Fostering Independence through “Learning by Doing” Sarah Hensley, Curriculum & Evaluation Karen Blyler, State Science Coordinator An Equal Opportunity Institution

4-H Essential Elements Independence Belonging Mastery Generosity Why, We’ve discussed Belonging, Mastery, and now this year we are going to introduce and reinforce the concept of Independence…. It’s all about the Context or Learning Environment So, what is “Independence”? Discussion , please define Independence for us in the chat box… Essential Elements builds the context 7:10

High Quality Context Fosters Positive Youth Development (PYD) , what is pYD….

Independence Opportunity to see Oneself as an Active Participant in the Future The ability to see oneself in the future is to have hope and optimism to shape life choices which facilitates the transition into participating in the future. Opportunity for Self-Determination Self-determination means believing that you can have an impact on life’s events rather than passively submitting to the will and whims of others. Youth must exercise a sense of influence over their lives, developing their potential to become self-directing, autonomous adults. Activity As an adult working with youth I believe all youth have the ability to…..? Pod for listing ideas and create word cloud. Essential Elements; Kress, 2004

SPARK!!! It takes a Spark* https://youtu.be/TqzUHcW58Us Interest to build on, Watch his talk later  Content = Project (Experience it) https://youtu.be/TqzUHcW58Us Watch this Ted Talk – Benson on Sparks

Context Essential Elements are all about building quality PYD outcomes Supportive Learning Environment Safe Place to Fail Positive Developmental Relationships Youth Engagement – multiple opportunities; i.e. be a teen leader, attend higher level events/activities, lead a program for younger youth Context supports a quality learning environment

Do-Reflect-Apply Fosters Independence Intentional Promotes high quality learning and engagement of youth Not a theory of PYD but a proven teaching strategy that promotes life skill attainment Reference: Volunteer Training Series Sarah – transition to the implementation of learning, pedagogy http://florida4h.org/volunteers/training/files/VTS/Section4/Learn%20By%20Doing%20and%20a%20Little%20Bit%20More-print%20ready.pdf

Learning By Doing Karen – experience - activity What you will need Pencil with eraser Variety of Paper and binder clips

Learning By Reflecting Were you successful? Were you successful the first try or did it take a couple tries? What did you do/use to make the pencil stand-up straight? What problems did you encounter? How did you solve them? Were the results the same for everyone – did everyone use the same approach to get the pencil to stand? Why or why not? What skills did you use in the activity? Reflection Discuss the process you went through to complete the activity. Life skills: Problem solving, decision making, wise use of resources, goal setting.

Learning By Applying If you were to do this activity again, what would you do different? Are there other problems in your life that don’t provide clear instructions? Like what? Did you have to think differently to solve this problem? What other ways can you learn problem solving skills in your life? Apply - Transfer skills learned to rest of your life Think differently, out of the box. Problem solving allows you to think differently…..

Pfeiffer, J.W. & Jones, J.E., 1963 & Kolb, D. A., 1984 Karen explain model Pfeiffer, J.W. & Jones, J.E., 1963 & Kolb, D. A., 1984

Experience Intentional High Quality Don’t Solve problems for youth, rather support as they come to their own solution Chosen/Designed with Life Skill in Mind Sarah Quality of experience is important and should be designed with the life skill in mind. Reference experiential design elements (handout in pod)

Experience Continuity and Interaction (Dewey, 1938) Helpful Design Elements (Beard & Wilson, 2004) Sense of Journey Sequence of Activities Multiple Senses & Emotions Construction/Destruction of Things Collaborative/Competitive Obstacles, Rules, & Procedures Perceived Risk/Challenge Empathy towards Environment Set Goals Deal with Change, Risk, or Failure Sort/Organize Karen- Provide one example first for sense of journey and then open up Pod for comments, feedback Reflect and put in the discussion pod an example of an element you have used in your club…. discussion

Reflection MUST Be INTENTIONAL Levels (timing and depth) Dependent on Age Situation Time of Experience, Time b/w meetings Sarah - Introduce , step 2 Reflection

Types of Reflection Guided – Ask Questions (gets them thinking) Applied – Journaling (depth of responses is higher for youth) Informal – Conversational Sharing with Others Karen – Discussion Pods What type of sharing happens in your club? How do you intentionally guide reflection?

Reflection = Independence You can ASK Youth: What went well? Why? What went wrong? Why did it go wrong? How did you fix/solve it? Karen As a volunteer this is how you can take action now…. Ask youth these questions after they “Do” an activity Its okay to go wrong, help them see why because that is part of the learning experience.

Application This is where we see an obvious connection between “Experiential Learning” and “Independence” in that young people who can transfer the skills they learn in 4-H to the rest of their lives gain a sense of control over their own life. See that 4-H is a safe place to try and it is okay to fail Sarah Examples: stand up to a bully, set career goals, communicate during a job interview, think critically about the pros and cons of a decision.

Types of Application Guided – Ask Questions Authentic – Do it! Take what you’ve learned and use it in a different setting Karen Guided, immediate… following the experience, show them and help youth discover ways that they can use what they just learned. Practice doing the behavior so they are more likely to put it into action. Authentic – actually transferring and using the skill in a new or different setting. At school, at another competition, in front of county commissioner, for a job interview.

Apply = Independence Help youth: What will you do differently next time? How will what you learned help you in the future? What new goals will you make as a result of completing ______ ? Sarah Help youth see that they can make a difference and that their opinions and ideas matter.

Learning Happens When… Experiential Learning Model Belonging Independence Mastery Generosity Essential Elements ensure a High Quality Context Karen Experiential Learning happens inside a Context and includes previous experiences and will influence and influence future experiences. Occurs in different timelines as discussed and across multiple delivery systems (club, afterschool, in their culture, and social life).

Conclusion The process of Experiential Learning provides opportunities for youth to self-discover and to self-guide their learning which fosters Independence.

Call to Action! Volunteers Make the Best Better What will you do differently? Sarah Call to action, I’d like to know what you plan to do differently as a way to promote independence with your 4-H’ers. Also, at this time we would like to take any questions you have.