ERIC EJ936450: The Experiential Teaching of Berlin--Theoretical Reflections and Best Practices from a Study Abroad Site

2011·0.16 MB·English

by  ERIC

The Experental Teachng of Berln—
Theoretcal Reflectons and Best Practces
from a Study Abroad Ste
Thomas Wagenknecht
Humboldt University Berlin
Introduction
Experental learnng plays a key role n enhancng ntercultural sens-
tvty and competence wthn the context of nternatonal educaton . Ult-
mately, t s at the center of what leads the study abroad sojourn to become a
postve and powerful learnng process (Savck, 2008) . The academc teach-
ng n study abroad programs frequently draws from the wde and dverse
pool of materal n and about the cty n order to enable ntercultural and
experental learnng . Yet, creatng first hand experences of urban cultures
that focus on reflecton and leave profound mpressons on students whle
provdng the framng for future cycles of experental learnng s a complex
and dfficult dynamc to navgate (Kolb, 1984) . The way urban manfesta-
tons of a dfferent culture are drectly experenced vares dependng on the
crcumstances of a concrete cross-cultural encounter and the student’s sub-
jectve nterpretaton of t .
To suggest a tentatve framework wthn whch the elusve nature of
nterpretng an urban culture can be channeled, facltated, and made fer-
tle for effectve teachng, n ths artcle I wll turn to my on-gong study
conducted n Berln, Germany . The specfic study abroad program under
nvestgaton s desgned around the study of the European metropols . The
cty s approached from varous academc angles—archtecture, urban stud-
es, vsual arts, economcs, gender, pop culture, European dentty studes,
and lterary studes . For comparatve purposes the program ncludes two
extended field trps to Pars and St . Petersburg .
So far, both the analyss of ntervews and the revew of lterature used n
the study have produced conceptual components that nform a framework
for facltatng the experental teachng of urban cultures n ntercultural
educaton . However, t s stll too early n the research process to yeld a sub-
stantve theory for the experental educaton of urban cultures . Hence, I wll
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focus ths artcle on the role and consderatons of teachers who approach
urban cultures by creatng epsodes of experental learnng .
Frst, I wll elaborate on experental learnng theory and the phlosophy
of experental educaton as two concepts that hghlght complex teacher-
student-envronment recproctes . Second, the dscusson of an ntervew,
read aganst other ntervews and the theory of experental learnng, wll
demonstrate the challenges of desgnng and conductng experental learn-
ng stuatons . The ensung dscusson of best practces n medatng urban
cultures wll valdate the cty’s capacty for experental learnng and reveal
solutons for the ntercultural hurdles nvolved n teachng “experentally .”
Ultmately, I wll argue that more effort s requred to close the gap between
the theoretcal and practcal consderatons of the experental teachng of
urban cultures n order to safeguard postve learnng outcomes and ncrease
the efficency of teachng and learnng n study abroad courses .
From Experiential Learning to an
Experiential Education in the City
In hs theory of experental learnng, Kolb defines learnng as “the pro-
cess whereby knowledge s created through the transformaton of experence”
(Kolb 1984, p .41) . The model of the experental learnng cycle demonstrates
a way n whch one can grasp experence and, from t, structure a learnng
process . The model’s appeal les n ts applcablty to varous crcumstances
rangng from Kolb’s own classficaton of dfferent learnng styles, wheren
the four nodes of the model — concrete experence, reflectve observa-
ton, abstract conceptualzaton and actve expermentaton — are decon-
structed, to Savck’s adaptaton, n whch he suggests nterventons nter-
natonal educators can use to ntervene n the cycle n an attempt to foster
ntercultural competence (Kolb, 2000; Savck, 2008) . Another appeal and,
at the same tme, essental connecton to ntercultural learnng can be found
n the learner’s emotonal nvestment n dealng wth experences (Cushner,
2004) . Wth ts focus on the learner’s cogntve and emotonal processes n
actvely engagng wth present experences and reflectng on them, the expe-
rental learnng cycle model can be complemented wth Itn’s transactonal
model of experental educaton (Itn, 1999) . To the changes n the learner
based on drect experence, ths model adds the transactons among teach-
ers, learners, and the learnng envronment n whch experences are nt-
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ated and facltated . Its underpnnng phlosophy of experental educaton,
whch also provdes a way of thnkng about the study abroad experence per
se, s based on
. . . carefully chosen experences ssuuppppoorrtteedd bbyy rreeflfleeccttoonn,, ccrrttccaall aannaallyyssss,,
and synthess, [whch] are structured to requre the learner to take
