We’ve interviewed many people in this past year, all who have contributed greatly to the show by sharing their experiences and the things they’ve learned from their experiences. We often hear people refer to ‘the school of hard knocks’ which means we many times have to learn the hard way about life through tough experiences, sometimes repeatedly. And how many times do we tell stories or offer advice in the hopes that we can help a friend or family member avoid what we may consider a bad experience, which really could just be looked at as learning experiences?

It’s said that we gain knowledge and wisdom as we grow older, and it would be sensible to chalk that up to a myriad of experiences that start from the first day of our lives. In the 1970’s, David A. Kolb, an educational theorist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio developed what he called the Experiential Learning Model which is a theory of how we learn from experience. Kolb defines learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” and he says that “learning is a continuous process grounded in experience”.

Kolb’s ELM is composed of four models which he says are the essence of learning. They can begin with any of the following elements, but usually starts with a concrete experience. These elements are:

• concrete experience - learners must involve themselves fully, openly and without bias in new experiences.

• reflective observation of the experience from many perspectives.

• create abstract concepts based upon the reflection into logical sound theories.

• active testing and experimentation of the new concepts in making decisions and solving problems.

Experience can be as simple as a child discovering that a rubber ball bounces. And through many life experiences we learn through a process that is tension and conflict filled. We gain new knowledge, skills and attitudes through this never ending process. 

So, on this episode we have decided to share some of those snippets of knowledge we’ve heard in the past year on this show in the hopes that when you run across similar experiences that perhaps you remember what you heard and use that information to help you reflect and observe.

LINKS:

Travel for the Sake of Travel - Going the Wrong Way - Chris Donaldson
The Realities of Motorcycle Life - Simon and Lisa Thomas
Unprepared for Motorcycle Travel But Determined to Make it Work - Harold Serrano
Ted Simon - 90 and Still Riding
Cure the Wanderlust - Geoff Keys
How Dare They Shoot At Me - Riding By The Seat Of My Pants - Richard Georgiou
Riding the Great River Road - Jared Andersson and Heath Anderson
Life is an Adventure - Kelvin and Suzie Prevett
This is Totally Absurd | Keith Futcher

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235701029_Experiential_Learning_Experience_As_The_Source_Of_Learning_And_Development

Photos:
All photos are credited to the interviewee unless otherwise specified. If there are any discrepancies please let us know by email.