Experiential Learning Activities

The following discussion of experiential learning activities took place on
WMST-L in November 1999 (though at least one participant questioned whether
what is being described conforms to the usual definition of "experiential
learning").  For additional WMST-L files now available on the Web, see the
WMST-L File List.

Hello all -- I am a new instructor of a Women's Studies Intro course.  As 
extra credit, my students have agreed to perform an experiential learning 
activity.  I created the following activity suggestions, based partly on 
ideas I gleaned from this list and partly on the readings we have done for 
the class.  I am wondering what others think of these ideas, whether any of 
you have tried similar activities and what the results have been.  Thank you 
to all for your feedback, either privately or for the rest of the list to 
join in.  

-- Lanette Fisher-Hertz
SUNY New Paltz
LanetFH  @  aol.com

Experiential Learning Opportunities

The following activities are designed to enable students to experience a 
brief slice of life from a perspective other than their own.  While such 
admittedly artificial and limited activities can provide only a tiny taste of 
life in another^-s skin,  students are encouraged to choose an activity that 
exposes them to an experience they would not otherwise have. 

After performing one of the following activities (or designing one of their 
own), students will write at least two pages of critical response, 
summarizing not only what occurred during the activity, but also what they 
learned as a result.  Specifically, students should consider:  How does this 
experience compare with the dominant cultural point of view?  What does this 
experience teach me about this group? About feminism? About myself?  Finally, 
what social policy programs could help remedy issues raised by this activity?

1)  Go to at least two toy stores and tell the clerk that you need to buy 
gifts for a set of 6-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.  Explain that you have 
never shopped for children before and do not know what these children like, 
but that their parents say the twins like to get two different toys.  How 
does your shopping experience compare with the idea that nowadays boys and 
girls are all raised to believe they are equal and can do anything.

2)  Pretend you are gay for a day.  Come out to a friend, a family member, 
and/or in a classroom or workplace setting -- either formally (by announcing 
that you are a lesbian and bracing for the reaction) or in passing (by 
referring to your lover or girlfriend in a way that makes clear you are gay) 
 How do your reactions and the reactions of the people to whom you "come out" 
challenge your assertions that nowadays any kind of sexuality is OK.

3)  Apply for at least two jobs in a male-dominated workplace: construction 
site; stock room;  truck driving center; security dispatch; taxi driver; auto 
parts store; car, appliance or electronics sales room, etc.  (Use the want 
ads if possible to ensure that you apply to companies that are actually 
seeking employees.) How does it feel to apply for these positions?  How do 
your feelings and the reactions of the employers to whom you apply affect 
your view of equal opportunity.  Please include a salary comparison, if 
possible, between these male-dominated positions and positions you have held 
 Consider why you would continue to work in female-dominated fields.

4)  Pretend you are a pregnant 15-year-old in two states other than New York 
 What are your options?  (You can call a high-school guidance counselor, 
Planned Parenthood, Crisis Pregnancy Center, public health clinic, department 
of health, etc., to discuss your options.)  How are your options impacted by 
your access to money and/or by your relationship with your parents?  

5)  Pretend you are a single mother of two children, ages 1 and 3, working 
full time (40 hours per week) in a minimum-wage job ($5.25 per hour).  The 
father of the children works full-time, also in a minimum wage position, and 
pays you 20% of his salary for child support.  Calculate your monthly income 
 Assuming you can find a two-bedroom apartment for $600 a month, budget 
additional funds for utilities, food, transportation, and other necessities 
-- then find day-care you can afford.  You can use any combination of Head 
Start, state assistance, or subsidies you can find.   If you cannot find 
affordable day care, what are your other options?  


6)  Imagine you are the same single mother mentioned in the above example.  
Because of your low income, you believe your children may be eligible for 
Medicaid.  Try to find out if they are.  What paperwork will you need to 
complete and where will you need to go to enroll them?  What happens if you 
are not permitted to take time off work to keep your Medicaid-application 
appointments?  Assuming you are able to complete the Medicaid process and get 
Medicaid cards for your children, try to find them a doctor and a dentist.  
How far will you need to travel for their primary care services?
 
7)  Imagine your professor or employer has made repeated sexual advances 
toward you.  Further imagine that you were able to assertively tell him that 
his advances are unwelcome, without speaking gently to avoid hurting his 
feelings.  Now imagine that his tone becomes menacing, and you see that your 
grades or your job security are going to suffer because of his anger over 
your rejection of him.  What will you do?  Explore the options available to 
you ^+ including any grievance filing procedures.  How will your current 
status as a student or worker be affected while you follow the complaint 
procedure?