ntatve, make decsons, aanndd bbee aaccccoouunnttaabbllee ffoorr tthhee rreessuullttss tthhrroouugghh
actvely posng questons, nvestgatng, expermentng, beng curous,
solvng problems, assumng responsblty, beng creatve, constructng
meanng and ntegratng prevously developed knowledge . Learners
are engaged ntellectually, emotonally, socally, poltcally, sprtually,
and physcally n an uncertan envronment where the learner may
experence success, falure, adventure, and rsk takng . (Itn, p .93)
Ths definton rases a central queston; how can teachers deploy exper-
ences to medate between the cty, whch s the learnng object as well as the
envronment, and students from a dfferent cultural background? In order
to approach ths queston, t s worthwhle to contemplate the dspostons
the actors nvolved n the process of teachng/learnng about the cty brng
to the table and how the complexty of the relatonshp among teacher, stu-
dent, and urban manfestatons s augmented by the ntercultural dynamcs
at work . The followng remarks are nformed by what teachers n the study
abroad program n Berln artculated about the subject matter, and by my
own experence of teachng and workng wth study abroad students .
Teaching/Learning About the City from
a Teacher’s/Learner’s Perspective
Teachers’ dspostons can be constructed from ther personal and profes-
sonal understandng of study abroad students and the subject of the cty, the
knd of role for themselves they nfer from ther understandng of students,
and the knd of approach to teachng they derve from ther understand-
ng of the cty . Varous educatonal phlosophes have proposed that the role
of the teacher transcends that of the presenters and nstructors . Thus, the
teachng role should be thought of plurally n the sense that teachers assume
specfic functons dependng on the gven dynamc of a teachng/learnng
stuaton . Yet, t s not only the stuatonal demands that favor certan roles
over others . In lght of the students’ dfferent cultural backgrounds, teachers
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should adapt ther pedagogcal consderatons to dfferent target groups .
Further, the cty’s manfestatons, n partcular the meanngs and symbol-
sms they yeld, and the nterpretaton of these by students, may be nformed
by a dfferent understandng of ctes than the teacher’s, or, dependng on
the student’s home envronment, nformed only by vague notons of the cty .
Ths dynamc means that n study abroad, effort may be requred to facltate
the use of the cty as a ste of experental learnng . Examples of such efforts
are teachers conductng topcally focused walkng tours or becomng facl-
tators between study abroad students and cultural protagonsts of the cty,
thereby provdng rcher and more authentc learnng envronments .
As for a teacher’s approach toward the cty, much depends on the teach-
er’s academc tranng and how the teacher’s dscplne conceptualzes ct-
es . The varety of academc dscplnes yelds an array of perspectves on the
essence of ctes as well as how to employ an ntellgble schema to make
sense of “the human jungle .” Whether a teacher s nterested n the form and
space of the cty, ts mores and habts, or the consumpton and means of cul-
tural producton of ts protagonsts, the dscplnary focus determnes f ths
teacher wll be nspred solely by Weber, Weber and Benjamn or, Benjamn,
Lefebvre, Smmel and Weber all together (Parker, 2004) . In any case, the
choce of approach has an effect on the applcablty of experental teach-
ng . Approachng the cty wth a focus on ts vsual cultures, for example,
provdes more mmedate potental for practces of experental teachng
than lookng at the cty through lterature and film, where the engagement
between students and the cty s overlad by fictonal “texts .”
The study abroad student’s perspectve on the host cty can be framed
along the coordnates of pror cty savvy and knowledge, specfic expecta-
tons of lvng and studyng n the host cty, and engagement wth the cty’s
manfold cultural offerngs . The host cty’s novelty and unqueness str an
exctement whch often leads to experences beng much more profound
and ntrgung, both n terms of lesure and academc engagement . Whether
a student notces the lack of publc drnkng fountans, starts to solely rely
on publc transportaton, or uses bke lanes; whether he or she travels exten-
svely through Europe or observes the new nhabtants of a recently gentrfied
neghborhood, the cty as the ste of study abroad provdes almost lmtless
opportuntes to engage wth t n varous ways, to experence t and to cult-
vate a better understandng of t . Out of the multtude of experences that stu-
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dents are confronted wth by ctes and ther populatons, t s the experences
that do not correlate wth pror knowledge that requre the student to nvest a
heghtened effort n observng, reflectng, analyzng and syntheszng . It s n
ths context especally, that aspects of experental learnng can be appled to
studyng the cty’s manfestatons and meanngs on an academc level .
