10/02/2016
EXPERENTIAL LEARNING
The concept of ‘Experiential Learning’ exists in our history and mythology. Young Krishna was sent to wilderness school ‘Sandeepani’ and Rama with his brother was consigned to the forest under the tutelage of Guru Viswamitra. In the case of ‘Pandavas’, 13 years of wandering in the wildness, taught them the art of winning wars.
Wilderness seems to have taught them all balanced judgments, empathy, compassion and fairness. Various narrations in our scriptures on interpersonal sensitivity, personal values, shared vision, steadfastness of purpose, astuteness and managing personal pride are a true testimony of what life in the wilderness have taught these characters in the epics. During festive seasons in India, pilgrims throng to many ancient hill temples be it Mansarover in Himalayan range or the Ayyappa devotees queuing along the rainforest of Kerala.
The Hindus chose the wilderness route for ritualistic prayer and meditation to seek salvation. Rural folks especially the farming communities trek several miles with their families carrying own ration to distant places of worship for thanksgiving and celebration. For ages the belief persists that physical exertion and pain, living together in strange settings among strangers will help to overcome biases, resistances, prejudices and induce compassion, empathy and tolerance to manage differences. Indians have always acknowledged the teacher in nature. In all its manifestations and dimensions there remains dynamism of sorts.
Be it the snow peaked or rocky hills or rain or brown forests, they have always fascinated human race around the world. Nature is psychedelic in its diversity. The oceans and the sky for example look differently in the morning, at noon and in the evenings. The moonlight night is different from the dark clear cloudy skies.
The colors vary from season to season, bringing in its wake the signals of caution, surprise and celebration; tidal waves and tornadoes are devastating while the monsoon and the gentle breezes are friendly and healthy. Rural Indians are inward looking and have always learnt through traditions. Looking within they found that the human nature is as diverse and dangerous as global nature.
How muchever we succeed in hiding the ugly wedges of our character, the handicaps and our wickedness under veil of sophistication and politeness, our true and authentic being will come out when we are in the wilderness. Feelings, emotions, beliefs and apprehensions are as much part of us as to the animal world. Living with and in nature, succumbing to the vicissitudes can help mankind realize the truth behind the holism of man-nature nexus. But unfortunately, the urban populaces of modern India living a very fast life style amidst the virtual world have been deprived of this essential experience of life with nature. In 1930s, a German educational psychologist, Kurt Hahn was commissioned by Blue Line Shipping Company for a specific objective. The task was to study and create a module to help the merchant sailors learn how to survive during natural or man-made crisis, e.g. getting torpedoed by German U Boats, typhoons etc.
Kurt Hahn after studying the problem, created a training program which ran for a month. Kurt Hahn called this process “Outward Bound” symbolizing the fact that the sailors lifted anchors from the safety of the harbor and sailed into uncharted territories of the high seas with renewed confidence to handle situations. In contemporary India, the progress of ‘Out Bound Learning’ (OBL) has been slightly different. First a few well-equipped people took groups to the wilderness for adventure training which resulted in rejuvenating and some amount of self-learning.
Later the management gurus linked up with these people and carried out Training and Management Development Programs. Following this trend of success, some of the outdoor personnel learnt management methods and offered Management Development Programs to the corporate’s calling it ‘Outbound Learning’ programs or ‘Outbound training’ programs.