8)  Crime has dropped dramatically over the past decade -- except for rape 
and domestic violence.  If your good friend were attacked or assaulted by her 
boyfriend, what would her options be?   What is the procedure for pressing 
charges in such cases?  What if your friend is afraid that her attacker will 
attack her again if she makes trouble for him? What safeguards are in place 
to protect her?  What should she do?

9)  If you are white, keep a color-awareness notebook for one week, in which 
you record every image or mention of people of color that you see ^+ in the 
classroom, at work, on the streets and in the media.  Don^-t tell anyone you 
are keeping this notebook, and try not to form pre-conceived ideas about what 
the results will be.  Observe what you are taught about people of color at 
school?  What percent of your classmates are people of color ^+ and how does 
this compare to the state demographics?  What are the news stories and media 
representations of people of color that you encounter?  How often do your 
friends or family members discuss issues of race ^+ and in what context?  What 
conclusions do you draw when the week is up?

10)  If you are straight (heterosexual), keep a gay-awareness notebook for 
one week.  Do everything as above, but substitute the words gay people for 
people of color.

11)  If you are not a women^-s studies major or minor, keep a woman-awareness 
notebook for one week.  Do everything as above, but substitute the word women 
for gay people or people of color.  

12)  If you have no health impairments or disabilities, keep a 
handicapped-persons-awareness notebook for one week.  Do everything as above, 
but substitute the word handicapped-persons for women, gay people, or people 
of color.
 
13)  Interview at least five couples in their 20s who are living together or 
married.  Find out how they have divided the housework in their home and how 
this affects each member of the couple.  Who has more leisure time?  Who 
feels responsible for holiday gift buying? Food shopping? Toilet-cleaning? 
Laundry?  Sweeping? Dishes?  How long does each job take? (And do both 
members of the couple make the same time estimates?) Make a thorough list so 
that you can ask detailed questions rather than accepting general assertions 
about the division of labor.  What does this division tell you about current 
expectations for men and women in the home?  How does this compare with your 
assumptions and expectations? 
 
14)  According to some studies, more than 80 percent of current Internet use 
involves the consumption of pornography.  Visit at least five pornography 
sites.  What are the messages being conveyed by the most popular words and 
images of women?  Are there any equivalent sites for women?  Why not?  How 
might repeated exposure to such imagery impact male-female relations? What 
expectations are men (and women) forming as a result of this pornographic 
saturation of modern culture?
 
15)  If you have never (or rarely) approached men for dates, interview at 
least five men about the methods they use for approaching women.  How do they 
ask women out? Handle rejection?  Follow-up on first dates?  What 
expectations and pressures do they encounter and how do they manage them?  
Have women approached them in the past and how do they feel about it?  What 
conclusions can you draw about romance and gender roles?  

16)  If you have declared a major, find out the male-female ratio of majors 
and professionals in your field.  What are the pay equity issues in your 
future profession?  Who are the workers and who are the managers?  Interview 
at least three people in your future profession to ask them how gender issues 
impact their careers.  Then interview several men on campus about their 
chosen majors and compare male-female ratios in their majors, wages in their 
professions, and how they believe gender issues will impact their careers.  
What conclusions can you draw?

Dear Lanette Fisher-Hertz and WMST-L:

I have a few concerns about the exercises mentioned by Lanette Fisher-Hertz
as possible experiential learning assignments for her Intro to WS course.

First, exercise number 2 (in which students are asked to pretend they are
gay for a day and "come out" to their peers) sounds extremely problematic to
me.  Students could place themselves in danger by doing this (e.g., setting
themselves up for gay-bashing of all kinds by unsavory people).  Also, if
they are not gay and they "come out" to family or co-workers in a very
public way, as suggested by this exercise, what is to happen for them when
they later say "just kidding, it was for a class exercise"?  Will they be
able to reverse themselves and be believed?  I think this exercise poses
real coping issues, both for students and their friends/families/coworkers,
that are not at all taken into consideration in this exercise.  Coming out
as a gay individual is a very personal, sometimes very difficult decision to
make, and in my estimation this exercise trivializes that process.  I
understand the motivation behind it, but I think the methods suggested here
are both potentially dangerous and extremely controversial.

