(1st Secondary School of Kiato, Greece)

Abstract: The experiential learning model focuses on experience and emphasizes its paramount importance in the learning process. It places great emphasis on the relationship between teaching, -which takes place in the classroom-, and the society and everyday life of the students. Dewey, a pioneer in experiential learning, refers to education and stresses that it is “of, by, and for experience”. Next, it was the turn of Piaget who believes that learning is a process by which the person interacts with the environment and Lewin who emphasizes the importance of individual experience in learning and highlights the inextricable relationship between theory and practice. All three of them, with their works which concentrate on experience, founded the theory of experiential learning which is opposed to the cognitive theories of learning that do not take into account the awareness and experiences of the individual.

Subsequently, David A. Kolb, based on the work of Dewey, describes the four stages of the cycle of experiential learning, namely concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. This model requires the active involvement in the learning process of the trainees, who through practice and exercise attain immediate results. In contrast to traditional models, students focus on a specific experience, think critically and work out possible scenarios that can differentiate it.

The participation and the role of a teacher who has organizational skills that allow him/her to support appropriate activities, is also very important. For the purposes of the teaching procedure, various experiential learning activities, such as activities of direct experience and creative thinking, role plays, interviews, conflict brainstorming, simulation, educational visits to archaeological sites and generally to places of cultural interest, theatrical performances, etc. are planned, organized and applied. The methods and techniques used by teachers for the most appropriate experiential learning experience are many. The three main educational methods applied are: educational techniques that are implemented inside the classroom, those that take place outside it and educational exercises.