Playing with Purpose – How Experiential Learning Can Be More Than a Game

Citation

Palethorpe, C. (2012), "Playing with Purpose – How Experiential Learning Can Be More Than a Game", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 44 No. 7, pp. 437-438. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197851211268036

Experiential learning is often misinterpreted as nothing more than playing games and having fun. In response to this, Playing with Purpose aims to provide practical guidance on how trainers, managers, coaches and facilitators can make their experiential training more effective. The authors are Dr Steve Hutchinson, an experienced facilitator with qualifications in training, coaching and NLP, and Dr Helen Lawrence, who has a PhD in Sociolinguistic Variation and runs her own training and development business. The result is a comprehensive handbook of experiential learning which draws on an extensive literature review and the writers' experience of working across a range of organisations and cultures.

The book strikes a balance between theoretical models and practitioner advice, and contains a number of case studies that illustrate the topics under discussion. Trainers will also appreciate the inclusion of many interesting ideas for running experiential exercises with their own groups.

The book is divided into three sections. The first explores the concepts and skills needed by those who create and facilitate experiential learning, while the second focuses on the transfer of learning back to the workplace. Section three forms the bulk of the content and is made up of nine chapters, each concentrating on a particular subject area. These chapters typically include a discussion of the topic, reflective questions for practitioners, and suggestions of how to run and debrief appropriate practical exercises.

The opening chapter covers the principles that underpin experiential learning, with an emphasis on optimising the learner experience. Helpfully, it includes flowcharts to explain how exercises should be designed, run and tested. This is followed by a chapter on how to make the most of learning by using guided reflection. This section is largely composed of a “top ten” of learning review strategies and it comprehensively covers the many ways to debrief exercises and deal with the issues that arise.

The authors then move on to themed chapters, each covering a key training topic. Chapter three is concerned with teamwork, and is made up of a mix of practitioner questions and training theories such as the Johari window. The issue of trust in teams is covered in a similar format. Following this, chapter four concentrates on leadership. This stresses the need to focus on leadership behaviours and uses Adair's model as the basis for designing and reviewing interventions.

Chapter five looks into the issue of personal effectiveness. This takes a more individualistic approach, and covers subjects such as goal setting and working with trainees with diverse needs. This chapter also deals with reflection as a learning tool.

Chapter six deals with change and the skills that are needed to cope with it. Training models here include “comfort, stretch, panic” and the learning ladder. As before, each is reinforced with exercises and practical guidance. Chapter seven goes on to examine how people can learn to be creative, including a discussion of whether creativity can be taught.

Chapter eight takes understanding organisational quality as its subject, and goes on to cover organisational structure and behaviour as well as the transfer of information within organisations. Chapter nine then looks into building relationships and how to get people talking in both the training environment and the workplace.

Chapter ten pulls together specific issues on the topic of diversity and culture, with a focus on how these can be explored experientially. The text then concludes with a short chapter summarising the thoughts and ethos behind the book.

This is a well researched and extensively referenced work, and it represents an ambitious attempt to provide a practitioner's guide to experiential learning. The inclusion of suggested training exercises in each chapter (together with clear links to potential issues) makes the book easy to use. The chatty and informal style drew me in and made me want to keep exploring the authors' experiences, although I felt that quotations were over‐used at times. It would have been nice to see detailed indexing to help those who prefer to “dip in” for specific issues, and, while the book is ideal as a practical how‐to guide, it might not suit those who require a more comprehensive treatment of training theory.

Taken as a whole, the book provides a sound overview of experiential learning and development. As an experienced practitioner, I found that the authors' experiences were consistent with my own, and that the format of the book encouraged me to reflect on my current practice. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their training interventions and try out new ways of working.