11月6日到11月8日，广州加拿大国际学校(CIS)7 - 12年级的学生登上了开往中国桂林的火车。在平安抵达桂林后，他们开启了一场自我发现之旅——野外生存和户外拓展训练。在这里，他们看到的不仅仅是风景名胜区和旅游景点——他们找到的更多的是经验学习的价值。
浪漫主义诗人威廉•华兹华斯曾建议，“让自然成为你的老师”。为此，艾伯塔教育为许多不同文化背景的学生提供了两天户外经验学习的机会。孩子们把所有的时间都花在户外，学习越野、登山、露营、野外教育等，习得了许多宝贵的定向生活技能。除此之外，师生们还参与了团队建设、远足、散步和炉火洽谈活动。在整个旅程中中，为让孩子们的体验尽可能真实，CIS的老师甚至要求他们把手机上交。这让不同年级的孩子们重新团结了起来，认识了彼此，贴近了自然，也出色地完成了与真实冒险非常类似的 “户外教育”课程。能为孩子们提供这样家族式的经历，CIS感到非常自豪，因为我们也在努力成为一个大家庭。
对于不熟悉的人来说，经验学习可以被描述为：通过经验学习的过程，也可以更具体地被定义为“通过反思的学习”。而户外冒险作为经验学习的有效形式，除了上述好处外，事实上，它还提供了许多其他的学习机会：
——户外教育通过一种动觉介质——“我们生活的世界”来开展教育；
——发展团队协作与友好情谊；
——通过一种冒险的感觉，学生能成为更优秀的批判性思维者和问题解决者。
也许更重要的是，据2009年Strife和Downy的研究结果表明，暴露在自然环境和户外环境中会减少学生的压力。此外，相似的研究还表明，户外教育可以改善认知功能，提高社交技能。我们CIS始终致力于发展这样现代化、实践研究型教育，以帮助我们的学生发挥他们的潜力。因为，这能让孩子终生受益。
Value of Experiential Learning
Canadian International School of Guangzhou(CIS-GZ)
From November 6th to November 8th the grade 7-12 students boarded a train bound for Guilin, China. Having arrived safe and sound in Guilin, CIS students embarked on a journey of self-discovery, Field survival and Outdoor expansion training. What they hoped to find there was more than scenic locations and touristic attractions – what they hoped to discover is the value of experiential learning.
Romantic poet William Wordsworth advised, “Let nature be your teacher.” Alberta education promotes outdoor experiential learning opportunities for its students，who have many different cultures and backgrounds. Children spend all their time in orienteering, climbing, and wilderness education to name but a few, and have learned a lot of valuable orienteering skills. In addition, the teachers and students are also involved in team building, hiking, walking and fire talks. In order to make the experience as authentic as possible, teachers at CIS even required students to turn over their cell phones to get close to nature, to that effect, embarking students on a journey of self-discovery and reuniting students and helping students get to know one another. Albertan students complete a very similar adventure to finish a course called, “Outdoor Education.” We are proud to provide familial experiences such as these to the students at CIS – for we strive to be one big family.
For those who are unfamiliar, experiential learning can be described as, the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as ‘learning through reflection on doing’. As an effective form of experience learning,in fact, Outdoor Education provides many other opportunities to learn:
- Outdoor education educates through a kinesthetic medium – that of the world we live in.
- Students develop teamwork and comradery.
- Through a sense of adventure, students become better critical thinkers and problem solvers.
Perhaps more importantly, research recorded by Strife and Downy (2009) indicates that exposure to nature and the outdoors reduces stress in students. Additionally, the same research revealed that outdoor education can improve cognitive function and improve social skills. CIS remains committed to such modern, research -informed, pedagogy that enables our students to meet their potential, for its benefits will resonate with students for years to come.
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