Experiential Learning:  An Important Aspect of Present and Future Soka Education

Jocelyn Parkhurst, Ph.D.

Paper Presented at Soka University’s First Soka Education Conference,

March 26 & 27, 2005

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s Vision of Soka Education

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi first envisioned an educational system that focused on the needs of the student, countering an amalgamation of Eastern and Western education meant to create citizens amenable to the needs of the state (Miller 15).  Makiguchi sought to create free-thinking students taught by teachers within an egalitarian system, teachers who do not perceive themselves as better than their students, but participants in an interactive education that benefits the students and teachers (Miller 15).  Makiguchi’s philosophy, one of a humanist education, emphasizes “purpose in education, happiness, value creation, student responsibility, science of education, and the integration of school, home, and community in the learning process” (Miller 17).  Yet, Makiguchi lived in Japan in the early 1900s, was an educator of elementary school students, and was responding to Imperialist Japan’s nationalist tenants for learning.  His system of education does not directly translate into action for a secluded small liberal arts college in Orange County, California, where young adults, some who rarely leave campus, seek to realize Soka Education through the mission of Soka University provided by it’s founder, Daisaku Ikeda, to “foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life” (“Mission and Values”).  Soka education must include aspects of experiential learning in order to realize both Makiguchi and Ikeda’s visions, as experiential learning incorporates problem solving learning, student generated education, the inclusion of the community, and the application of information to real life situations throughout the learning process.

Experiential learning takes on many forms based on different fields of study.  Science courses often include labs where students apply their learned information to specific experiments.  Literature courses explore texts and often act out scenes and recite verse.  In political science, there is a movement to support various aspects of experiential learning, some employed for decades and new ideas based on problem solving learning.  This paper explores these past, current and new trends of experiential learning emerging out of the political science field as observed at this year’s American Political Science Association’s Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC, but certainly not unique to this discipline.  While some aspects of these learning tools have a direct link to politics, every discipline potentially can benefit from these experiences.

Leaving the Classroom:  Involving the Community in Education

One age-old experiential learning tool involves leaving the classroom or the teaching/learning space to explore the “real world” of politics.  In some cases, this may involve internships or activist involvement.  Laurel Elder,[1] Andrew Seligsohn, and Daniel Hofrenning explored the use of direct participation in the political process through the New Hampshire Presidential primary during a J-term, a January four week term similar to SUA’s Block term.  During these four weeks, students and professors traveled to New Hampshire just prior to the Presidential primary in 2004.  Students volunteered their time on various campaigns, from Kucinich, Kerry, and Edwards, to Bush/Cheney.  Students manned the phones, participated in rallies, and stood on street corners in freezing temperatures, holding signs for their candidates.  Students and professors also had the opportunity to dialogue with a number of political and professional leaders.  Students kept weekly journals, were graded on group presentations, papers, participation and appropriate behavior, along with their internship.  A pre-/post-survey revealed that besides an increased understanding of politics, the political efficacy of students increased as they believed that policy makers did care about what young people think.  Direct involvement in the political process resulted in a greater understanding of the presidential campaign, an increased belief in the political process, and a developed sense of one’s civic duty.

Students also gain an understanding of politics when they interact directly with the public and bureaucracies in activist efforts to change policy.  Mark O’Gorman and Patricia Siplon both relate how they incorporated activism into the “classroom.”  O’Gorman encouraged his environmental policy class to find an on-campus policy to address, forcing students to enter into the policy making process.  Students involved themselves with the building of a gazebo on campus, interacting with the designer and builders, as well as the administration, on where, how, and when the gazebo would be built, and what materials should be used.  Students learned that activism often faces the invested interests of policy makers and bureaucracies, and that good negotiation goes a long way in realizing activist goals.  Siplon took activism in education a step further and, after extensive required course work, traveled to East Africa for two weeks to fight directly the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this region.  Siplon reports that students return from this trip energized to continue the fight, with a better understanding of the human costs, and the determination to raise awareness in their communities and campuses.  Again, the politics involved in taking action inform students’ future actions and create a better understanding of the compromises often necessary when seeking to achieve a political goal. 

In each of these examples, leaving the classroom enables students to interact with communities, a tenant of Makiguchi’s educational system, in order to gain real-world knowledge that enhances and furthers the information learned in the classroom.  Yet, limitations restrict the ability for teachers and students to involve themselves in learning outside the classroom.  Time constraints, limits on funding, lack of background knowledge, personal limitations, limited opportunities and unforeseen barriers make learning experiences beyond the classroom inapplicable to every classroom.  Luckily, numerous other experiential learning methods exist.

