Experience and Participation: Relating Theories of Learning

Abstract

This paper explores the relationships between experiential education and other holistic theories of education including constructivism, social constructionism and cultural discourses. Situated learning is introduced because it provides a comprehensive theorization of learning as participation situated in the context of community practice. Thus situated learning affords a telling comparison with experiential education and provides conceptual structures which may support the further development of experiential education. The exploration of other learning theories broadly related to experiential education results in the identification of lacunae, or gaps, within experiential education. These lacunae exist specifically within the theory of learning in experiential education. The consequence of this is that the learning process in experiential education requires further theorization.