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Experiential Learning and Sustainable Development

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Definition

Experiential learning and sustainable development is defined as a hand-on, action-oriented learning process that enables the learner to experience, reflect and change the way the learner conceives their place in the world and to take action towards sustainable development.

Introduction

Education for sustainable development fosters change in how a learner thinks and learns to create a more sustainable world. Experiential learning is a broad-based term that describes this learning process. Experiential learning encompasses diverse action-oriented pedagogies often described as “learning by doing,” a term coined by experiential educational theorist John Dewey (1938). Learning by doing involves engaging the learner in hands-on activities that take learners out of the traditional classroom and into environments that allow them to engage in learning through hands-on experiences. This shift in emphasis from teaching to learning supports sustainable development by empowering the...

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Correspondence to Jessica L. Gaffney or Joy Kcenia O’Neil .

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Gaffney, J.L., O’Neil, J.K. (2019). Experiential Learning and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_348

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