The Continuum of Learner Disengagement

Abstract

This article explores the changing worldview of a new generation of learners and the threat that this poses to the future of experiential learning (EL). Initially the differing characteristics of three generations of learners, X, Y, and Z, are outlined, along with key educational reforms they have been subject to, particularly in the United Kingdom, the case study location. Following this, a series of ethnographic EL snapshots, collected between 1991 and 2010, are used to develop a continuum of learner disengagement. This continuum includes academically challenged, ambivalent, and formulaic learners. Of these, it is the formulaic learner who presents the greatest threat to EL. This is a discerning and discriminating learner who wishes to be in control of his or her own achievements and who sees EL activities as a threat to his or her success. Practical ways of responding to the changing EL landscape are proposed. These proposals include moving away from a linear learning experience, embracing EL projects that capitalize on learner technological capabilities, and reviewing the timing and conditions within which EL activities are situated.