIES

All activities are experiences and any activity can become experiential by adding reflection, integration, and continuation. However, the activities most commonly applied include the categories of socialization games, group initiatives, challenge courses, outdoor pursuits, and a wide range of other simulations.

Socialization games are used to warm up and deinhibit clients by stretching, setting the tone, raising heart rates, learning about one another, and motivating or invigorating participation.

Group initiatives are different team problem solving tasks: tools (focus on a single teamwork element) or tests (combine multiple elements).

Challenge courses are obstacles suspended in the air between trees or utility poles and are divided into low (protected by spotters) or high (belayed by static or dynamic ropes) courses.

Outdoor pursuits are human-powered “sports” divided by movement (fixed or mobile), activity location (place-based or remote), and duration (single day event or multi-day expeditions).

Other simulations include risky board games, computer models, and software applications

INTRODUCTIONS

The way an activity is introduced to clients (called “framing” the activity) can make a big difference in client engagement and learning. Four different types of frames or introductions are fantasy, reality, contextual, and isomorphic.

Fantasy is frequent in recreational programs (changes feelings) and uses imaginative and playful terms like “volcanic eruptions, wizards, or radioactive yogurt” to describe the activity.

Reality is often found in educational programs (changes thinking) and uses actual labels like: rope, grass, plank, blindfolds, teammates, etc.

Contextual is common within development programs (changes behavior) and uses words that describe a general metaphor for all clients.

Isomorphic is occasional in therapy programs (changes resistance) and uses key language that precisely describes clients’ parallel situations, where successful resolution of the activity is the very same behavior that is desired in daily life.

AUTHORS

Karl Rohnke & Simon Priest 

Karl Rohnke (posthumously) c/o

BOTTOMLESS BAG PUBLICATIONS, Kendall Hunt & Project Adventure

Originally Published in 2022

FURTHER RESOURCES

READING

Rohnke, K. (1991). The Bottomless Bag (2nd Ed.). Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. (1994). The Bottomless Bag Again. Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. (2004). The Bottomless Bag Revival! Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. (1989). Cowstails and Cobras II: A Guide to Games, Initiatives, Ropes Courses & Adventure Curriculum. Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. (1984). Silver Bullets: a guide to initiative problems, adventure games, stunts and trust activities. Project Adventure.

Rohnke, K. (2009). Silver Bullets: The 25th Anniversary Edition. Project Adventure.

Rohnke, K. & Butler, S. (1995). QuickSilver: Adventure Games, Initiative Problems, Trust Activities, and a Guide to Effective Leadership. Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. & Rogers, D. (2007). The Complete Ropes Course Manual. Kendall Hunt.

Priest, S. & Rohnke, K. (2000). 101 of the Best Corporate Team-Building Activities (2nd Ed.). Tarrak Technologies.

Priest, S., Sikes, S. & Evans, F. (2000) 99 of the best Experiential Corporate Games. Experientia.

Priest, S. & Gass, M. (2018). Chapter 13: Facilitation Skills. In Effective Leadership of Adventure Programming, (pp 280-303). Human Kinetics.

Priest, S., Gass, M. & Gillis, H.L. (2000). Essential Elements of Facilitation (3rd Ed.). Tarrak Technologies.

Rohnke, K. (1977). Cranking Out Adventure: A Bike Leader's Guide to Trial and Error Touring. Project Adventure.

Rohnke, K. (2004). Funn 'n Games. Kendall/Hunt.

Rohnke, K. (2002). A Small Book about Large Group Games. Kendall Hunt.

Rohnke, K. & Grout, J. (1998). Back Pocket Adventure. Project Adventure.