Reflecting on Experiential Learning and almost a Year at Brathay – ‘What? There are no instructions?’
Ed Kemp, Schools and Communities Delivery Lead, reflects on his first year at Brathay Trust — and what he’s learned about the power of curiosity and learning through experience in young people.
While helping to clear out the loft of our family home, I discovered, hidden under a pram and a set of roller skates, an enormous bag of Lego…
My three year old son, Max, has two Lego sets, a Jurassic Park scene and bizarrely, a doughnut van… he loves using the instructions to build the models but when they are built his interest moves elsewhere.
I brought some of the Lego back to my home and one wet afternoon I filled a small box with a completely random assortment and gave it to Max. He was so excited, tipping the pieces onto the floor, but then he froze. Looking at the bits in front of him. After a long moment he looked up at me…
‘What! Where are the instructions?”
There had not been one set of instructions in that enormous bag. Not one manual had been kept, not one cardboard box safely stored away.
I explained that there were none, that he could make whatever he liked. He spent a few minutes thinking and then he set to work.
For the next 2 days he built. He built machines and garages to fix them, a barn, motorbike, quadbikes. When my children both wanted a tractor to play with, Max said
‘Don’t worry, I’ll build another one’.
No input from me, no reference to pictures or instructions. He used the pieces he had to create what he wanted or needed. That evening we all sat round on the floor building Lego models, sharing the pieces, splicing our creations together and having a great time.
“A Sheep Field Cleaner – It scoops up the sheep’s wool, mixes it together and sends it to the factory and it makes it into a black woolly hat.” (just in case you couldn’t tell!)
The capacity children have to solve their own problems and develop their own ideas independently is extraordinary. I reflected that this was encouraged at nursery, time for child led play, freedom to explore, discover, problem solve and create. I wondered if it would continue next year at school.
When I was a primary school teacher, I rarely gave my class time to solve their own problems, flying in, superhero style to save them from their struggles. Now my teaching is done predominantly in the outdoor environment, here at Brathay, and I make time for young people to develop their own strategies and solutions.
At Brathay, I see quality Experiential Learning in action every day, facilitators who create and maintain a safe environment, where young people can explore tasks and develop their own strategies and solutions – no instructions provided!
Chris explaining to the group that they are now responsible for each other and for the route we all take up the river!
Our world is full of answers – people and machines that tell us what to think or do. Let’s spend some time in the unknown, the unsure spaces, it is where the extraordinary is uncovered. At Brathay, we have championed these moments of exploration for 80 years, allowing challenge, creativity, and resilience to truly thrive.
by Ed Kemp, Schools and Communities Delivery Lead