Exercises 7 (regarding sexual harassment by a supervisor or professor), 8
(regarding sexual assault of a friend), and 15 (interview 5 men who have
asked women for dates) all make heterosexual assumptions and use
heterosexual language that may exclude non-heterosexual participants in your
course.  The language used in each of these assignments suggests that 1)
sexual harassment is always committed by men; 2) sexual assault is always
committed by men; and 3) same-sex dating norms are irrelevant to a
discussion of gender roles in relationships.  As a scholar of women's
studies, I certainly understand that the vast majority of sexual harassment
and sexual assault cases involve male perpetrators and female victims, but
this does not preclude the fact that sexual harassment and assault can be
committed by women.  Also, I fear that the wording of exercise 15 will
alienate gay/lesbian/bisexual members of your class, for whom heterosexual
assumptions about dating are perhaps inaccurate.  I would suggest that
greater thought be given to issues of sexuality and language in these
assignments, if they are in fact distributed to your students.

It is one thing for students to be asked to make anonymous phone calls or
inquiries that would allow them to do simulations such as these, or to
"imagine" various scenarios and write about their responses to them.  My
concern comes when students are asked to publicly identify--and potentially
misrepresent--themselves in ways that appear to be potentially problematic
for them down the line, long after the assignment is completed.  It sounds
to me that the intentions behind these simulations may be good, but that the
approach to each of them needs more thorough analysis.  These are extremely
sensitive waters your students will be treading in, and I don't know that I
would assign some of these scenarios as currently written (or some at all)
because of the potentially adverse impact that they may have on students'
physical and/or emotional well-being.  Also, if a student were in fact
harmed in some way during one of the class exercises (I'm particularly
thinking of number 2 here), you and/or your university may be liable.  Just
some things to consider before giving this assignment.  I hope this input
helps.

Jennifer Rexroat

Jennifer L. Rexroat
Doctoral Candidate and Instructor
Teaching Assistant Coordinator
UIC Department of Political Science
1007 West Harrison Street (MC 276)
Chicago, IL 60607-7137
Phone:  (773) 381-5388
Fax:  (773) 381-5399
E-mail:  jrexro1  @  uic.edu

To add to Jennifer Rexroat's comments, another problem w/ exercise #2 is
that it assumes that to "come out" would require pretending--you don't
make any reference to the fact that some of your students won't have to
"pretend" to be gay at all.

That said, I think you offer a wide array of activities for your student
to choose from, covering many women's issues, and I applaud you for that.

To others who have used the type of exercises that require students to
find daycare, housing, etc--I have a little trouble using the limited
resources of agencies that are set up to serve these needs in order to
have my students "pretend" for a class.  I wonder if during the time
administrators are answering the phone and dealing w/ student inquiries
they are NOT being able to serve the people who genuinely need the
services.  B/c these agencies are generally understaffed, I wondered if
this was a concern for others, or if people who have made this kind of
assignment have been encouraged to do so by the agencies who welcome the
opportunity to participate and publicize their services (and their
difficulties, along w/ the difficulties of their clients). I understand
the value of the exercise, but this is my concern, and I would welcome any
feedback on this either on or off list.

Karen Weekes
University of Georgia
kweekes  @  arches.uga.edu

MGROTZKY  @  CASTLE.CUDENVER.EDU wrote:

> A student of mine was recently looking for information on why male dancers'
> careers lasted so much longer than those of women dancers and decided that
> because there were so relatively few men dancers, they are more valued.


Just thought I'd add a belated note to this thread about ballet dancers:

Male dancers' careers last longer for anatomical and kinesiological
reasons.  Male dancers are not asked to tear into the structure of the
body like female dancers are.  For example, female dancers are expected
to tear down the hip socket (acetabulum) to allow more outward rotation
(called "turn out") and replace the structural support the bones are
meant to supply with (temporary) muscular support instead.  Another
example: female dancers are expected to be paper thin (over 90% of the
elite ballet dancers in the US are anorexic to meet this demand) while
male dancers are asked not to be thin (it's effeminate) and to be strong
enough to lift a mere 100 pounds over their heads.  A third example,
female dancers are expected to be or to look young enough to be "girls"
-- flat-chested, virginal, heads turned by beautiful princes looking for
potential brides, etc. -- while male dancers are asked to look
confident, mature, manly.  It's true these things are "more valued" but
it is less true that it has to do with sheer numbers of participants.

