Topic > Experience and learning: experience vs. Learning

As many say, experience is the best teacher. Those who teach are often described as good at what they do and receive top marks as an end result of their students' performances. It is a fact that most teachers aim for learning rather than teaching, even if their job is to teach. In other words, the crucial goal of teaching is to have a positive effect on learning. Simply put, we can deduce that the best way to learn is simply through experience. This has been established by (Boud, Cohen and Walker 8) that both experience and learning go hand in hand and are extremely inseparable. Kolb, the creator of experiential learning, argues that “Learning is the process by which knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb 38). Although this idea is not entirely acceptable to many of his critics who argue that Kolb limited the condition of learning only to that of achieving knowledge and experiential situations. (Barba and Wilson 2000). It is worth stating that experience and learning have a strong connection and that the two are almost entirely interchangeable due to the effect of the two in changing behavior. Learning in the world of work has certainly become vital for most organizations due to the current nature of customers, employers, employees and the corporate atmosphere which is characterized by both technological growth and competitive advantage. It has gotten to such a level that some organizations that might take it for granted are losing out on paying for it. Such organizations usually go out of business or suffer large losses in the market. It is suggested that organizations are indeed changing and that we need active organizations that are able and willing to read... the middle of the paper... the ring in a classroom can't do. Studying abroad is another great example. An individual can learn all they want about what a certain culture entails, but there is nothing better than going to a different country and experiencing that culture first hand. Experiential learning is extremely beneficial, and while there are many critics, it is critical to fully understanding a particular experience. As the famous Chinese proverb says, “tell me and I will forget; show me and I might remember; Involve me and I will understand." Getting the ball rolling on experiential learning proves to be extremely beneficial. The concept of this way of learning has proven to be very dynamic in both the learning and growth of employees and education. As the world is driven by competition and innovation, experiential learning proves to be essential and a widely pursued endeavor in the near future.