Embodied Experiential Learning

This paper presents a craft in experiential teaching and an experiment in embodied learning for peacebuilders and change-makers. The theories, practices and experiments are part of the postgraduate course in Peace of Mind. The intention is to invite the reader to see experiential learning and awareness-based practices as a tool that enables a possibility to evolve our humanness. Interdisciplinary abstract methodologies from Indigenous and phenomenological philosophies support the argument that granular and qualitative knowledge emerges through the embodiment of human expression. It addresses the concept of fragmentation of the self, the importance to pause to give voice to knowledge that words cannot convey. Through the arts, the paper shows non-linear forms of communication with visual experiments. The purpose of this collaborative work is in the craft, in the process, and beyond the authorship.

Application of Experiential Teaching in the Reform of College Students’ Mental Health Course from the Perspective of Life Education

In recent years, the phenomenon of college students’ indifference to life occurs frequently which seriously damages the healthy growth of college students. Life education should be integrated into mental health education courses in colleges. Experiential teaching is a type of teaching activity that is characterized by students’ personal experiences and initiative, focusing on the participation of practical activities. Compared with traditional lectures, it improves students’ interest and enthusiasm. In the mental health course, experiential teaching applies theoretical knowledge to real life and promote the improvement of students’ mental health to shape stable and mature personalities and eventually, promotes the development of life. College students’ mental health course should be integrated with experiential teaching practice in the perspective of life education, so as to better improve the teaching effect and guide students to form a correct outlook of life.

THE INTEGRATION OF EXPERIENTIAL TECHNIQUES IN ADULT EDUCATION AND THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR ADOPTION

The present research is a quantitative approach to the experiential learning provided in adult education. It focuses on the investigation of the experiential teaching techniques adopted and applied by adult educators at Vocational Training Institutes (VTI), based on their individual and work characteristics. The sample consisted of 317 instructors of public and private VTI, which was a product of inventory sampling, and was conducted at national level. A standard questionnaire, that was prepared for the needs of this research was used as a research tool. The results of the research are presented through descriptive, but also inductive statistical methods and confirm that adult educators use a variety of experiential teaching techniques in their work, with some of them being more preferred than others that seem to be less popular. In addition, the individual-work characteristics of educators affect, in some cases, the degree and intensity with which they utilize some experiential techniques, during the teaching process.

Experiential teaching of planetary sciences from kindergartens to secondary schools: the "Astronomiadi" educational project

<p>The Piedmontese town of Pino Torinese is one of the twelve italian locations hosting a local department of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the Astronomical Observatory of Turin. This peculiarity led to the development of a close collaboration between researchers, teachers and local community and administration, aiming at the promotion of astronomy, and in particular planetary sciences, among students from kindergartens to secondary schools. The chosen driving approach, experiential learning, is not very common in Italy. </p>

Mental health training for correctional officers: a systematic review

AimsMental illness amongst prison inmates is a prevailing issue across the world, as mental illnesses are overrepresented in correctional facilities when compared to community populations. Despite this, correctional officers receive little to no training on how to respond to inmates with mental illness. Implementing mental health training could improve officer knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward inmates with mental illness. This could lead to improvements in risk management, humane treatment of inmates, and interprofessional collaboration with healthcare providers. There is limited research on the educational value of inmate mental health training programs for correctional officers. As far as we are aware, there have been no prior reviews of this literature. The goal of the present study is to review this literature to explore the nature and effectiveness of correctional officer mental health training programs.MethodMedical and criminal justice databases were searched for scientific articles describing correctional officer mental health training programs. All studies that included a measurable outcome on either correctional officer knowledge or inmate mental health were included in a final analysis. The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews.ResultOf 1492 articles identified using search terms, 11 were included in the analysis. 6 articles described mental health education programs, 2 articles described skill-specific programs, and 3 articles described suicide prevention programs. Training programs reviewed content about mental illness, practical skills, and included didactic and experiential teaching modalities. The programs led to improvements in knowledge, skills, and attitudes amongst officers. Prior mental health attitudes, knowledge, and work experience did not correlate with improvements following training. Officers were more receptive to program facilitators with correctional or lived mental health experience. Experiential teaching was preferred to didactic teaching. A decline in training improvements occurred several months after training.ConclusionThere is limited but positive literature suggesting that structured training programs, particularly involving persons with lived experience and experiential components are beneficial. The decline in training improvements suggests need for ongoing education and systems change within correctional institutions to ensure sustainability of gains. In terms of limitations of this review, it is possible articles pertaining to correctional officer mental health training were not available on the databases searched or some programs may not be published. Studies were also limited in their outcome measurement, with no consistent tools, and no control groups. This review can guide the development, delivery, and contribute toward best practice guidelines for future inmate mental health training programs and studies.

LEARNING STRATEGIES AND SCHOOL MOTIVATION IN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING VS. TRADITIONAL LEARNING

"Introduction: In recent years, European innovation policies in education have focused on preventing early school leaving and functional illiteracy. In this context of innovation in education, experiential learning has proven to have unique qualities for both teachers and students. Thus, the main motivation of this paper was to show that experiential teaching methods and techniques in primary education are able to produce significant improvements in learning strategies and school motivation in young students. Objectives: The aim of this this study was to explore the differences in learning strategies and school motivation on young students who had benefitted from Experiential Learning, in contrast with those following direct learning instructional methods Methods: This study was performed using two groups of subjects. The first group (experimental group) included 60 students taught by experiential methods and the second group (control group) included 60 students taught by traditional methods. All students were in the fourth grade in an urban school. Differences in learning strategies and school motivation were explored by applying School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory - SMALSI (Stroud & Reynolds, 2006) to both the experimental group and the control group. SMALSI is structured in 9 dimensions - 6 strengths: study strategies, note-taking / listening skills, reading / comprehension strategies, writing skills / research, strategies used in tests, techniques for organizing / managing time; and 3 weaknesses are: low academic motivation, test anxiety, concentration difficulties / paying attention. To determine the differences in the students’ mean scores, descriptive as well as inferential statistical analyses were performed on the data. Results: The results showed that an experiential teaching model produces positive results in all evaluated strengths and in two of the three weak points investigated, namely in academic motivation and test anxiety. Statistically insignificant effects are in terms of attention / concentration difficulties, they may be more dependent on physiological and psychological maturation and less on the teaching methods, but also may be a direction of further research. Conclusions: The findings of this study could significantly help teachers looking for viable solutions to optimize students school results, increase school motivation and improve learning strategies in primary school."

Towards a Pluralistic and Experiential Teaching of Economics for the Agenda 2030. the SDSN France Textbook

The goals of the Agenda 2030 require a significant effort to educate and train new generations on sustainability issues. This article presents an initiative in favor of the evolution of the contents and the pedagogy of economics at the University level. We present the new “Ecological Money and Finance” textbook developed by SDSN France. We detail the assumptions, contents and learning objectives proposed in this new textbook. Then, we describe how it can be used in the framework of an experiential pedagogy of economics, taking as a case study the fundamental economics course of the Grande Ecole program at KEDGE BS.