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The Peer Helper Trainer Experiential Learning Cycle
by
Rey Carr and Grey Owl
A thorough knowledge and understanding of the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC) as developed by de Rosenroll, Saunders, and Carr (1992) and Grey Owl (1996) is essential for all levels of peer helper training. Use of the ELC allows trainers to:
- build on the natural skills and wisdom of the peer helpers;
- assist peer helpers to integrate rather than just mimic skills;
- diagnose blocks to peer helper motivation and progress; and
- model a way to manage unfamiliar or difficult experiences.
This article will describe the elements of impact experiential learning and provide examples of how to put the model into practice. And while the model is being presented to help peer trainers improve their training programs, the model can be used by all trainers concerned with maximizing learning.
A central feature of the ELC are anchor questions which de Rosenroll, Saunders, and Carr (1992) suggest that leaders use to assist trainees to move through the ELC. Anchor questions have two purposes: 1) to help deepen, focus, or enrich each participant's experience; and 2) to help participants move from one part of the ELC to another part, such as moving from experience to action. Anchor questions help participants remain with an experience or move on beyond the experience.
An anchor question has four characteristics. First it is typically open-ended. An open-ended question allows for a wider variety of responses than its counterpart, the closed-ended question. Closed questions are useful for gaining specific facts, limiting the range of responses, or focusing on situations that have only one correct or acceptable answer. Open-ended questions are useful in gaining information when that information is based on an individual's own experience, reactions, feelings or thoughts. In other words an open-ended question actually encourages and allows for a wider range of responses. With an open-ended question there is typically no "correct" answer. Here are some examples:
| Open-Ended | Closed-Ended |
| What was your day like? | Did you like work? |
| How did the interview go? | Did you get the job? |
| What are you feeling? | Are you mad? |
| How did that help? | Did that help you? |
The second characteristic of an anchor question is that it has a generic stem and a situation specific tail. Usually the first part of the anchor question is generic and the second part is specific. By "generic" we mean that it could apply to almost any situation or experience; and we use the term "specific" to mean that it identifies the particular situation about which you want to gain information. Here are some examples:
| Generic Stem | Specific Tail |
| What was it like... | ...at work today? |
| How did you feel... | ...when the group ended? |
| What stood out for you... | ...about the role play? |
| What were you thinking... | ...during the lecture? |
The next characteristic of an anchor question is based on its use in the ELC. Certain types of anchor questions, according to de Rosenroll, Saunders, and Carr (1992) are designed to position or focus participants in a particular quadrant of the ELC; whereas other anchor questions assist participants to make transitions or move from one quadrant to another. Therefore, positioning and moving anchor questions are not necessarily different types of questions, but instead rely on timing and sequencing within the ELC. For example, anchor questions associated with the Reflection Quadrant typically focus on helping participants consider WHAT they experienced. Here are some examples:
- What did you notice about (the experience)?
- What stood out for you during (the experience)?
- How did you feel when (the experience) occurred?
- How would you describe your physical reactions to (the experience)?
- What words would you use to describe your reactions to (the experience)?
Anchor questions associated with the Wisdom Quadrant typically focus on finding out what participants have gained as a result of the experience. These questions are often known as the SO WHAT anchor questions. Here are some examples:
- In what way was (the experience) the same or different from other experiences?
- How do your thoughts and feelings of (the experience) match other things you know?
- When you review the reactions to (the experience) what conclusions do you come to?
- What principles or guidelines can you develop as a result of (the experience)?
- What would you say was the most important thing you learned as a result of (the experience)?
The Action Quadrant also has particular types of anchor questions that primarily focus on assisting participants to plan, design or take action. Questions in this quadrant are often referred to as NOW WHAT questions. Here are some examples:
- What will you do differently as a result of (the experience)?
- How can you take what you learned as a result of (the experience) and apply it to...?
- What difficulty do you imagine will prevent you from applying what you learned?
- What changes will need to be made in order for you to benefit from (the experience)?
- How might or will you use what you learned from (the experience)?
- How might you change or alter (the experience) to increase its value?
As far as moving participants from one quadrant to another, that depends on the facilitator's ability to insure that the participants have gained what learning is possible from that particular quadrant. If the participants, for example, are responding to SO WHAT anchor questions, and then the facilitator introduces NOW WHAT anchor questions, the facilitator will be able to tell by participant reactions as to whether the group is ready to move on or make the transition to the next quadrant. Therefore, an anchor question from the Action Quadrant may be both a transition anchor (in that it helped the group move to that quadrant) and a focusing anchor in that it is now locating the participants in that particular quadrant. Other examples of transition anchors are more direct and are often closed questions. Here are a few examples:
- Are there any further reactions and feelings?