Gill Wright Miller
Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Dance
Denison University
Granville, OH  43023
millerg  @  denison.edu

Thank you to the instructors who offered feedback on my proposed list of
experiential learning opportunities.  As I am a first-time women's studies
instructor, this was just the kind of dialogue I was hoping would be
generated by my posting these activities to the list.  I hope to hear from
more of you!  I would especially love to hear about active-experiential
learning activities that all of you have used effectively in your own classes.

I agree that a mock "coming out" could be dangerous -- but I hate to toss
that exercise altogether.  Does anyone have any alternative "experiential"
exercise they have used to help straight students identify with the
difficulties imposed by heterosexism and homophobia?  My students' most
recent essays suggested that they believe that we live in a free-love society
where any kind of sexuality is acceptable.  I thought that even considering
coming out themselves might help them re-examine that idea.

As to other concerns:

My background is with United Way, so I too feel a bit squeamish having
students "bother" social/case workers with pretend problems.  However, given
the purpose, I felt this was an acceptable trade-off.  I will caution
students to avoid taking more than 15 minutes of time from any one
caseworker; for example, I will ask that if caseworkers are planning to
conduct a daycare search in their area, they tell the caseworker that they
are really only carrying out an academic exercise.  Does this seem to others
as if it would work?

In question 13, I limited it to couples in their 20s because students seem to
feel that all the problems we are learning about only affect people in older
generations.  I wanted them to talk to couples close to their own ages to see
if the housework conundrum has really disappeared for young women now that
we've all supposedly been liberated. :))

In response to comments from this list, I did change the sexual harassment
and domestic violence questions to be gender neutral.

And as for the overkill, yes, I know it, (my beginner-overachiever traits are
showing) -- but this IS an extra credit assignment, so I hope it won't
generate too much resentment.  I suppose creating the activities was an
exercise for me, too, to help me think about ways to make our learning more
active.  I hope my proposal does inspire students to think up their own ideas.

Thank you all so much for the wisdom you share here!  I started subscribing
to this list when I was a women's studies student, and have been absorbing
many of your good ideas ever since.

-- Lanette Fisher-Hertz
SUNY New Paltz adjunct instructor
and ERVK Girls' Leadership Coordinator
LanetFH  @  aol.com

I understand people's concerns for the safety of students engaging in
particular learning experiences as Lanette first outlined.  However, I
think the notion of the assignment and the particulars are valid, so
we might want to think about suggesting ways to achieve those specific
objectives using her framework.  Additionally, if students have a
safety concern, they have an entire list of other
experiences in which to engage.

Along those lines, one thought came to me that is kind of a variation
on something I had to do as an undergraduate for an interdisciplinary 
"Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies."  One of the assignments for that 
course is titled, "A Social Space Analysis."  Students are free to pick 
from a wide range of queer social spaces from clubs, centers, school groups, 
even a friend's living room, if appropriate.  While in the space, students 
are asked to observe certain things about the social space and the 
interactions within.  (The assignment is more detailed than I am showing 
here; anyone interested can contact me for particulars on it.)

So, in terms of Lanette's request, I was thinking that perhaps a visit
to the local -- if that is appropriate and deemed "safe" -- Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered/Two-Spirit and/or Queer Community
Center might be useful.  There are often a variety of social groups
that meet there, many of which are open to the community.  Of course,
if the student is going to do that, she/he needs to be aware of
confidentiality/anonymity issues, but those are just some thoughts to
start.  And also, one must consider whether or not it is appropriate
for the student to disclose that s/he is there as an observer rather
than a participant.

One final thought: We cannot underestimate the danger of homophobia
and hate crimes; however, I think it is interesting and thought
provoking that the response has been one of concern for the safety of
students pretending to be gay/queer for the learning experience.  I
wonder if it would be useful after these assignments have been
completed to mention to the students this particular concern about
developing the assignment and see how they respond to it in light of
their developing empathy and broadened perspectives on "otherness."

The insight Lanette is aiming for her students to acquire is critical,
and after evaluating the outcomes of this project, I hope she will
consider including this component as a required part of the course.

Any other ideas about this?

Lisa Burke
lburke2  @  njcu.edu

I have had students go as "couples" to rent an apartment in various
neighborhoods and apartment complexes.  This did seem to offer some insight
into experiences that gay and/or mixed race couples would experience.

Vicki Kirsch

-----------------------------------
Vicki Kirsch, LCSW, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Women's Center
Quinsigamond Community College
670 West Boylston Street
Worcester, MA  01606-2092
508.854.4290(tel)/508.852.6943(fax)

On Mon, 1 Nov 1999, Lanette Fisher-Hertz wrote:

> I agree that a mock "coming out" could be dangerous -- but I hate to toss
> that exercise altogether.  Does anyone have any alternative "experiential"
> exercise they have used to help straight students identify with the
> difficulties imposed by heterosexism and homophobia?

