The Experiential Educator: Principles and Practices of Experiential Learning

For teachers, college professors, coaches, consultants, and organizational leaders, a big part of the job is to help others learn. Those who have discovered experiential learning theory and applied its principles in their work have experienced a transformational impact on the learners they serve and on their own professional development.

In The Experiential Educator Alice and David Kolb show how you can use these principles and practices to maximize learning. Their comprehensive handbook examines the philosophy of experiential learning as expressed in the works of foundational scholars from William James and John Dewey to Carl Rogers and Paulo Freire. They explore the basic concepts of experiential learning theory, describing the current state-of-the-art research and practice in

• the concepts of the learning cycle and learning style;
• experiential learning and the brain;
• how the spiral of learning leads to development;
• developing a positive learning identity; and
• helping learners to develop skills in mindful deliberate learning.

Application of these principles to promote individual, team, and organizational learning include

• creating hospitable spaces for learning that offer challenge and support;
• creating learning spaces to develop expertise and sustained lifelong learning; and
• key roles that educators need to teach around the learning cycle.

Alice Y. Kolb received her bachelor's degree from Tokyo University and completed her master's degree and doctoral program in human resource management at Hitotsubashi University. She completed a PhD in organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve University. She, with David A. Kolb, won the 2008 Educational Pioneers of the Year Award from the National Society for Experiential Education.

David A. Kolb received his bachelor's degree in from Knox College and PhD in social psychology from Harvard University. He was a professor of organizational behavior at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management where he is an Emeritus Professor. David has received four honorary degrees recognizing his contributions to experiential learning in higher education.

Together, they lead Experience Based Learning Systems, a R&D organization devoted to research and application of experiential learning through an international network of researchers, practitioners, and learning partners.