Learning in a naturalistic setting is the most effective way to help people relate better to each other and develop their talents.
Outbound training creates a learning environment wherein participants learn while performing certain physical exercises and carrying out certain adventurous activities. The Outbound Training focuses on experiential learning for all the participants. Experiential Training is learning by doing. Experiential Training uses physical and mental activities. By participating in these activitieps people can "experience" learning and take part in developing skills that can help them to achieve personal and organizational goals.
Experiential learning provides engaging scenarios which challenge the team to work effectively and efficiently together in order to achieve a goal realize a vision of success or solve a problem.
It is said that, "what I hear I tend to forget, what I see I tend to remember, what I DO I will understand".
Experiential Learning Cycle
David A. Kolb developed the experiential learning cycle theory in a landmark book - Experiential Learning: Experience as a source of Learning and Development (1984). He based his theory on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, Paulo Freire and others.
The theory sets out a four part framework that, in short, says that we learn if we:
| 1. | Have an experience | | 2. | Reflect upon it critically | | 3. | Generalize what we have learned from that reflection and then | | 4. | Apply that learning to new, similar situations |
| > Experience > Reflection > Generalization > Application > |
Experience:
In the words of David Kolb:
Immediate personal experience is the focal point for learning, giving life, texture, and subjective meaning to abstract concepts and at the same time providing a concrete, publicly shared reference point for testing the implications and validity of ideas created during the learning process. (1984)
Use of experiential activities can be the sole method employed to reach a training goal or can be just one of several methods. Creating an experience can be done through role playing, games simulations, case studies and much more. In fact, backing a cake is an experience. So is shaking hands, telling a joke, engaging in a conversation, shopping, etc. A good facilitator can draw learning for nearly any experience if s/ he process it properly.
Reflection:
John Dewey describes this stage of learning as "...judgment, which puts together what is observed and what is recalled to see what they signify", (Dewey 1938). The reflection stage involves posing questions that ask participants to look back on the experience and describe what they observed, what happened, how other people behave, how they themselves behave, how they felt in the situation, what they think of their own reactions, etc.
Generalization:
This stage begins with "Why did these things happen," and ends with "What conclusions can be drawn from the experience?" "Questions that can be posed might include, "What caused you to react that way?" "What have you learnt from this?" "Were these appropriate behaviors?" "Where do you think that comes from?" The goal here is to move the students toward conceptualizing the motivations behind certain behaviors or to understand a reality they know little or nothing about.
Application:
The act of applying learning to new situations comprises the final stages. "Problem posing education bases itself on creativity and stimulates true reflection and action upon reality..." ("Freire 1990 - Emphasis is ours").
During the training sessions we will help the participants to apply the learning through generalization to some specific situations. This is done through questions like, "how can you put that to use?" "In what future situations will you change your behavior accordingly?" "What options has this discussion opened or closed for you?" Or simply, "how will you apply this learning?"
Why Outbound Training?
| 1. | Globalization - Competition - Rapid Change - New Technologies - Dealing with uncertainties - Pioneering Blue Ocean strategies - Survival of the fittest; these are the present challenges to our organizations. Any growth oriented and dynamic organization wanting to succeed in these situations needs highly cultured, effective, competent, proactive and innovative people. | | 2. | Experiential Learning through Outbound Training brings out the best in staff, managers and executives to meet the present-day challenges and motivates them to be responsive. | | 3. | Traditional classroom training has certain limitations in imparting training in the area of various skills like developing positive attitude, changing culture, building team, developing great managers and leaders. Outbound Training by its inherent experiential learning cycle transcends these limitations. |
What are the Distinctive Features of Outbound Training?
An Outbound Training has the following distinctive features that create a very receptive & conducive learning environment.
| 1. | Informal Environment | | | Information Environment in a natural setting stimulates hidden talents and inquisitiveness vital for effective learning. | | 2. | Active & Enthusiastic Involvement | | | Tasks and activities are designed/ selected to excite the participants and create active and enthusiastic involvement in the performance of each task. | | 3. | Diversified Tasks/ Activities | | | Diversified tasks and activities demand different approaches, spontaneous changes and adaptations. | | 4. | Opportunity to Share Experiences | | | Facilitators and Participants Interaction after each task, results in sharing the benefits of experiential learning. Sharing different individual experience reinforces pro-active thinking and learning. It provides opportunities to share quality time as a human being, to release suppressed emotions and to ease out the conflicts. Collectively it results in building strong relationships. | | 5. | Relaxed & Receptive State of Mind | | | Since the experiential learning place in a naturalistic setting, it gives a relaxed and receptive State of Mind that enhances the capacity to perform, reflect, relate, analyse, evaluate and act upon thus resulting in effective learning. |
How do we train?
* Poolside Open area Teaching sessions on relevant topics/ aspects. * Provide individual and/ or the team with challenge, with specific guidelines, parameters and time limits, in between Teaching Sessions. * Allow the individual and/ or the team members to figure out the best way to work individually or together to achieve a goal or solve a problem in a manner which moves them closer to being The Best They've Ever Been. * Encourage the individual/ Teams to challenge their comfort zones to perform that task given * In-depth debriefing at the end of each activity/ task to reflect upon the learning experience of each participant. * Guide the participants to generalize the learning experience so that they could apply the same in the next task/ activity given. * Link specific behaviors of individuals and team dynamics witnessed during the activity to actual work scenarios and come away with tangible, actionable and targeted solutions that have a direct and positive impact on both the individual and the team's success. |
