SUMMER 2014
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experiential learning at this time indicates both an
ongoing appreciation of its value and a new concept
of what this approach could mean for the school as a
whole.
Although it was based on the traditional model
of the study tour, the recent New York City adventure
folded in several key new pedagogical techniques
to incorporate travel as learning repertoire. Student
engagement became supercharged through the
addition of components involving problem-solving,
collaboration, the development of a collective identity,
and the idea of learning as a way to prepare to
connect with new people. For example, students
were empowered by discovering that the work they
had done in Santa Barbara to learn about the
Harlem Renaissance gave them something to talk
about with the actual residents of Harlem. Learning
deepens immeasurably when students sense that
their knowledge is meaningful to the people they
learn about. As Ashley has said of the group’s
Sunday morning tour of Harlem, “that morning will
stay with the kids and teachers for a long, long
time.” By beginning this project before the trip with
reading, writing, and discussion, and by continuing
it afterwards through the editing and production of
videos documenting the experience, the New York City
adventure set a precedent for pursuing experiential
knowledge at a new level of intensity.
While experiential learning is not just about travel,
travel is a great metaphor for the approach, because
when students and teachers engage in this kind of
activity, they go places and learn things together. As
Pierce O’Donnell ’16 put it, “the benefits of real life
experience transcend any lesson or concept in even
the most detailed textbook.” With Ashley guiding
the entire faculty towards a more comprehensive
integration of contemporary experiential learning
practice into every aspect of our curriculum, students
and faculty come together and prepare as a group to
meet the real world on its
own terms.
In the fall of 2014,
the English and theater
departments will collaborate
with State Street Ballet on
an immersive experience
of Shakespeare through
dance called “A Midsummer
Night’s Mash-Up.” Look
for the gala performance which will conclude this
experiential learning project in mid-October, and expect
to see Laguna students
performing on stage
alongside professional
dancers. Please come
out and be a part of this
grand adventure as we
chart a new course for
experiential learning.
“The new experiential learning initiative is simply giving
capital letters to what we’ve been doing at Laguna Blanca
for years.”
-ASHLEY TIDEY, Laguna Blanca English instructor
A group of
ninth and
tenth grade
students tour
Harlem.
Eighth grade history tour
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9/5/14 5:18 PM