NFE in sport

And guess what! Experiential learning involves…learning from experience! Yes, we know it’s no news, but there is a whole lot that needs to be explored and is hiding behind this simple and –supposedly- superficial statement!

What really happens in the experiential learning approach is that the experiences we create and collect in the process stick to our mind and help us later retain information and remember facts. So, to test this out, try to challenge yourself! Do you better recollect a book chapter from your History Class back at school, or your feelings and the lessons learnt during some school trip in the mountains? No need to answer that! We know exactly how you would!

Non-formal learning comprises experiential learning activities that promote the development of a great variety of skills and competences. Experiential learning is seen as a four-step process. According to David Kolb’s theory, what is important is not what happens to you but what you do with what happens to you. It is therefore crucial to go through all four stages of the experiential learning process, in order to be able to end up with the whole picture, acquire knowledge and skills, and then feel confident enough to use it accordingly in your future life.

Most training methods and activities of non-formal education follow a similar process of performing and experiencing an action or series of actions, feeling and observing yourself and others at it, reflecting on the experience, drawing conclusions and putting into practice everything that has been learnt.