See "Out of the Closet and Into the Network:  Sexual Orientation and the
Computerized Classroom" by Jonathan Alexander in _Computers and
Composition_ (14.2), pp. 207-216, for one exercise that worked well
repeatedly in Jonathan's classes and mine at the University of Southern
Colorado.

I should add that the students in our classes were not women's
studies but first-year composition students, both male and female, from a
largely conservative rural environment, and that the exercise was one of
many during a semester-long exploration of gender and society. We did the
activity in a computer lab that allowed students to write simultaneously
into one document that everyone could read at the same time (using
Daedalus Interchange software) and that could be printed out afterward for
students to analyze.

Our writing lab permits exchanges among classes so that a women's studies
class could meet there on occasion. Otherwise, I don't know how you would
obtain the pseudonymity needed to do this with the degree of "safety"
needed to do it successfully, although you might be able to adapt it to
paper by having students write it out in class (to capture their first
reactions to the idea) then take it with them to type into a computer and
print out to turn in without their names. These could then be copied and
distributed for class discussion or  to serve as the basis of a writing
assignment analyzing the responses. In any case, I would recommend
that you obtain the text of the whole article beforehand from your library
or on InterLibrary Loan (or email me and I'll send you a copy).

The writing prompt given to students was as follows:

"This morning when you awoke from a night's sleep, you became awsare that
society was no longer as you remembered it.  In fact, it had universally
made a 180 degree turn in sexual orientation and the world you remember as
being a comfortable environment for heterosexuals like yourself no longer
accepts people like you.  You don't want to return to isolation, so you
must deal with this situation, and do it right now.

But now you don't fit in.  Homo-erotic love is the required standard.
Heterosexuals are moral outcasts.  Thgey are widely thought to molest
children, and the marriage to your fiance(e) that you have looked forward
to for several years will not be legally recognized.  Procreation takes
place in test tubes and hired wombs according to accepted procedures, and
couples like you and your fiance(e) are considered hazardous to population
growth.

You turn on the TV news, only to see a demonstration on the court house
steps by anti-heterosexual activists shouting "heterosex is sin" and "ban
the straights."  A sense of doom envelops you as the truthy sinks in.  You
have a cup of coffee and sit down to think about how you will deal with
the situation.  What do you think?  How will your life change?  What will
happen to your relationship with your family and friends, now all gay?
What will you tell your mother or father, sisters, brothers?  What will
happen when you get back to work?  Will you attend the office dinner
party?  Will you take your fiance(e) with you?

You think of several choices available to you.  Will you try to turn gay?
Will you stay straight and pretend to be gay?  Wll you allow others to
know that you are straight and risk the consequences?  What might they be?
How do you decide to deal with the situation?  Why?"

We had extremely positive feedback on this activity from straight and gay
students alike.  Comments students made in the transcripts included
things like:

"Reading this has made me realize what homosexuals wake up to every
morning"

". . . when the whole society is against you, you would probably feel
powerless and weak when it came to what you feel is right."

"I have been taught that I should look, dress, and behave like my gender.
My parents have not taught me these things.  I have learned them from the
people around me."  (214)

 Jonathan's analysis of the results is definitely worth
reading.  A bit of his conclusion:

Ultimately, through this exercise, students display a growing awareness
that "normalcy" is a social construct, and that identity does not exist in
a vacuum (quoting Alexander) "but in cultures that actively interpret them
and ascribe meaning to them and, thus, determine what is considered
legitimate and natural on one hand and diseased and abnormal on the other.
It may be through such realizations that students come closest to
understanding that homosexuality is not _inherently_ morally and ethically
suspect but that fear of homosexuality is culturally conditioned and,
thus, culturally reversible.  Such work, made possible through anonymous
role-playing, may do much more to encourage tolerance of difference than
anything we have yet attempted in our classrooms"  (215).

Margaret


*******************************
Margaret Barber
Dept. of English
University of Southern Colorado
barber  @  meteor.uscolo.edu
*******************************

Lanette wrote -

"I agree that a mock "coming out" could be dangerous -- but I hate to
toss that exercise altogether.  Does anyone have any alternative
"experiential" exercise they have used to help straight students identify
with the difficulties imposed by heterosexism and homophobia?  My students'
most recent essays suggested that they believe that we live in a free-love
society where any kind of sexuality is acceptable.  I thought that even
considering coming out themselves might help them re-examine that idea."