Reflections of a
Visual Urban Cultures Teacher
My remarks wll prmarly relate to an ntervew conducted on Aprl
29, 2009 wth a professor teachng a course on vsual cultures and the urban
landscape . Out of the classes offered n the study abroad program at hand,
the subject and methodology of ths course n partcular opened up many
opportuntes for experental teachng . The ntervewee’s comments wll
dsclose further thought on the mplcatons of experental educaton n
the cty . The one-hour ntervew was conducted n the form of an expert
ntervew,  .e . t was focused on the ntervewee’s professonal reflectons on
experental educaton, and assumed the truth value of hs comments (Helff-
erch, 2009) . The ntervew was conducted n German but the passages cted
n ths artcle have been translated nto Englsh . The man ponts rased
from the ntervew analyss wll be put nto perspectve wth the responses of
other ntervewees and then checked aganst the mplcatons of the models
of experental learnng and experental educaton .
The ntervew was structured to llumnate three research questons . Frst,
I was nterested n the ntervewee’s approach to experental educaton and the
way he understands how hs role and hs subject mght cater to stuatons of
experental learnng . Second, I wanted to tap nto hs reflectons on how to
manage the relatonshp between academc qualty and experental learnng,
and thrd, I wanted to learn about best practces for experental learnng and
how to address ntercultural hurdles that emerged n the course of teachng .
Initiating Experiential Teaching
The vsual cultures course follows an nterdscplnary approach to
Berln as a European cty whose physcal appearance carres the marks of
many hstorcal, and often deologcally antagonstc, poltcal, archtec-
tural, artstc, and aesthetc perods . The course attempts to elaborate on
the nterdependences between the varous modes of human thought and
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actvty, and ther respectve manfestatons n the urban landscape . To do so
the nstructor makes ample use of ste vsts, cty walks, and ntervews wth
artsts and local protagonsts . Whle the ntervewee dd not explctly refer
to hs teachng approach as experental untl I used the term, hs remarks
reveal an ntutve understandng of experental educaton and ts centralty
as a pedagogcal method for teachng the cty . Accordng to hm, successful
experental teachng requres a number of preparatons . Students need to
understand that the teacher demands ther actve engagement wth the cty;
the focus of the class supersedes conventonal standards of n-class partc-
paton . Ths expectaton resonates wth that of other ntervewed teachers
and t concurs wth Itn's observaton of a general unfamlarty of students
wth “beng engaged n an educatonal process that nvolves ther actve
engagement and partcpaton” (Itn, p .97) . Such ncreased engagement s
reflected n the course requrements whch call for a final ndependent proj-
ect n whch students choose one aspect of the cty as dscussed earler n
the semester for ntensve focus . Of all assessed course actvtes, oral par-
tcpaton carres the greatest weght . Further, to avod confuson about the
demands the students wll n the course face, the teacher communcates hs
expectatons more thoroughly as follows:
. . .of course ths s also a learnng experence for me as the teacher . In the
begnnng, the students are very shy, reserved, and cautous . It must be
made clear to them that t s not harmful to gve wrong answers or to
develop deas whch are not close to what wll finally be establshed . One
carefully approaches a subject and that creates learnng processes . I do
emphasze actve partcpaton n class whch does not mean that I expect
a fully-fledged and perfect presentaton . I leave that for the final project
where I gve more tme and demand a lttle more thought and perfecton .
But n class I want them to be more spontaneous and to take a rsk once
n a whle . Of course, ths needs to be prepared for . [ . . .] It s for ther own
good not n order to please me or to satsfy my duty to grade them .