- Does anyone else want to make a contribution?
- Does this summarize what we have learned?
- Have we exhausted all possibilities here?
- Are we ready to move on to...?
The design and timing associated with anchor questions are crucial to assisting participants to maximize what they learn from their experiences. Most workshops generally provide certain activities or experiences such as interactive games, role plays, skill-building exercises and such in order to give participants a common experience on which to build their learning. Considerable attention is devoted to both the careful design of the activity and carrying it out at the workshop. Less time is put into designing the anchor questions to help participants gain from the experience.
While most trainers use questions to help participants process or examine various experiences, the questions they use typically lack focus, and seem more like an afterthought than an essential component of the learning activity. Trainers who want to design effective anchor questions can use the following five prompts and apply them to each question:
- 1. What purpose will be achieved by asking that particular question? (For example, does it help focus on thoughts, on feelings, on meanings, on actions? Does it attempt to deepen or expand ideas? Does it challenge to go deeper, be more thorough?)
- 2. Based on the purpose, in which quadrant should the question be placed?
- 3. Does it make sense to group the question with other questions? (For example, do the questions require progressive or sequential exploring so that the responses to one question lead to the creation of additional questions?)
- 4. Will the question achieve its purpose better as a closed or open question? To determine this try changing a closed question to an open question and assess whether it is more appropriate. (Example: change "Did anyone feel frustrated during this activity?" to "What were some of the feelings experienced during this activity?" or change "Does anyone have anything to say about this activity?" to "What are some of the thoughts you have about this activity?")
Trainers who already use this model know the importance of using skill, sensitivity and timing. While planning is essential, it is not possible to script the process ahead of time. However, just as you can plan the areas of the cycle so that you can ensure that the exercise will encompass all four quadrants, you can also plan anchor questions ahead of time. They may not be needed, but remember this story told about the poet Coleridge. One day an admirer came to visit. Coleridge said, "Come see my flower garden." His visitor took one look and exclaimed, "Why that's nothing but a yard full of weeds." Coleridge replied, "It used to be filled with roses, but this year I thought Iąd let the garden grow as it willed without tending to it. This is the result." Remember to have those anchor questions available to safeguard smooth transitions and ensure productive learning.
The ELC shares some common characteristics with contemporary learning style theory. Kolb & Fry (1975) and Abbey, Hunt & Weiser (1985) perceive each of the quadrants, for example, to represent a particular learning style. Although their views are rather complex, they would describe the first quadrant, Concrete or Remembered Experience, as representing learners who particularly enjoy and learn from hands-on experiences. The Reflective Quadrant will be particularly valuable to those participants who need to have time to "chew over" their experiences, look at them and then chew on them some more. These highly reflective individuals must have this opportunity to feel satisfied with the experience. The Generalization quadrant will be essential for those group members who are not at all comfortable until they have a theory which represents a law of sorts that they can ascribe to other similar events. Finally, the Experimental Quadrant is a necessity for those participants who learn best by experimentation. They like to try out new ideas and they learn by witnessing what happens, making changes and experimenting again.
In each group, given random distribution, each of the ELC quadrants will be represented by members in the group. As such, at some point during the Cycle, all of the group members will have their learning needs addressed. The Cycle reaches a variety of learning styles, rather than just touching one or two dominant styles. Similarly, even though each participant may have a learning dominance, they will likely vicariously experience the excitement and learning value experienced by other members with differing learning styles. By being exposed to a full learning cycle interacting with other learning styles, it is then possible that an individual's learning tolerance can expand beyond their current dominance.
Useful References
- Abbey, D. S., Hunt, D. E., & Weiser, J. C. (1985). Variations on a theme by Kolb: A new perspective for understanding counseling and supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 13(3) 477-501.
- deRosenroll, D.A., Saunders, G.A., & Carr, R.A. (1992). The Mentor Program Development Resource Kit. Victoria, B.C.: Peer Resources.
- Grey Owl (1996). Natural strength training. The Peer Counsellor Journal, 12, 1, 5+.
- Kolb, D. A. & Fry, R. (1975). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. In C. Cooper (Ed.), Studies of Group Process, (33-57). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.