A Review of the Experiential

Learning Cycle and the Facilitating

Skills

Kurt Lewins Field Theory

Behavior is the result of the individual and their environment (life
space)
Life Space is the combination of all the factors that influence a
persons behavior at any time
Home
Life
Social
Life

Professional
Life

Home
Life

Home Life

Social Life

Profession
al Life

Group Dynamics

Professio
nal Life

Social
Life

Home
Life

Social
Life

Professio
nal Life

Group Dynamics
The interaction of the forces or energies of the environment at any
given point of time, which actively influence the individual, the
group, and the situation.
Elements in this interaction are perceived as either threatening or
accepting.
The concepts of valence* and tension** play significant roles in the
study of group dynamics
E.g. group acceptance: positive valence; group disapproval: negative valence

*valence - the quality in an object that makes it of special interest to

the person **tension - an internal state a person experiences if an
unsatisfied/unfulfilled need exists.

Group Dynamics
and the
Experiential
Learning Theory

What is the Experiential Learning Theory?

The process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation
of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and
transforming experience.
- The theory is called experiential learning to emphasize the central
role that experience plays in the learning process.

Experiential Learning Theory in Teams/Groups

- Three key insights that frame the experiential learning in groups:
- The pivotal role of reflective conversation
- Theory of functional role leadership
- The experiential learning process as the key to team/group development

Experiential Learning Theory in Teams/Groups

Our goal here is to learn from our experience as a group and
thereby create the group we want to be. We will do this by
sharing experiences together and reflecting on the meaning of
these experiences for each of us. We will use these observations
and reflections to create a collective understanding of our
group, which will serve to guide us in acting to create the kind of
group experience that we desire.

The Experiential
Learning Cycle

The ELC: What is it?

Experiencing

Applying

Generalizing

Publishing

Processing

First Stage: Experiencing

- Goal: for participants to develop a common base of information or
experience to use in the discussion that will follow
- Avoid the temptation to end a session prematurely before
fully discussing/processing the activity. If the process stops
at this stage, learning will be left to chance

Second Stage: Publishing

- Sharing of reactions and observations
- Talking about what happened makes the experience of each
individual available to all group members (What happened? How
did it go?)
- Techniques for doing Publishing:
- Record participants' responses on newsprint (especially in brainstorming
activities)
- Go around the room asking volunteers to share what they experienced and how
they felt about the activity.
- lf participants have worked in small groups, have each small group report to the
large group.

Third Stage: Processing

- Critical stage
- Participants begin to systematically examine what they experienced
and how they felt about it
- This is the "talking-through" stage in which participants begin to
recognize patterns in the way people think, feel and react.
- What kinds of things happened and why?

Third Stage: Processing

- Techniques in doing Processing:
- Listening for recurring themes from the reports of individuals
- Focusing attention on the particular roles that specific individuals played
during the activity
- Asking open-ended questions such as "What was that activity like for
you?"

Third Stage: Processing

NOTE:
-

When you are preparing to conduct a session, plan carefully how

to carry out the processing.

Take the time to write down open-ended questions that you plan to
ask the group.

When we fail to spend enough time "processing," we can leave

participants with "unfinished business" and unanswered questions.

Don't over process - take your cues from participants.

Fourth Stage: Generalizing

- Participants are asked to make connections between the activity
and everyday life ("So what? What have we learned?" )
- Encourage participants to focus on situations in their personal or
school lives that might relate to the activity.
- Their task is to develop some life principles learned in the activity
that could be applied "outside" in their own lives.
- This step is what makes experiential learning practical. When it is
omitted or glossed over, the learning is likely to be superficial.

Fourth Stage: Generalizing

- Some strategies for generalizing from the processing stage are:
- Have each participant complete the sentence "The most important thing
I learned today was
- Ask participants to imagine realistic situations "back home" and
determine how what they learned in the activity might be applicable

Fifth Stage: Applying

- The final stage of the experiential learning cycle is the purpose for
which the whole activity is designed.
- "Now what? - How will you use what you have learned?"
- Help participants apply the life principles they just identified to real
life situations. What are they going to DO as a result of their
learning?

Fifth Stage: Applying

- These techniques can be helpful:
- Have participants in small groups help each other with back-home
problem situations using the lessons learned in the activity.
- Have group members make concrete promises to one another about
actions they plan to take and changes they will make. individuals are
more likely to carry out their planned actions if they share them with
others.
- Practice new behaviors in role-plays of back-home situations

Steps in the Experiential Learning Cycle

Step 1: Orientation - setting the mood with encouraging words and eases the
participants into the activity through energizers or icebreakers
Step 2: Instructions - facilitator prepares the instructions and sees to it that they
are clearly heard, understood, and carried out by the participants
Step 3: Experiencing
Step 4: Data Gathering (Publishing) and Data Analysis (Processing)
Step 5: Synthesis and Generalizing (Generalizing)
Step 6: Integration (Applying)
Step 7: Closing Remarks - brief remarks give a sense of ending to the structured
learning experience

Distinctive
Functions of the
Facilitator of
Learning:
Facilitating Skills

Active Listening
Active listening is listening with a purpose
Active listening happens when the listener hears the various
messages being sent, understands their meaning, and then verifies
the meaning by offering feedback

Facilitating
Skill

Purpose

Implement Action

Examples

Using
Encouragers

To convey interest in what the speaker is

discussing; To keep the person talking

Dont agree or disagree. Use

noncommittal words with
positive tone of voice.

1. I see
2. Yes

Restating or
Clarification

To show that you are listening and

understand; To check the listeners
perception of the speakers message

Restate the others basic ideas,

emphasizing the facts

1. If I understand,
your idea is
2. In other words,
this is

Reflecting or
Paraphrasing

To feed back to the speaker the essence

of what has just been said. The listener
shortens and clarifies the speakers
comments

Restate the others basic

feelings

1. You feel that

2. You must feel
angry that

Summarizing

To pull important ideas, facts, etc. together;

To establish a basis for further discussion;
To review progress

Restate, reflect, and

summarize major ideas and
feelings

1. These seem to be
the key ideas
2. If I understand
you, you feel that

Non-verbal cues
S sit straight
O open posture
L leaning forward
E eye contact
R relax

As a facilitator, always remember:

References
Adams, A. B., Kayes, D. C., & Kolb, D. A. (n.d.). Experiential learning in teams. Retrieved from
http://www.weatherhead.case.edu
Health Psychology Consultancy (2011). Active listening through body language. Retrieved
from
http://www.healthpsychologyconsultancy.wordpress.com
Ivey, A., E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquette, C. P. (2014). Intentional interviewing and counseling:
Facilitating client
development in a multicultural society, 8th ed. Brooks Cole: Belmont,
CA
Managing Diversity (1998). Active listening. Retrieved from http://www.web.ewu.edu
National Resource Center (2001). The experiential learning cycle. Retrieved from
http://www.online.tarleton.edu
Ortigas, C. D. (2008). Group process and the inductive method: Theory and practice in the
Philippines.
Ateneo de Manila University Press: Quezon City

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be

ignited.
- Anonymous

Thank you!