Empowering Learning: The Importance of Being Experiential

Experience – it is our first teacher in life, our early warning system, and our guide to world discovery. Experience connects the inner self to the outer world. It shapes our thoughts, informs our attitudes, motivates our actions. It is the most common mode of learning for all of humanity. Yet, hidden in plain sight, experiential learning is largely taken for granted by educators and researchers. We assume that experience is largely educational. We simply ‘learn by doing’ – don’t we? There is a world of difference between ‘doing’ and ‘doing intelligently’. By understanding how experience acts as a mechanism to inspire and scaffold memorable learning, we stand to gain greater control over this most powerful and universal force in human development. Learning, empowered by experience, is life-changing for learners; experience, purposefully harnessed, is transformational for schools.