In ths passage, the teacher characterzes the dynamc between hmself
and hs students . He ponts to the necessty of settng the stage for experental
teachng and learnng . Ths process of preparaton and negotaton s a mutual
and transactve learnng process throughout the course and establshes a com-
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mon ground (Itn, 1999) . At the same tme ths negotatory process calls for
ntercultural senstvty . The ntervewee acknowledges the student's reserved-
ness, whch s qute typcal and promnent at the begnnng of a semester . Other
respondents smlarly acknowledged the presence of ths atttude n ther classes
whch, accordng to them, can be attrbuted to the cross-cultural encounter that
s dramatzed by subtle detals such as the teacher's accent whle speakng Eng-
lsh, or more serous msconcepton such as underestmatng the students' abl-
ty to crtcally reflect on ther own cultural background .
In addton to emphaszng the mportance of oral partcpaton n expe-
rental learnng, t s necessary to encourage students to rely on ther senses
and strateges of meanng makng as mpulses for experental and ntercultural
learnng . The threshold to gve n to one's subjectve observatons and nterpre-
tatons as sources for expandng one's knowledge s hgh, especally at the outset
of one's study abroad sojourn when students are partcularly senstve to aspects
of the host culture that are not yet famlar . The search for vald parameters n
order to more aptly navgate wthn the host culture often takes a back seat to
the more nstant and effortless creaton of a comfort zone centered around one's
fellow compatrots n the program or ther homes, va Internet communcaton .
The ntervew under dscusson, as well as other ntervews, revealed a general
tendency of program students to avod falures and rsks both n nformal and
n-class nteracton . Preparng, as the ntervewee puts t, students to be ready
for spontanety and rsk, therefore, requres work on two fronts, both amng at
the establshment of greater certanty .
Frst, the ntervewee repeatedly extends the nvtaton for actve partc-
paton n the ongong class dscourse and creates stuatons that ask for stu-
dents to observe, characterze, compare and, ultmately, to define the cty's
mages, sgns, and symbols . Second, the ntervewee recognzes the necessty
of provdng the students wth theoretcal knowledge and vocabulary . Only
when thus equpped can students observe and nterpret wth more accuracy
and, thereby, do justce to the descrpton of the cty whle reducng ther
fear of gvng wrong answers .
Reconciling Experiential Learning
and Academic Learning
For a number of reasons the tenets of experental educaton and those
of academc learnng seem to contradct each other . Experental learnng fre-
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quently emerges n progressve educaton that s assocated wth adventure
and fun . Wth ts stress on the sensory and affectve aspects of learnng, expe-
rental learnng s perceved as formng a somewhat antagonstc relatonshp
wth academc learnng and certan levels of theoretcal reflecton . It s not
wthout reason that lterature on these two seemngly adverse notons ether
challenges them, n an attempt to advocate one over the other, or makes a
cause for ther compatblty (Stavenga de Jong, 2006; Stenberg, 2002) .
Theorzng about the cty n order to tap nto and grasp ts complextes
s not only necessary to meet academc standards, but also to frame Kolb's
so-called cycles of experental learnng . In these cycles students buld more
nformed hypotheses based on reflecton on concrete experences . Asked to
explan hs use of excursons, the ntervewee commented on the straned
connecton between experental learnng and theoretcal reflecton:
We have a lmted amount of tme and we have the cty and the cty s the
star and the object . Of course, a college course needs to be theoretcally
undergrded, but I try to make ths mplct, whch means that n the
reflecton of what one sees, one has to have a theoretcal standard . But
I thnk I keep the ball low regardng theoretcal dscourses and the
engagement wth dfferent theoretcal approaches smply to do justce
to the hstorcal and prmarly vsual object . Ths s also due to the fact
that students come from dfferent academc dscplnes . How do they
finally benefit from masterng the glass bead game of sgn, sgnfier and
sgnfied, f they do not have an overvew of the factors that shape a
cty and that consttute dfferent nterests n the cty’s hstory? And
ths s where a dfferent, a hstorcal, maybe even socologcal but above
all an art-hstorcal moment appears and there s also theory . But ths
s always, how shall I put t, ths theory s always ted to the [vsual]
objects . I consder these objects as manfests . For example, a graffit s not
only somethng vrtually open to any nterpretaton . There are ndeed
conveyed messages . Those can carry a double meanng . They mght
allow for a certan amount of free nterpretaton, yet always confined .
There s no arbtrarness because everythng takes place wthn certan
hstorcal contexts and n certan envronments of the cty .