One possible idea (?).  (Though let me first say explicitely that this is
in no way meant to make light of the coming out process itself.)  Several
years ago, Ms. magazine had an issue where they noted that feminism was
seen as a lesbian issue, and encouraged readers to show that while
lesbians had contributed most significantly to feminism, straight women
had done so, too.

Some students on my campus has identified me as lesbian.  OK, big deal.
 (I also had been labeled as a celebate, never married, divorced mother
of two - or maybe three - children; living alone, living with a
partner alternately identified as female and male.)  Anyway, I had
decided to let those who felt compelled to label me deal with their
ambiguities.  There were many ways in which this "worked" in the
classroom...

But after the Ms. article, I decided to do the equivalent of "coming
out" - but as a heterosexual.  I reviewed "The Heterosexual
Questionnaire" (where the author raises questions about why one is a
heterosexual, analogous to those questions we frequently hear about why
one is homosexual); and Gloria Steinem's comments on using role reversal
to create empathy.  I then engaged in class in "coming out" - a
heartfelt presentation where I ended up mocking society's need to
pigeon-hole people's sexuality (but not one's sexuality or sexual
identity/sexual orientation itself), bringing in many of the
concerns of "The Heterosexual Questionnaire," and concluding with the
statement that I was a heterosexual feminist.

This "exercise" was quite fruitful, both in class and afterword; I
received positive compliments from straights, lesbians, gays. I don't
know if some version of this might be appropriate for your class. Mary

Mary L. Ertel, Associate Professor, Sociology
Central Connecticut State University

ERTEL  @  EROLS.ORG        and        ERTEL  @  CCSU.EDU

I appreciate the posts discussing experiential activities.  However, when
it comes to activities that encourage heterosexual students to live in the
shoes of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individual, I often
become uncomfortable.  What I often see happening in these activities is
the idea that if heterosexual students understand the oppression and
difficulty of living as a LGBT person, then they will rethink their
homophobia or heterosexism.  However, what often results from students are
feelings of pity and an increased sense of "otherness." 

As a lesbian, I have struggled through these activities as a student,
feeling that my experiences were being victimized and pitied.  I often
felt very marginalized, sometimes from other lesbian and gay students who
feel see the pity as a first step towards tolerance.  Yes, there are
serious political and social struggles when living as a LGBT person.
However, I don+t wake up with a sense of doom each morning.  If the price
of tolerance and acceptance from heterosexual society is pity, then I can
wait.  

The important question remains as to how to teach heterosexual students on
an experiential level. I am very much committed to this and have struggled
a lot with it in my own teaching.  While recognizing some of the
challenges that LGBT individuals face, I incorporate activities to
encourage students to see sexual orientation as a social construct rather
than an essential identity.  Ultimately, I think it's important for me to
combine some of my teaching on the challenges of being LGBT with some of
the feelings of joy, pride, and community such as attending a Pride march,
reading a LGBT newspaper, or going to a LGBT bookstore.  I don't think
that it's easy because I have found that many heterosexual students are
reluctant to accept that LGBT individuals might be very happy and proud of
their lives.

Ann  

-- 

Ann Kolodji
annkolod  @  dolphin.upenn.edu
University of Pennsylvania

    I've been a participant in too many training sessions etc in which the
organizers'/leaders' assumptions of the group or the individuals in the
group were never explored, leading to an immediate disjunction between the
goal of the exercise and the experience of it.  In any kind of learning
activity, it seems to me, it is better to begin with where the learner is.
In the case of trying to have students do "experiental" learning, as others
have mentioned, assumptions about students (economic status or experience,
parenthood/caregiving experience, sexual orientation or experience) can all
be mistaken, and at least some students will not be able or willing to
participate in a way that will really affect their learning.
    Equally troubling to me is that idea that students--even in
dominant/majority groups--will learn best from attempting to have
experiences of the other.  I think there are lots of experiental activities
that can be devised around students' own experiences and life
situation--whatever that may be.  I'd rather think about students examining
and consciously experiencing their own lives, and learning from that
examination.  It is not impossible for students to begin to recognize their
own racism, heterosexism, ageism, internalized oppression, and so on, and
exercises that help them to identify and interrogate their own assumptions,
experiences, and activities may have a more lasting educational effect than
those that ask them to have some sort of shadow experience of the other.
JoAnn Castagna
joann-castagna  @  uiowa.edu

i am a little confused about this conversation--to me, "experiential
teaching" has meant placing students in a situation in which they will
learn from the experience of that situation--many service learning
programs are predicated on that goal, for instance, the idea that by
structuring a volunteer experience in a local homeless shelter a
comfortable suburban student will gain first-hand knowledge of what
homelessness and homeless people are about, usually contrary to popular
perception/belief/rhetoric--i've used the technique in my state and
local politics classes by requiring students to attend a meeting of
local government (most are shocked and appalled, and have a whole
different attitude about politics, civic responsibility, and their own
potential efficacy thenceforth)...

