Innovation and Transformation: The Influence of Experiential Education on Teachers’ Beliefs and Understandings

• In Event: Teacher Professional Development and Practice

Abstract

Building on concrete experiences, reflecting and considering implications for future actions and then expanding those experiences into transformative teaching practices is the foundation of experiential education. In this study, we examined the impact of a new experiential education experience on a group of classroom teachers, with specific interest in the ways these new experiences influenced teachers’ beliefs and perceptions on their own teaching. There were additional findings in the perceptions that teachers had about their students as change agents and actors in their own education. This study has the potential to invigorate teacher education with new methods for teacher transformation and, ultimately, student learning.

Authors

• Jocelyn A. Glazier, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Mandy Bean, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Steven Knotek, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Marisa Enrico, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill