Experiential learning was fundamental to the ministry of Jesus. He taught primarily by storytelling and without, in the main, explaining the stories he told. As a result, his listeners had to inhabit Jesus' stories and think for themselves about how they would respond as characters within these stories. We see this process in action as Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to a question from his audience and leading to his own question which is designed to provoke personal reflection on how to respond to the scenario and issues explored by the story.
In addition, Tom Wright has comprehensively demonstrated in The New Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of God how Jesus was also storytelling through the events of his ministry. By his actions and the dramas he initiated and played out he was retelling the story of the people of Israel in terms of himself.
The disciples which he gathered around him were drawn into this story to experience it for themselves and, while he sought to explain what was going on to them as it took place, they often did not understand at the time. How could they have? They were part of a story and process of experiential learning which could not be fully understand until its conclusion was reached with the Ascension. Once Jesus had completed the story and completed their process of experiential learning then they were empowered to begin a new chapter of the ongoing story by ministering confidently in the light of all they had learnt and understood.
Experiential learning is based on the four stages of learning identified by David. A. Kolb:
• Stage 1: Concrete experience – doing;
• Stage 2: Observation/Reflection – reviewing;
• Stage 3: Conceptualisation – concluding;
• Stage 4: Testing – planning.
Ruth Ackroyd and David Major in Shaping the Tools: Study Skills in Theology provide examples of the way in which experiential learning can be used effectively within a church context. For example, they provide a hypothetical example of a new Sunday School teacher giving a first lesson to illustrate the way in which experiential learning can be applied in a church context. They conclude that:
“… learning of the experiential sort is almost inevitably multi-disciplinary. Learning about the content of the syllabus is not enough to make our Sunday School teacher a success. He will also need to pay attention to the teaching methods he uses and subject them to the same experiential learning cycle. He will also come to see that not all of the children in his group learn in the same way … These observations and reflections on experience may lead him to consult books on educational theory where he may learn about such things as individual learning preferences and styles of learning … Again, when planning for the next lesson, his new learning will inform his thinking … The experiential learning cycle also offers a great deal of potential for the Sunday School teacher to learn more about himself so that, as well as learning about the Bible and Christian doctrine, teaching methods and children’s learning, he is also engaging in critical reflection upon his own life.”
They argue that the models of reflective practitioners and critical thinkers are appropriate to facilitating the development of congregations and individuals within congregations. In doing so, they highlight the work of Reginald Revans and Paulo Freire. Revans argues that experiential learning involves the whole being including the religious and spiritual dimension while Freire’s dialogical model of education aims to overcome disabling issues and liberate from oppression .
The Church of England, as a whole, has been learning to place less reliance on full-time stipendiary clergy. Patterns of collaborative working between clergy and parishes have grown. New opportunities for leadership responsibility have become available for self-supporting clergy and Readers, Church Army Evangelists and Ordained and Lay Pioneer Ministries. In addition, the roles such as Pastoral Assistant and Evangelist have been recognised and there are growing numbers of employed and voluntary Children, Youth and Family Workers in parishes. This trend is to be welcomed as a proper expression of the full variety of ministry gifts within the Body of Christ but to continue this trend will require greater use of experiential learning.
At this time when the Church of England needs to, for reasons of mission and deployment, further diversify its education and training provision for lay ministry by licensing or local commissioning of a broader range of lay ministries (e.g. aspects of ministry such as preparation for occasional offices, community work, leading of funerals, inter-faith engagement etc), it will be vital to deliver the greatest level of access possible for lay people to Lay Education and Training in dioceses. To do this too will require much greater use of localised, experiential learning.
Parish ministry has reinforced for me the sense of pressure which most of us experience in everyday life and the difficulty many lay people experience in finding time for more than work, family commitments, and church attendance. In this context, gifted people are often unable to train for ministry because training structures are insufficiently flexible and tailored to fit within their time constraints.
In order to respond effectively a mixed economy of delivery based on the principle of subsidiarity (that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority) will be required including use of accreditation of prior learning (to remove duplication of learning), modular and/or distance learning (to ensure flexibility of timing and location of training), and parish-based delivery for locally commissioned roles (in order that education and training is delivered as close as possible to each local setting). This would create, to the fullest extent possible, tailored learning packages able to overcome access issues through flexible/localised delivery and the use of personalised learning styles.
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