Connecting the Dots:Building an Experiential Education

Movement

Laurie Frank & Jeff GloverAEE 2014

How will we build a Sustainable Adventure Movement?

CREATING COMMUNITY, BUILDING a MOVEMENT

AEE Annual International ConferenceKurt Hahn AddressNovember 1, 2013

• Adventure Cycling Association • Adventure Travel Trade Association

(ATTA)• America Outdoors Association (AOA)• American Alliance for Health, Physical

Education, Recreation and Dance (AAPHERD)

• American Art Therapy Association (AATA)

• American Camp Association (ACA)• American Dance Therapy Association

(ADTA)• American Education Research

Association (AERA)• American Society for Engineering

Education (ASEE)• Cooperative and Experiential

Education Division (CEED)• Association for Challenge Course

Technology (ACCT)• Association for Environmental and

Outdoor Education (AEOE)• Association for Experiential Education

(AEE)• Association for the Advancement of

Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

• Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU)

• Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE)

• Association for Play Therapy• Christian Adventure Association

(CAA)• Connecticut Experiential Education

Association (CEEA)• Equine Experiential Education

Association (E3A)• Experiential Training and

Development Alliance (ETDA)

• Independent Schools Experiential Education Network (ISEEN)

• International Association for Professional Wilderness-, open- and swiftwater-, and Mountain GuidesInternational Art Therapy Organization (IATO)

• International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE)

• International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA)

• International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA)

• Minnesota Association for Experiential Learning (MAFEL)

• National Society for Experiential Education

• New York State Cooperative and Experiential Education Association (NYSCEEA)

• North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)

• North American Association for the Community of Inquiry (NAACI)

• Outdoor Industry Association (OIA)• Professional Ropes Course

Association (PRCA)• Wilderness Education Association

(WEA)• Wilderness Guides Association (WGA)• Wilderness Risk Management

Conference (WRMC)• World Adventure Association• World Association of Zoos and

Aquariums (WAZA)• World Environmental Education

Congress (WEEC)

II. Why We’re Coming Together?A. Why are you here?B. EE Definition & Principles C. Values

“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things….”

Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)

Convergence of New Knowledge

Experiential & Adventure Education

The Entrepreneurial

Society

Innovation Platforms

MOVEMENT: A group of people working together to advance their shared political,

social, or artistic ideas

What is a Sustainable Experiential Movement?• Inspired by the book The Tipping Point by

Malcom Gladwell (2002) that introduces the concept of social epidemics…

• “Ideas, products, messages, and behaviors spread just like viruses do.”

• Experiential Education is an idea that can spread like an epidemic, more specifically a social movement, thus the quest for a…

Sustainable Experiential Movement

Why are You Here?

Get it Back!

Experiential learning and experiential education are buzzwords within many educational circles. These terms are often used interchangeably. There are numerous published definitions of experiential education (Joplin, 1981; Luckman, 1996; Itin, 1999). The Association for Experiential Education (2004) defines experiential education a philosophy that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values. Central to this definition is the distinction between experiential education as methodology and experiential education as philosophy. This distinction suggests that there is a difference between experiential learning and experiential education. 

Experiential Education

… a philosophy that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values.

Association for Experiential Education (2013)www.aee.org

Exploring EE Values

• A Movement is Grounded on Core Values– Adventure– Environmental Stewardship– Safety– Compassion– Service– Diversity

III. Vision StatementsWhat could the world look like if we put these values into action through EE in its many forms – and why would we want that?

Diffusion in Action

Derek Sivers: How to start a movement

Connecting the Dots and the Diffusion Model for Experiential

Education

Simon Says:

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”

The Golden Circle

The Golden CircleWhatEvery organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell or the

servicesthey offer.

Wilderness Education

Adventure Based Counseling

Inquiry

Service LearningArt, Play, Music, Drama & related Therapies

SimulationsExperience Based Training and

Development

Environmental Education

Internships

Expeditionary Learning

Adventure/Challenge Education

Philosophy of Experiential Education

And more…Equine Assisted Therapy

Cooperative Education Project Based Learning

Problem Based LearningAdventure Education

The Golden CircleWhatEvery organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell or the

servicesthey offer.

HowSome organizationsknow HOW they do it. Theseare the things that makethem special or set themapart from their competition.

The Golden CircleWhatEvery organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell or the

servicesthey offer.

HowSome organizationsknow HOW they do it. Theseare the things that makethem special or set themapart from their competition.

WhyVery few organizations know

WHY they do what they do. WHY is

not about making money. That’s a result. It’s a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.

The Golden Circle

The Golden Circle

The Golden Circle + Human Brain

The Golden Circle + The Cone

AMP Delphi PanelPam McPhee, M.S.W.,Executive Director of the University of New

Hampshire's Browne Center- Bravo

James Niell- Center for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra (Australia) – Delta

Ella Echo- Regional Director of a Non-Profit School Reform Organization- Echo

Arlene R. Ustin- Graduate Mentor, Prescott College- Golf

Betsey Upchurch- CEO, P4 Consulting-Hotel

Cliff Knapp- Northern Illinois University (Retired)- Kilo

Preston Cline- Director Wharton Leadership Ventures, Wharton School, U. of Penn.- Lima

Start with Why? Why does outdoor adventure education matter?

“For the same reason Kurt Hahn thought so. Because, if done right, you can help someone realize that they are greater than they think they are. It is the single greatest thing we can do in education.” Preston Cline

Why is a purpose, a cause or a belief….

The Stickiness Factor

Message Memorable Sticky

The Stickiness Factor

We all want to believe that the key to making an impact on someone lies with the inherent quality of the ideas we present. But in none of these cases (Blues Clues and Sesame Street) did anyone substantially alter the content of what they were saying. Instead, they tipped the message by tinkering, on the margin, with the presentation of their ideas. (p. 133)

Why EE?

EE intimately engages three critical areas which will determine the future of this planet; 1) sustainability; 2) innovation; and 3) servant leadership.

Achieve Sustainability

• “We do not understand the natural world as the source of all other resources. We must protect it and we can only do that with people who have been there” Betsey Upchurch with agreement from Preston Cline.

Drive Innovation

• Business organizations have a crisis of people who have business skills. Adventure education builds business skills such as responsibility, accountability, the ability to work successfully in teams, the ability to lead and influence others, the ability to see the big picture and what needs to be done now,” stated Upchurch with agreement from Cline.

Inspire Servant Leadership

• A strength of Outdoor Adventure Education as stated by Cline is it can, “Start teaching people how to navigate uncertainty. No this is not easy, but fundamentally it is what we are great at.”

The AMP Model: Turning Thesis into Reality

Pre Planning Phase

• What relationships have experiential educators built in mainstream education?

• Who are our allies?

Build Trusting Relationships

• How can we focus the energy of experiential educators on one goal?

• What institutions can and should take the lead in organizing “company” unity?

High Degree of Company

Unity

Star Fish Analogy

V. Call to ActionPossibilities & Challenges – Conversations, Ideas,

Commitments- Individually

- Jointly- Organizationally

AMPAEE

- Formally/informally

AMP-WORTHY

Why Not?

Machiavellian Attitude: The Crossing the Chasm Plan

Experiential Learning Programs

The Entrepreneurial Society in a Flat

World

The Tipping Point principles

to create a Social

Movement

“… if one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to live the life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

… If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

Henry David Thoreau