yet, the discussion here appears to define "experiential learning" as
learning ABOUT the experience of those considered to be "other" by the
mainstream culture--which as joann and others are pointing out is VERY
tricky ground to tread and can do a great deal of unintended harm if you
don't have a feel for it and/or have not had good training in how to do
it...

on that, however, i have adapted an exercise i learned from a native
american "diversity trainer" that guards against many of these potential
pitfalls and has astonishing results:

starting with a discussion about how we all have multiple identities
(woman, mom, teacher, muslim, hispanic, democrat, lesbian, whatever...),
have students choose ONE of their own identities that they feel is
misperceived by those who don't share it (this way they are talking from
their OWN experience, and they will select one they don't mind talking
about)--then group them in 3's or 4's and allot time for each to come up
with ONE thing they would like to NEVER hear said about their identity
group ever again (ideally, each small group would have a large piece of
posterboard and markers so each can write the offending statement s/he
selects for presentation and posting)--students are directed to help
each other come up with the "worst" or "most angering" statement in the
small groups, and then present these, group by group, to the class as a
whole at the end of the allotted time.  the dynamics of this exercise
are remarkable, healing, consciousness expanding (about both self and
others), and even BONDING--none of which i ever would have believed if i
hadn't been through one myself (i opted for "single mom" and my
statement was "if you couldn't afford to have kids you shouldn't have
had them!") and observed kaisha gagnier facilitate this with several
VERY diverse groups (age, ethnicity, profession, political bent,
religion, level of education etc etc)...

at any rate, i have found it to work equally well in a variety of
contexts, and adaptable in a variety of ways...

some wmst-l subscribers will recognize this from some regional ws
conferences over the years--might be interesting to see if anyone else
on the list has tried it or a variation and found it similarly effective
(or not)...

debbie <louis  @  umbc.edu>

In a message dated 11/1/99 8:42:04 PM, LanetFH  @  AOL.COM wrote:

<<  My students' most
recent essays suggested that they believe that we live in a free-love society
where any kind of sexuality is acceptable. >>

This is simply a blindness to the propaganda machine in our society...
students and people here in general really believe that educating people to
new perspectives achieves change...

If you want to open their eyes, try an area that's less intimate...  my
suggestion is to try environmental or basic universal rights...  for example,
everyone has seen the new trends to backyard wildlife habitats as a natural
outgrowth to all the education efforts of environmental groups...  it's
accepted almost universally that the manicured lawn with its water demands,
chemical dependency and pesticide nightmares is a hangover from the
unenlightened 50s.

Ask your students what they think would happen if they wanted to have a
backyard habitat on their private property in an ordinary neighborhood... ask
them if they think they'd be put in jail as a derelict?  Then point them to
the case at http://members.aol.com/mraichyk/OuterSpace/Cowgirl.htm

Next send them to their local zoning laws, and see what would happen if they
tried to live by accepted environmental principles...

Then maybe they'll be able to see the disparity between information and
practice when it's in something more intimate and difficult to deal with.
Jeanette

I agree with Gill's comments - in fact I wrote my dissertation on gender in
western theatrical dance (Challenging Dominant Gender Ideology through Dance:
 Contact Improvisation, University of Iowa, 1994) - Dance provides a very
interesting arena in which to explore gender issues - still viewed as a
feminine art form it is dominated, like women's sport, by male power figures.
 In an analysis I did of NEA funding for dance (1996 or 97 - can't remember)
I found that almost all the "big" grants went to companies directed by men -
this included both ballet and modern dance.  I might suggest that western
theatrical dance, in an effort to legitimize itself, has over-embraced male
dancers.

