The best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the internal frame of reference of the individual him/herself

Carl Rogers (1951) developed his client-centred therapy in response to what he regarded as the impersonal approach of the behaviourists and psychoanalysists. His ideas have resulted in the 'student-centred' learning approach to the theory of learning. According to this school of thought, the teacher/lecturer is no longer seen as the expert who can hand down knowledge and understanding to the learner. Rather, s/he 'facilitates' learning. The priority for learners is to learn how to learn - only then will the teacher/lecturer be able to support or 'enable' learning by making appropriate experiences available.

This approach overlaps with Kurt Lewin's work on group dynamics and experiential learning.  It requires a new approach to be adopted by the teacher/learner, with aach individual learner considered to be unique. Their current level of understanding has to be assessed before learning can take place. A set of performance criteria and competencies can then be identified and experiences can be identified which will both enhance prior learning and lead to new learning.

According to Johnson & Johnson (1997:54) experiential learning involves the acceptance of a number of principles which need to be understood and followed, including:

• People will believe more in knowledge they have discovered themselves than in knowledge presented by others.
• Learning is more effective when it is an active rather than a passive process.
• Effective experiential learning will affect the learner's cognitive structures (action theories), attitudes and values, perceptions and behavioural patterns.
• Acceptance of new action theories, attitudes and behavioral patterns cannot be brought about by a piecemeal approach - one's whole cognitive-affective-behavioural system has to change.
• It takes more than information to change action theories, attitudes and behavioural patterns.
• It takes more than firsthand experience to generate valid knowledge....there needs to be a theoretical system that the experience tests out, and reflection on the meaning of the experience.
• Behaviour changes will be temporary unless the action theories and attitudes underlying them are changed.
• Changes in perceptions of oneself and one's social environment are necessary before changes in action theories, attitudes and behaviour will take place.
• The more supportive, accepting and caring the social environment, the freer a person is to experiment with new behaviours, attitudes, and action theories.
• In order for changes to be permanent, both the person and the social environment have to change.
• It is easier to change a person's action theories, attitudes, and behavioural patterns in a group context than in an individual context.
• A person accepts a new system of action theories, attitudes and behavioural patterns when he or she accepts membership in a new group.

So - learning by experience becomes the process of making generalizations and conclusions about your own direct experiences. The process of experiential learning is shown diagrammatically below:

The learner reflects on his/her concrete personal experiences and examines their meaning in order to formulate a set of concepts or principles to help understand such experiences.

Experiential learning results in personal theories about effective behaviour and continuously recurs as these theories are tested out and confirmed or modified.

References:

• Cotton, J. (1995) The Theory of Learning: An Introduction, London, Kogan Page.
• Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, F.P. (1997) Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills, (6th edition), New Jersey, Prentice-Hall International.
• Rogers, C. (1951) On Becoming a Person, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

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