Simulating Reality in the Classroom

Simulations, or games, often create an environment that challenges students to think beyond the classroom, incorporates learned information, and resolves problems in as real a situation as possible when leaving the classroom isn’t possible.  Simulations take different forms and may have a variety of goals, but all offer students the opportunity to “become” an actor in an event or political process.  Nancy Biggio, Bruce Wallin and Marni Ezra seek to explain the process of policy making and the influence of external effects:  Biggio incorporated the information processing of foreign policy experts into her class design; Wallin introduced students to the complexities of congressional policy making; and Ezra created the opportunity for students to better understand the context and manipulation of information in the White House media.  These types of simulations place the students as actors in the policy making process, provide a prompt or policy problem, and then allow students to solve the problem through those means learned throughout the course.  For instance, this author also employs simulations in her course with the goal of enlightening students to the complexities and difficulties in the policy making process.  In an introduction to international relations course, a typical simulation would evolve from current international events.  The most recent simulation in the intro to IR course at SUA involved the assassination of Kim Jong Il, leader of North Korea, and the resulting vacuum of power and struggle over leadership within that country, how this crisis affected surrounding countries, and the possible threat posed by unsecured nuclear weapons in North Korea.  Even though SUA students are close and enjoy a unique camaraderie, they commented on the difficulty in coming to a consensus, how their own actions as decision makers made them feel “bad” about themselves as they had co-opted into an aggressive, self-help, power-driven stance, and how external effects and the lack of information almost derailed the entire diplomatic process.  Even though case studies often relay this type of information and instructors inform students on diplomatic difficulties, the “real-world” hands on experience of simulations provides a better understanding of the complexities involved in policy making or in resolving problems.

Other classroom projects, while not exactly simulations, can incorporate the basic principles of simulations to enhance student learning.  Victoria Williams provided students with individual actor prompts on “people” living during the Cold War period.  The students then developed family histories and futures based on these prompts, reflecting students’ understanding of the events and experiences of the Cold War in the U.S.  Students then shared these experiences throughout the course and culminated their research with individual projects.  Some students contacted individuals whom their “person” represented to gain first hand knowledge, while others used vintage magazines and journals to understand this era’s culture and experiences.  Students sought to immerse themselves in their person and understand the experiences of individuals during the Cold War, from solders to housewives, from black activists to gay and lesbian intellectuals.  Sometimes an uncomfortable process, students often explored experiences beyond their knowledge, gaining an understanding of “others” in America.

In this way, simulations offer less expensive and more applicable means for incorporating “real-life” experiences and problem solving learning into the education process.  Such tools for learning push students to take the reigns of their education and become involved in knowledge acquisition.  Yet, there is the problem of how much time to give up from the traditional lecture/discussion teaching format to simulations, and how applicable simulations are to the real world.  Real stakes of defeat or poor policy making often are beyond the scope of the classroom.  In addition, disagreement over the grading of simulations exists:  should students be graded on a poor outcome or on their involvement level?  Do instructors grade on participation when involvement differs due to actor description?  How do instructors counter students who see no value in simulations and fail to adequately play their role, dooming the simulation to failure?  Simulation success often relies upon instructor involvement to guide the simulation, but student involvement is instrumental to a positive learning outcome.  Nevertheless, simulations incorporate student generated learning, create a hands on process for learning, focuses on problem solving learning, and offers insight into real world situations that the student will face in the future, all aspects of Makiguchi’s vision for student centered humanistic learning.

Innovative Learning Processes in the Classroom

Beyond internships, activism, and simulations, innovative teaching also offers a process whereby students participate in their own learning.  Rosemary Shinko relates her teaching methods as a function of problem solving learning.  Shinko utilizes small group discussions as a means for students to gain an understanding of course material.  Students then relay their information and partake in a larger dialogue across groups, determining the “truth” of their discoveries.  Each section focuses on theory, reality, and case studies to inform the students.  Short essays, papers and portfolios round out the learning process.  The instructor acts as a facilitator to the students’ learning, guiding and directing the learning path, clarifying information when needed.  Yet, the student is the protagonist in the learning process, not the object-receiver of information.

