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 develop skills needed for effective problem solving

Trips and Adventure Activities

Grand Canyon

To promote assertiveness and independence


Urban

Adventure

To increase a sense of usefulness to a larger community


Habitat

For

Humanity

To increase a sense of competence, self esteem, confidence, and self-awareness

Adventure And Experience-based Classes

Natural

Resources

Dog Sledding and Winter Camping Challenges

Hiking and Backpacking Challenges

Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

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


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


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

The Experiential Learning Center

- Birmingham Public Schools-

Presentation for the Birmingham Education Foundation, March 2013