From July 29 to August 2, 2024, the Albert Shanker Institute had the opportunity to offer the Shanker Conversations as part of the World Congress on International Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This followed ASI’s inaugural participation at the 2019 World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. Because Albert Shanker co-founded Education International, the Albert Shanker Institute’s participation in the World Congress on International Education is a natural extension of Al’s vision of learning and building power together globally, just as ASI’s Shanker Conversations are an extension of Al’s commitment to free and open debate.
This blog is a companion to the video conversation, Experiential Learning Around the World.
In the classroom, experiential learning gives students opportunities to explore, experiment, think critically, create, and most importantly, use teamwork to solve problems. It’s a great model for life after school, where we learn, try, succeed or fail, and then try again.
Most often, experiential learning is closely tied to career and technical education, often referred to by its acronym, CTE. Career and technical education develops real-world skills by combining experiential practice and academics to unlock learning for many students. CTE can, of course, include the traditional trades, but also in-demand careers in healthcare, information technology, specialized manufacturing, agriculture and environmental sciences, business modeling, and entrepreneurship. Experiential learning can be found in any content class—English/language arts, science, math, or social studies, like these Action Civics lessons written by members of the Albert Shanker Institute—or in traditional learning-by-doing subjects like foreign language, music and arts, or physical education.
The Albert Shanker Institute has long supported career and technical education and experiential learning, most recently with our one-day conference, Passion Meets Purpose, and so we were excited to host an international delegation of union leaders who shared work from around the world to grow experiential learning, moderated by educator, Illinois Federation of Teachers President, and ASI Board Member Dan Montgomery.
Dan was joined by Clint Johnson, President-Designate of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE); Ann Mari Milo Lorentzen, Vice-President of the Norwegian Education Union; and Mike Thiruman, General Secretary of the Singapore Teachers’ Union. Each leader highlighted different ways in which experiential learning is valuable to the community and reflects the value of community in the classroom.
Mike Thiruman noted that in Singapore, co-curricular activities are a core element of learning because of the important transferable skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving, that students regularly practice.
Anne Mari Milo Lorentzen added that in 2019-20 Norway introduced a new curriculum to emphasize interdisciplinary learning. In addition, Norwegian teachers address well-being in a playful school environment.
Clint Johnson explained that Canada has varied experiences, due to its 13 provincial jurisdictions, but all can point to community-based or land-based learning. Johnson also noted that much of what is called experiential learning is known as indigenous ways of learning.
They all stressed that for experiential learning to be successful, teachers need to be trusted. In Singapore, teachers are offered internships to bring additional experience and knowledge to their classes. Parents also trust teachers.
Like many other educational communities around the world, Canada is experiencing an educational workforce shortage and access to experiential learning is still uneven from community to community.
Everyone sees opportunities to expand experiential learning opportunities for all students as a key strategy to strengthen teaching and learning.
Watch the full video to get all the insights and perspectives from this interesting panel.