Paul Dosh adds upon this interactive process by suggesting a “Montessori”-type of education system developed for university students.  Dosh experienced the Montessori schools as an elementary student and suggests that this same student centered and active learning system could be developed for college students.  Students would learn in a classroom set up for political science (or history, social science, cultural studies, etc.), a room that includes maps, works by the professors, tools for taking political action; a comfortable learning center.  Students take courses in a two course step.  The first semester they are led by a peer group who took the instructor’s course the prior semester.  The peer group leaders involve themselves in the development of the course, lead class discussions, develop simulations, and teach the new student cohort the peer group leadership process.  Not only do students gain a hands on learning opportunity, but they also experience the process of developing the course and the resulting outcome.

While these innovative teaching and learning methods offer exciting new ideas for students and teachers, there are some limits to their incorporation.  Repeating the same learning system throughout the course, no matter how innovative, may still result in a perception of mundane information processing.  In addition, while the Montessori system has several promising aspects, it runs into the same constraints as does Makiguchi’s educational system:  how to apply a vision meant for elementary education to the university level.  Yet, the inclusion of students into the education process, peer group guidance, and a hands on method of education support Makiguchi’s vision of a humanist educational system that focuses on the student.

Outcomes of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning adds to students’ educational experience, benefiting both the student and the communities.  Students engage in the learning process, become excited about learning, which then spills over into other courses.  Experiential learning may even motivate the struggling student towards greater academic success.  Experiential learning often sparks a fire in a student who then goes on to excel in their academic career.  Students may also find their calling in life, committing themselves to the betterment of the community.  Students with a mission of becoming contributive members of a global community may better understand this mission through experiential learning.  Students also learn to take responsibility for their education, developing a love of learning and becoming life-long learners, also a goal of Soka education.  Experiential learning incorporates an egalitarian teaching-learning process, one that reduces the hierarchal structures between teachers and students, creating a more holistic educational system. 

Furthermore, student learning often peaks at the course final, with the knowledge learned slowly leaving the student after the end of the course.  Experiential learning not only makes the information real for the student, but stimulates students to continue their learning.  In addition, students increase their ability to solve real life problems as they are provided opportunities to solve problems in the classroom through experiential learning.  Students learn to question information, critically think about what may be reality, and consider various points of view.  Students may even change their views of the world, incorporating new ideas based on their hands on learning or interaction with real world events.  What they thought was the reality of the world, possibly an idealistic perception of what ought to be, transforms into an understanding of the complexity of human endeavor and an enhanced ability to determine solutions to problems.  Furthermore, teachers also benefit from the experiential learning process by enhancing their teaching experience, promoting student-teacher interaction, sparking excitement in teacher learning, and informing teachers through student projects.  Experiential learning addresses all aspects of the vision set by Makigushi for Soka education.

Conclusion

As Soka Education in its application to a small liberal arts college develops, experiential learning must become a mainstay in the educational system’s development.  Experiential learning focuses on student centered learning, problem solving, student involvement in course development, and life-long learning.  While experiential learning is not the only means for actualizing Makiguchi’s vision, it must be a major piece.  The benefits of experiential learning influence the student, teacher, university and community.  The learning process becomes real for the student, not just an academic exercise, resulting in a continued desire to learn after the course has ended.  Makiguchi and Ikeda’s visions of Soka Education actualize through experiential learning, a method that produces contributive members of a global society.

Works Cited

Biggio, Nancy.  “Role-Playing in United States Foreign Relations:  The National Security Council.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Dosh, Paul.  “Montessori Goes to College:  Facilitating Constructivist Pedagogy through a Prepared Political Science Classroom Environment.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Elder, Laurel, Andrew Seligsohn and Daniel Hofrenning.  “Experiencing the New Hampshire Primary.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Ezra, Marni.  “The Use of Simulations in Introductory and Upper Level Political Science Courses.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Miller, George David.  2002.  Peace, Value, and Wisdom:  The Educational Philosophy of Daisaku Ikeda.”  New York:  Rodopi.

O’Gorman, Mark.  “Activating Student Learning in an Environmental Politics Course:  How the Environmental Service Project (ESP) Can Resolve Pedagogical Tensions in Interdisciplinary Political Science Courses.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Shinko, Rosemary.  “Thinking, Writing, Doing International Relations Theory.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Siplon, Patricia.  “The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic In and Out of the Classroom.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Soka University of America.  “Mission and Values.”  About Soka.  2/28/05.  http://www.soka.edu/page.cfm?p=3

Wallin, Bruce.  “A Federal Deficit Reduction Simulation:  Learning Politics and Policy in a Budgetary Context.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.

Williams, Victoria.  “Assuming Identities, Enhancing Understanding:  Applying Simulation Principles to Research Projects.”  Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC, February 19-21, 2005.