PEDAGOGICAL FACILITATION AND RELATIONAL DYNAMICS AS THE FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR EXPERIENTIAL TEACHING AND THE ACHIEVEMENT OF DEEP LEARNING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2956-333X/2025-4-5Keywords:
experiential pedagogy, experiential learning as method, Kolb's cycle, group dynamics, transfer of experience, reflective practice of the facilitator, immersive field visits, psychological safety, artificial intelligence in education, post-pandemic pedagogyAbstract
The present study develops and substantially updates the concept of experiential pedagogy and experiential learning in light of the fundamental social and pedagogical transformations that have occurred since 2020, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the advent of generative artificial intelligence in educational processes, and the deepening crisis of mental health among children and young people. The text terminologically anchors the concepts of experience (zážitek), lived experience (prožitek), and accumulated experiential knowledge (zkušenost) with reference to modern neuroscience and the psychology of emotions, and consistently distinguishes between experiential pedagogy as a theory and experiential learning as a method. The relationship between traditional and experiential pedagogy is analysed as an integrative continuum rather than a binary opposition, while gamification is discussed as a bridge between the two approaches. Group dynamics is introduced as a distinct pedagogical phenomenon that has hitherto not been systematically addressed in relation to experiential learning. Kolb's experiential learning cycle is situated within the context of the most recent critiques of its linearity and connected to modern educational technologies. As entirely new areas of inquiry, the study develops the transfer of experience as a pedagogical problem, the reflective practice of the teacher-facilitator, and immersive field visits to environments of the helping professions and psychiatric care. The concluding section raises the question of the indispensable value of embodied lived experience at a time of the growing capacity of artificial intelligence to simulate human encounters.
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