Experiential Learning at The Harbour School: Fostering Deeper Connections and Lifelong Understanding

As an educator, I’m always looking for ways to make learning more engaging and impactful for my students. Last summer, I had the privilege of attending the Independent Schools Experiential Education Network (ISEEN) Summer Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The experience reignited my passion for experiential learning and deepened my belief that students learn best when they are actively involved in the process.

One of my key takeaways from the ISEEN Summer Institute was that experiential learning goes beyond simply making lessons fun. While fun is certainly helpful at sparking curiosity, the real value lies in crafting learning experiences that challenge students to connect the classroom to their own context; to develop their personal theory of the world with meaningful practice; to reflect deeply on their situation in order to be able to think critically about future situations; and to navigate the complexities that only real-world situations can surface. This type of learning stays with students long after the lesson has ended.

At The Harbour School, we place experiential learning at the heart of our approach across primary, middle, and high school. In 4th grade, it has become a cornerstone of our teaching philosophy, allowing students to develop a deep connection with the material they’re studying. This term, Mrs. Asuncion, Ms. Vita, Ms. Audrey, and myself have focused on exploring the fascinating world of Ancient Greece in our Social Studies classes. Our goal is not just for students to memorize facts about Ancient Greece, but for them to understand the lived experiences of the Ancient Greeks and to wrestle with the questions that shaped Greek society.

To kick off our unit, we held a Greek Dress-Up Day, where both students and teachers donned traditional Greek clothing. This immersive experience allowed the classroom to become a portal to the past, sparking curiosity and engagement from the start. While this activity was fun, it also laid the foundation for deeper exploration by setting the tone for an experience-based approach to learning about history.

The most enriching activities this term has been our Socratic dialogues, mirroring the debates that took place in Ancient Athens. Using the Socratic method, we explored questions like “What was the effect of Sparta’s dual monarchy on the people? and "Why didn’t women have rights in Athens?" These discussions have moved far beyond what a typical 4th-grade textbook offers—perhaps even inching toward Plato’s Republic! (Well, maybe not quite there yet.)

The Socratic method, based on asking open-ended questions and encouraging dialogue and reflection, is a powerful tool for developing thinking and creating a lasting baseline for this period. It connects to the Kolb cycle of experiential learning, which emphasizes learning through concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization (generalizing a learning), and active experimentation (trying new things from the learning). When students participate in a Socratic dialogue, they are experiencing the debate, reflecting on what it might have been like to sit beside Socrates in Ancient Athens, and generalizing their learning to the importance of rhetoric and oratory in different contexts.

By fostering this environment of deep engagement and reflection, we are helping students create learning experiences that are both meaningful and lasting. The hands-on exploration of Ancient Greece this term is just the beginning. In Term 3, we are already looking forward to diving into the Renaissance with our very own Renaissance Fair, where students will continue to explore history through immersive, hands-on experiences.

Through experiential learning at The Harbour School, we are not just teaching history; we are empowering our students to become curious, reflective thinkers who view learning as a lifelong journey filled with discovery and purpose.