Experiential Learning Center - BEF 2013
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Transcript of Experiential Learning Center - BEF 2013
The Experiential Learning Center
- Birmingham Public Schools-
Presentation for the Birmingham Education Foundation, March 2013
Background:Original creators included Principal Bob Lentz and Teacher Jim Moll
Original Elective class of Natural Resources: 1984 at Groves, 1986 at Seaholm
•Creation of the BPS Experiential Learning Center, 1990
•Trips and Activities serve between 900 and 2100 students per year, each year since 1990
•Class enrollments for NR classes and Advanced classes, 3,100 students to date
Background:
Adventure and discovery, methods oftenlinked to
•Learning by doing•Learning by experiment•Learning through a process
WHAT WE DO: Adventure Classes and
Experience-based Classes
Natural ResourcesAdvanced Natural ResourcesPeer MediationService Learning
Adventure Trips and Activities
Wilderness TripsUrban ProjectsService Projects
Cooperative Teaching Efforts with Teachers in their Content Areas
Staff Development Projects and
Team/Group Retreats
Program Goals: Program Goals: •To Promote the ability to get things done and work smoothly To Promote the ability to get things done and work smoothly
with otherswith others•To develop skills needed for effective problem solvingTo develop skills needed for effective problem solving•To value self-motivation as a way to learn, participate, and growTo value self-motivation as a way to learn, participate, and grow•To promote assertiveness and independenceTo promote assertiveness and independence•To promote realistic attitudes toward othersTo promote realistic attitudes toward others•To increase a sense of responsibility to a group or a classTo increase a sense of responsibility to a group or a class•To increase a sense of competence, self-esteem, confidence, and To increase a sense of competence, self-esteem, confidence, and
self-awarenessself-awareness•To value risk taking and to be open to new experiencesTo value risk taking and to be open to new experiences•To increase a sense of usefulness to a larger communityTo increase a sense of usefulness to a larger community•To promote and enhanced concern for fellow human beingsTo promote and enhanced concern for fellow human beings
Mission Statement:
To serve the students and staff of the To serve the students and staff of the Birmingham High Schools Birmingham High Schools
by providing programs, activities, and by providing programs, activities, and development opportunities development opportunities
based on adventure, personal goal based on adventure, personal goal setting, appropriate risk taking, and setting, appropriate risk taking, and cooperative work.cooperative work.
ELC - Connections to Progressive Education
Fully Accredited Institutional Member of the Association for Experiential Education - since 1988
Workshops and seminars given with the focus on the philosophy and pedagogy of John Dewey and Kurt Hahn
Engagement of teachers and learners has been our 20 year focus
Dewey continually argues that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place. In addition, he believed that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, and all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning.
John Dewey and The Pragmatists: He believed that education should not be concerned only
with the mind. Students should develop manual skills. Learning must be related to the interests of students and connected with current problems. Dewey declared that education must include a student's physical and moral well-being as well as intellectual development.
In Art as Experience (1934), Dewey connected works of art with the experiences of everyday life. He wrote that daily experience can be glorious, joyous, sad, tedious, terrifying, and tragic. These, he said, are the qualities that architects, composers, painters, and writers seek to capture and express in their works. Dewey regarded education as incomplete if it ignores these experiences.
Smith, John E. "Dewey, John." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
To increase a sense of usefulness to a larger community
Trips and Adventure Activities
Habitat
For
Humanity
To increase a sense of competence, self esteem, confidence, and self-awareness
Adventure And Experience-based Classes
Natural
Resources
To value self-motivation as a way to learn, participate, and grow
Adventure Classes and Experience-based Classes
Natural
Resources
To value risk taking and to be open to new experiences
Adventure Classes and Experience-based Classes
Rock
Climbing Wall
To promote realistic attitudes toward others
Cooperative Teaching Efforts With Teachers In Their Content Areas
Student Exchange
With
Dearborn Schools
Nautical
Math on the
Detroit River
Cooperative Teaching Efforts with Teachers In Their Content Areas
Cooperative Teaching Efforts With Teachers In Their Content Areas
To increase a sense of responsibility to a group or a class
Cooperative Teaching Efforts With Teachers In Their Content
Area
Leadership
Retreat
To promote an enhanced concern for fellow human beings
Cooperative Teaching Efforts With Teachers In Their Content Areas
Literacy
Program in
Chicago
Spring Break Service Project
Staff Development Projects and Group Retreats
Habitat For
Humanity
2005
Isle RoyaleWilderness
Backpacking Challenge
Summer School Session, 2010
Wilderness in Literature Class
Sunrise over Rock Harbor
Shared Approach with the BEF:•Designed to offer connections to the community around us
•Teachers search for applications and connections for their class
•Students value the participation and evaluation of their experience or adventure
•The skills and abilities used in group settings are evaluated in reflection
•The written goals focus on transfer of skills to other classes, projects, endeavors