Aspen High School Experiential Education

“Experiential education is a philosophy that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people's capacity to contribute to their communities.” 

(adapted from The Association for Experiential Education)

Tenets of Experiential Education:

• Learners are engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully and physically.

• Experiences are structured to require the learner to take initiative, make decisions and be accountable for results.

• The educator and learner will experience success, failure, adventure, risk-taking and uncertainty, because the outcomes of experience cannot totally be predicted.

• The educator recognizes and encourages spontaneous opportunities for learning.

• Experiential learning occurs when carefully chosen experiences are supported by risk mitigation, reflection, critical analysis and synthesis. (Higher order thinking skills)

Key Components of Experiential Education:

• Skills and Safety: The educator will teach specific skills related to the course to the best of their knowledge. Integrated with these skills are safety awareness and protocols where students are closely supervised as they acquire the requisite skills to gain sound judgement.  

• Learning: The educator will instill an attitude of curiosity, experimentation, and participation with all students. EXED encourages creativity, contemplation, and collaboration with the group.  Learning is done in a community of peers with the educator as the one facilitating the experience. Read more here- pg.5- B. Rogoff. 

• Self Confidence: The educator will enhance and expand the students’ self confidence through expanding students’ perceived limits, group collaboration, skills practice, reflection, and by meeting goals and experiencing failures.  

• Interpersonal Effectiveness: The educator will foster communication, cooperation, and a sense of whole group community. Honesty, tolerance, leadership, initiative, and individual responsibility are essential for successful group experiences.  

You will notice many of these EXED objectives harmonize with the International Baccalaureate values and IB learner profile. This is powerful given EXED and IB are two of the most notable pedagogical drivers at our school. Aspen High School’s Leadership Team have crafted Design Principles which guide teachers and students in the ways we would like to see students develop and grow.  Notice how these design principles emesh with the underlying philosophy and tenets of EXED.