Experiential Training
The experiential method
Experiential training is a methodology that places the individual at the center of the learning process, creating the conditions for changing personal and group attitudes and behaviors.
The result is the internalization of new behavioral and thought patterns.
Learning is conceived not as passive but as active.
The participant is involved in experiences in which he has to move and communicate with others rather than sitting in front of a projector and passively participating in the classic boring classroom lessons. Experiential activities stimulate the emotional involvement of participants. As we now know scientifically, learning linked to emotionally engaging experiences, such as Outdoor Training activities for example, produces brain connections (anchors) that are much more long-lasting and, above all, much quicker to recall, that is, to put into action when needed. the need is required.
Open spaces
To make the training experience engaging and emotionally intense, we need to ask our mother nature for help. In fact, conducting study, reflection, play and so on activities in the open air facilitates learning and strengthens its effectiveness.
This happens for various reasons: the first is that being in natural environments stimulates our attention much more than sitting between four walls. A part of our brain that is very often lazy, asleep, is activated, awakened. It is a very ancient part, it is linked to our internal world, to the world of sensations and perceptions, it is the natural world to which we belong and where it is possible to find ourselves to draw new energies. Agora will teach you how to do it.
Outdoor Training
The maximum expression and effectiveness of experiential training is expressed in outdoor training activities. In these activities, of variable duration ranging from a single day to a weekend formula, participants will have to carry out one or more activities divided into teams and achieve a common goal. In weekend formulas you will sleep together in specially selected locations surrounded by nature.
Orienteering : Participants divided into groups will be involved in one or more orienteering tests in the woods. They will be equipped with compasses and topographic maps. The objective will be to be able to find the hidden points on the map. Particularly effective for problem solving strategies (problem solving), team-working (teamwork).
Mountain trekking : Hiking is a form of physical activity based on walking freely, outside of fixed routes. Climbing a peak is a metaphorically very powerful learning experience. The mountain seems insurmountable, like sometimes the problems and situations in our lives. With the right will and management of energy and with the collaboration of others, overcoming those peaks will no longer be so difficult.
Rescue operation : The experience involves creating scenarios in which there will be a need to carry out a rescue operation, therefore finding, helping and bringing a missing person to safety. Teamwork and effective communication are the tools to achieve this. The scenarios vary according to the seasons. Leadership, time management, effective communication and sense of belonging are the central skills that will be trained.
Group reflection
Immediately after carrying out the activity, there is a group reflection on the experience just carried out, where the experiences and behaviors implemented by the participants are analysed. What could have been done differently? What have we learned? This is how it happens
raising awareness of the behaviors implemented during the activity, identifying which ones need to be improved. Thanks to post-activity reflection, knowledge of oneself, of one's strengths and weaknesses, increases.
An experiential activity or an Outdoor Training without reflection lasting at least 2 hours is not training but an entertainment and entertainment activity that ends with the activity itself.
Thanks to post-activity reflection, knowledge of oneself, of one's strengths and weaknesses, increases. The formative experiences we live are real, the consequences of our actions are visible to others. By observing the behavior of oneself and others it is possible to reflect on the consequences (positive or negative) of certain actions and behaviors, facilitating learning through sharing and mutual feedback.
