I took my daughter out of town for trip to the farm. We were not keen to do so due to the long drive. However, we did so anyway and after the trip, it was one of the best decisions made. It was a relatively small farm in the highlands, overlooking the tallest mountain in the country, Mount Kinabalu.
The agenda of the day was to let the children experience feeding animals for the first time. I have to say that it was such a wonderful teaching opportunity. My daughter was rather excited about feeding the calf and the goat, at first, until she experienced it first hand. Apparently, having a calf or a goat lunging at you through the pen can be a rather scary experience for a child. I remember my daughter being rather apprehensive about it, thinking that the calf was going to bite her.
Upon further assurance and encouragement, she happily fed the other animals and had a wonderful time.
Experiencing something for real as compared to learning about it from books and videos is indeed very different. Most would agree that experience and failure are two of the greatest teachers. Personally, I have come to love opportunities like this and despite having to wake up at 5 am just to get to the farm early for this experience.
Experiential Learning
The entire farm experience above can be attributed to experiential learning which is extremely in teaching children certain concepts. Similar to learning Mathematics, the best way to learn it is not by memorizing the concepts, but understanding how it is used in real life and applying it. This however does not apply in how we teach the next generation new concepts. While experiential learning is applied quite extensively in several preschool curriculum, the focus slowly shifts from experiential learning to a more classroom centered form of education.
Now, I am not against learning in the classroom, I believe there is always a place for it. However, I do think more opportunities should be given to seeing the real world application of the things we learn. This can be applied to the topics that everyone finds complicated such as Algebra. For me, that would be Chinese idioms. I remember having to memorize all 700 idioms and sayings. I did not see any real world application in them (except for writing love letters). Thus, it was exceptionally hard for me to see any point in focusing my energy on it.
College Education
This is seen in some tertiary education institutions. An emphasis is placed more on the exams and academic writing as compared to the practical aspects of the course. Some who have gone through the hospitality line of work are required to write a full academic dissertation in order to graduate. Personally, I feel that it is not a reliable method of assessment. I feel that a good graduate in the line of hospitality should be able to run a hotel well. Even if they are not able to write an academic dissertation.
In terms of teacher education. Instead of going through years of academic studies with a mere few months of classroom experience, I believe more time should be allocated on experiencing the challenges of teaching, such as managing the classroom and conducting activities. Don't get me wrong, an academic dissertation is important, but there's a need for more hands-on activities to familiarize the teacher with what to expect when they graduate.
Conclusion
Experiential learning is a great way to teach and I hope more can be incorporated into the learning experiences of the students. No matter what level they may be at, it is important for them to experience what they are learning and make sense of it.
Do you agree with this? Are there ample opportunities for you to experience the things that you learn at school? Do let me know in the comments below.