Ths passage presents a way of maneuverng between experental learn-
ng and theoretcal reflecton . The ntervewee calls for the selectve appl-
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caton of theory that s dctated by the respectve manfestaton and/or
consttutve force of that manfestaton n the cty — graffit, a squatter, or
a publc square under survellance . At the same tme, such selectve applca-
ton stll allows for, f not even enhances, experental learnng as t adds to
the development of a more thorough understandng of the cty’s physcal
and functonal features .
However, ths s not to say that teachers and students can jump rght
nto an ntensve analyss of the cty from sesson one . The ntervewee
repeatedly hghlghts the mportance of preparng stuatons of experen-
tal learnng both n terms of senstzng students to experental learnng
technques and ntroducng methods of readng the cty’s open and hdden
meanngs . Thus, he spends the first half of the semester n the classroom
lecturng, provdng knowledge, and preparng for the excursons . To put
t n hs own words:
[My] approach s to evoke assocaton through mages . Not just to look
at mages, but to create opportuntes for comparsons va a multtude of
sngle mages whch are grouped n blocks . Characterzng, comparng,
definng! Frst of all, you have to provde an nput, then complement t
wth the lterature, and then we have the excursons where the students’
actve role becomes much more promnent . There, you can dscuss
rght away .
The precedng quotes also serve to thwart a common concern that often
desgnates experental learnng as too subjectve, too ted to the students’
cogntve and emotonal responses, and thus, too removed from tradtonal
pedagogcal structures to be graded and granted academc credt . Gven ts
subjectve nature, experental learnng s sometmes stgmatzed as arbtrary .
Yet, the ntervewee stresses the preparatory phase as a frame for experental
learnng wthn a certan confine, namely, the acqured ablty to engage wth
the cty’s vsual nature and to approach t theoretcally .
Experiential Teaching and
Learning in Practice
The followng examples of experental teachng and learnng practces
have been put to use n courses at the study abroad program under nvestga-
ton . The goal s to descrbe ther desgns and underpnnng deas and to sub-
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sequently reflect on ther effect on experental and ntercultural learnng .
Walking Through Two City
Neighborhoods
As mentoned earler, the ntervewee embraces prepared excursons
through the cty as a way of creatng epsodes of experental learnng . Hs
excursons take on dfferent formats because they serve dfferent purposes .
Yet they share three general characterstcs — they follow an nterdscpln-
ary desgn, try to encourage students to realze the recprocty between the
consttutve forces of hstory and culture that help to shape the cty, and try
to deconstruct the noton of urban space as a culturally and socally homo-
geneous contaner, n order to acknowledge the nternal varety of the cty,
whch s manfested n ts neghborhoods (Lefebvre, 1991) . For ths pur-
pose, nothng s more applcable than havng students walk through two
neghborng cty dstrcts n Berln . The first has been more recently trans-
formed from a workng-class neghborhood nto a popular area for toursts
and temporarly resdng muscans, artsts and globetrotters and the sec-
ond, a tradtonal mmgrant neghborhood . Whle walkng, the students
hear languages whch are obvously dverse but dstnct to the neghbor-
hoods, and they see dfferent but dstnct knds of ethnc food offered on
the streets as well as dfferent products dsplayed on shelves and n wndow
dsplays that cater to dfferent clenteles . Pror knowledge and/or exper-
ence comes nto play here . It soon becomes apparent that ths s not the
transplanted mnature of a Chnatown or a Lttle Italy as t can be found n
Amerca . Though one mght conjecture that the students find themselves,
then, n a more nterspersed model of an mmgrant neghborhood, ths
too s false — at least as t s known from an Amercan contextual perspec-
tve . Hypothess-buldng starts to set n . Fed by earler nput from teachers
about the dfferences between Amercan and German 19th and 20th century
hstory, and mmgrant hstory n partcular, t becomes clear why one can
find socal housng bult n the Bauhaus style of the 1950s and 60s to fill the
empty lots left by the bombng of World War II next to Wlhelmnan style
houses n these sectons of the cty . One starts to understand how the Neo-
Romanesque church n the same street can be regarded as a sgn ndcatng
an early wave of mmgraton of Catholcs from Slesa . If one juxtaposes
the adjacent Turksh Communty Center to ths church, the dversty of the
cty’s populace s hghlghted and poses questons about the coexstence of
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