Incorporating an Integral approach to
experiential education:
A new foundation to expand and deepen learning
NSEE, Dallas, TX
October 2009
Beth Sheehan, Southern New Hampshire University
Mark McDonald, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Kirsty Spence, Brock University
Purpose of today’s workshop
• Introduce Ken Wilber’s Integral approach
and its relevance to EE
• Demonstrate the application of the
Integral approach and its impact on
student learning and development
• Discuss research, evaluation and
assessment
• Promote discussion & feedback from you!
Experiential Learning Theory
• Two (2) major theoretical streams in the
literature
– Individual : construction of personal
knowledge
• Dewey, Kolb, Boud and Walker, Mezirow, Piaget,
Schön
– Collective: shared knowledge through
cultural, historical and social relationships
• Argyris, Argyris & Schön, Fenwick, Vince, Yorks
and Kasl
all quadrant/all level model (AQ/AL)
• learning and problem solving from holistic
perspective
• oriented by 4 central perspectives
• upper & lower
halves
• left & right
hand paths
Individual
Upper Left (UL)
Upper Right (UR)
Lower Left (LL)
Lower Right (LR)
Exterior
Left Hand Path
Right Hand Path
Upper Half
Upper Left
Interior Individual
• 4 quadrants:
•
•
•
•
Interior
Collective
Upper Right
Exterior Individual
Lower Half
Lower Left
Interior Collective
Lower Right
Exterior Collective
Sources: Wilber 1995/2000a/2000b
Interior
Upper Left
•Student’s subjective feelings,
experience and intentions within an
experience
Individual
Capturing UL: Reflection and dialog
exercises on individual intentions,
expectations, feelings, beliefs,
assumptions, etc.
Collective
Exterior
Upper Right
•Objective, empirical and measurable
aspects of the student’s experience
Capturing UR: Observations and
descriptions of physical actions and
behaviors, physiological changes, and/or
others’ reactions to those behaviors
Lower Left
Lower Right
•Shared meanings held by the collective
group embedded in the context of the
experience
•All objective, empirical, and measurable
organizational aspects (systems,
structures, processes)
•How each functionally fits to create an
effective organization
Capturing LL: Culture, values, rituals,
morals of the collective
Capturing LR: Organizational behaviors
and associated outcomes that do or do
not match desired behaviors of the
system.
(Jowdy, McDonald, & Spence, 2004)
Integral, Developmental & EL Theory
• Developmental theory (Cook-Greuter, 2004)
– Lateral development
• engage students’ motivational levels
• subject content, information, and knowledge,
• new skills that expand, deepen, and enrich the way students
currently perceive reality, to ultimately “apply their new
competencies to widening circles of influence” (Cook-Greuter,
2004, p. 277).
– Vertical development
• reshapes students’ current thinking, idea generation &
interpretation
• expanded interpretations of experiences & reality
• more effective behaviors when dealing with interpersonal
conflict, decision making, and leadership (Cook-Greuter,
2004, 2005; Rooke & Torbert, 2005; Torbert, 1991; Torbert
et al., 2004).
Developmental Theory
Leadership Development Framework (LDF)
Action Logic
Percentage
Focus of Awareness
Magician/Alchemist
1%
Interplay:
Strategist
4%
process
Individualist
10%
everything
Achiever
30%
results,
Expert
38%
consistency
Diplomat
12%
acceptance
Opportunist
5%
awareness, thought, action, effect
transforming self & others
& goal oriented
systems view
is relative
own ability to have impact
goals, plans
objective reality
& improvement; rationality
& belonging
socially expected behaviour
own
needs & interests
self-protection; acts on impulses
7
Integral, Developmental & Experiential
• Integral Theory
– Holistic approach to understanding and
experiencing the world
• Developmental Theory
– Way to measure personal growth that results
from integral approach to EL
• Experiential Learning
– Process that provides the type of structure and
environment for vertical development to occur
– Creates challenges that can potentially
transform ones view of reality
Experiential Learning Curriculum
featuring Integral Theory
• Sport Event Management
– Granite Bowl: Undergraduate/graduate enrollment
– Classroom as organization: Students divided in 6
departments
– Teacher as guide/coach/CEO
– Emergent leadership – encourage distributed
leadership
– Community event
Experiential Learning Curriculum
featuring Integral Theory
• Course management using four quadrants
• Upper Left– Utilize student reflection
– Individual intentions, expectations and goals
– Test new behaviors
– Ego development
• Upper Right – Observations
– Fit of individual actions and behaviors in the event
management organization
– Reactions of others’ to individual behaviors in the
organization
– Individual jobs/tasks
Experiential Learning Curriculum
featuring Integral Theory
• Course management using four quadrants
• Lower Left – Students establish culture & values
– Core purpose and values (Collins & Porras, 1997)
– Tradition and past legacy/history
– Shared goals
• Lower Right – Organizational design
–
–
–
–
Horizontal, departmental structure
Agenda, meeting minutes and reporting structure
University processes
Operations and marketing systems associated with
event management
Integral Approach
• No quadrant is separate or more valuable
than the other
• All are correlated with and dependent on
the other
• Interactions between the quadrants lead
to important opportunities in the
Classroom as Organization model to
promote vertical, student development
Impact: student reflections
• The culture and environment that we have in the Granite
Bowl and the tasks that are clearly outlined for the
outside work that we have has established a foundation
that make it easier to communicate. As we divide tasks
between department members it makes it easier for
other staff members to contact the right member and
get information flowing more easily than it may have
been. Also, with the shared values and goals between
everyone that works in the Granite Bowl we understand
probably now more than ever that communication is
crucial for the success of this event and we are working
harder and harder to gain that.
Impact: student reflections
• The culture/environment and systems that are part of
the GB organization are connected to the challenges I
discussed above because of the team concept. There
isn’t a true leader in our group of students so everything
we do must go through each other and be approved.
There has to be more trust between us than we have
ever been used to and there is a new sense of
responsibility. On one wants to let anyone down, yet we
are all adapting to this new system; and everyone
adapts differently.
• How can you help solve this problem/overcome this
challenge. Solve it however, in terms of helping the
COLLECTIVE group adjust - changes in the environment.
Systematic changes, cultural changes?
Why Integral Theory?
• Captures the essence of EL – it’s not just the experience, it’s
•
•
all that surrounds it (Furco, 2007)
Instructors
– Structure and develop an experience-based curriculum
– Design assignments and reflections
– Constant reference point throughout an experience
Students
– Framework to “make sense” and interpret their
experience
– Deepens learning, widens perspectives, improves higher
order thinking skills
– Leads to personal development – self and social
awareness, ego-development
Research project
• Investigating the impact of experiencebased curricula on students’ vertical
development
• Mixed methods design
– Washington University Sentence Completion
Test (SCT)
– Interviews
• Control and experimental
• Pre and post – T1, T2 and T3 data
collection
Thank you
Beth Sheehan
e.sheehan@snhu.edu
Mark McDonald
mcdonald@sportmgt.umass.edu
Kirsty Spence
Kirsty.spence@brocku.ca