In the reflection stage of the learning cycle, participants process learning from an experiential activity in order to generalize it to other areas of their lives (Luckner & Nadler, p. 10). This processing provides an opportunity for participants to review their behavior during the experience and connect those reflections to the “real world.”
Processing most often occurs at the completion of an experience. However, it can occur at anytime. Indeed, if a facilitator stops an activity in progress because the participants are stuck and processes what is happening in the moment, an extremely powerful transfer of learning is possible.
When leading experiential activities or adventure programs in the past, I have always tended toward low levels of facilitation, preferring to allow participants the opportunity to get unstuck on their own. Only when this doesn't occur in a timely manner or when participants start to become escalated have I stopped the activity, with a problem solving prompt directed to the participants such as, “Who can name an obstacle for the group right now?”
Most often, this in-the-moment processing will be enough for the participants to get themselves unstuck, usually by trying something new and thereby stepping out of their collective comfort zone and making a change in hopes of decreasing the dissonance they are experiencing. However, I'm wondering if I should expect more from in-the-moment processing than the participants simply getting over an obstacle.
Luckner and Nadler wrote, “It is in the brief moment or moments prior to a unique action or breakthrough that the ingredients for change are found” (p. 28). When utilizing experiential learning to foster change, those moments prior to that breakthrough action should, perhaps, be the primary focus of the facilitator.
Luckner and Nadler refer to this as “edgework.” They wrote, “It is at the edge of the breakthrough where processing the experience is most important” (p. 29). I conceptualize this edge as the dividing line between a participant’s comfort zone and change zone. “When at this dividing line, “individuals either break through and take the leap or turn back to their safe territory” (Luckner & Nadler, p. 30). When at that dividing line, in-the-moment processing could be vital for assuring forward movement.
With this in mind, my low-level facilitation style might not always be the most effective strategy. Instead, a more active role focused on emphasizing those moments prior to that breakthrough action might be more beneficial to the participants.
Processing on the Edge
An example of this processing at the edge is “Marie,” a client from when I worked in the in-patient program at Ryther Child Center. As the experiential treatment facilitator, one of my roles at Ryther was to lead weekly hikes. When selecting a destination, I always tried to choose a hike that was clearly outside the participants’ collective comfort zones, but which I thought everyone could successfully complete. By moving outside their comfort zones, I hoped the participants would practice being unstuck. Not surprisingly, there was sometimes much resistance.
Marie always complained about and during the hikes. This day, though, she actually gave up, sitting down on the side of the mountain trail and refusing to continue. She wasn’t just stuck. She was immobilized. My best motivational speeches failed with her, and finally I asked, “Do you always quit when things get tough?”
Unimpressed, Marie responded, “Oh. You’re doing that metaphor thing, huh?”
I acknowledged that I was, indeed, doing that metaphor thing, then suggested she try something new and not give up this time. Eventually, she agreed to continue the hike. After attempting this new “don’t give up just because it’s hard” behavior, giving up was no longer the only option within her comfort zone.
For Marie, it was the processing on the edge that helped her become unstuck and move forward. Whenever it occurs, though, processing provides participants the opportunity to reflect, analyze, describe, and discuss an experience, while reinforcing perceptions of change and promoting transfer of learning (Luckner & Nadler, p. 8). Indeed, I would say it is the processing that turns an activity into a therapeutic experience.
As Marie’s sense of self-efficacy increased, her engagement in processing grew. Initially, she would say little during debriefing sessions, even when called on directly. Toward the end of her treatment, not only was she increasingly vocal during processing sessions, during hikes she actively encouraged her struggling peers.
Marie’s initial resistance to change was clearly evident. She was taken out of her comfort zone and repeatedly placed into new and unique situations that she considered risky. In her efforts to reduce the dissonance she felt, she was forced to reconsider her preconceived views. Because she was regularly placed into these new and unique situations, Marie’s resistance decreased dramatically.
Would this have occurred without processing? I believe so, but only to a limited degree. It was through opportunities to process her experiences that Marie generalized her learning to other areas of her life. It was through opportunities to process her experiences that Marie became unstuck.
Types of Transfer
The ideas about reflection presented in The Art of Changing the Brain and Processing the Experience made me think back to another idea about transfer of learning. Priest and Gass identified three types of transfer: specific transfer, non-specific transfer, and metaphoric transfer (p. 185).
Specific transfer is learning a particular skill or habit for use in a closely related situation. Non-specific transfer is learning general principles or behaviors and applying to different situations. Metaphoric transfer refers to discovering the parallels between two learning environments. At various times, Marie exhibited all three types of transfer, but most notable was her metaphoric transfer. This is clearly evident in her statement, “If I can complete this hike, I can stay clean.”
Zull wrote, “We need reflection to develop complexity. We may start with a direct and sometimes relatively simple concrete experience, but that experience grows richer as we allow our brain the freedom to search for those still unknown connections” (p. 164). In other words, reflection is about finding connections between the activity and the real world. For Marie, completing the hike may have had value in itself, but change occurred not when she stood at the mountain’s summit, but when she made connections between the hike, her recovery and life beyond.
Works Cited
Luckner, J. & Nadler, R. (1992). Processing the Experience. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.
Zull, J. (2002). Art of Changing the Brain, The. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