Carol Horwitz
DcmNM04  @  aol.com

In a message dated 11/3/99 9:57:51 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
annkolod  @  DOLPHIN.UPENN.EDU writes:

[quotes Ann Kolodji's Nov. 3 message in its entirety]

Thank you for this additional perspective.  I will print your post to share 
with my students, because I think it raises an important point about teaching 
tolerance and understanding.  Pity is not helpful to anyone, and I think your 
post will help them examine that when it comes up for them in a variety of 
contexts.  

-- Lanette Fisher-Hertz
SUNY New Paltz & Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill
LanetFH  @  aol.com

In a message dated 11/3/99 11:55:09 AM Eastern Standard Time,
joann-castagna  @  UIOWA.EDU writes:

<< Equally troubling to me is that idea that students--even in
 dominant/majority groups--will learn best from attempting to have
 experiences of the other.  I think there are lots of experiental activities
 that can be devised around students' own experiences and life
 situation--whatever that may be.  I'd rather think about students examining
 and consciously experiencing their own lives, and learning from that
 examination.  It is not impossible for students to begin to recognize their
 own racism, heterosexism, ageism, internalized oppression, and so on, and
 exercises that help them to identify and interrogate their own assumptions,
 experiences, and activities may have a more lasting educational effect than
 those that ask them to have some sort of shadow experience of the other.
 JoAnn Castagna
 joann-castagna  @  uiowa.edu >>


This is an interesting suggestion.  I would love to hear ideas for
experiential learning activities that do help students examine their own
lives.  I think they are less resistant to examining the lives of "others,"
and perhaps that is part of what drew me to create activities that start from
that perspective.

In terms of my making assumptions about students' backgrounds, we are halfway
through the semester and thus know one another pretty well by now, having
done much writing and group activity work.  However, you raise a good
cautionary point -- if I were presenting that list of activities to a set of
students I didn't know well, I would certainly have to preface it with words
about our varying backgrounds.

-- Lanette Fisher-Hertz
LanetFH  @  aol.com

In a message dated 11/01/1999 8:42:04 PM, LanetFH  @  AOL.COM writes:

<< I agree that a mock "coming out" could be dangerous -- but I hate to toss
that exercise altogether.  Does anyone have any alternative "experiential"
exercise they have used to help straight students identify with the
difficulties imposed by heterosexism and homophobia?  My students' most
recent essays suggested that they believe that we live in a free-love society
where any kind of sexuality is acceptable.  I thought that even considering
coming out themselves might help them re-examine that idea.
 >>

This is not necessarily "experiential," but my first thought (pardon my
naivete) is simply to have them read the newspapers! I would think that the
Matthew Shepard story alone is enough to give them pause about our so-called
"free-love" society. (There have been at least half a dozen or so similar
stories in the news in the last several months.) But also you need to go
beyond the headlines. Bringing in "out" lesbians and gays from local activist
groups as who are willing to talk about their experiences could help, too.
For instance, a friend of mine and her partner who have been very vocal
activists in a midwestern city got their garage burned down, and lost 2 new
cars. Fortunately the garage was not attached to the house. That's only the
worst of the harassment they have experienced.

If yours is a daytime class it may be more difficult to find speakers who are
able to come, but you'd be surprised. Also, student activists on campus can
be helpful, especially in bringing the issues "close to home."

In my experience, the more difficult student response to deal with was "I
don't care if you fuck chickens as long as you don't tell me about it." That
is, the issue of why "out" gays and lesbians had to "make such a big public
deal" about their sexuality (according to the students' perception) was a
major obstacle.

>>My background is with United Way, so I too feel a bit squeamish having
students "bother" social/case workers with pretend problems.  However, given
the purpose, I felt this was an acceptable trade-off.  I will caution
students to avoid taking more than 15 minutes of time from any one
caseworker; for example, I will ask that if caseworkers are planning to
conduct a daycare search in their area, they tell the caseworker that they
are really only carrying out an academic exercise.  Does this seem to others
as if it would work?<<

I had similar problems when I was teaching journalism, which always involves
students bothering other people with questions. I dealt with this by having
people come to speak to the class, so students got the same information all
at once. This required my developing relationships with people involved in
the agencies. Also, some of the information students would need exists on
paper. For example, in Monroe County NY, you can pick up a pamphlet on the
rights and responsibilities of welfare/medicaid/foodstamps applicants at the
various offices. Unfortunately it does not give the exact income/resource
limits, but that is information that you yourself could acquire and provide.
This takes away a bit from the "experiential" aspect of the assigment, but in
the long run I think it's a better way to go about it.

Also, you can have students work in teams, dividing up the sources, so that
ionly one person on the team would be contacting any given agency.
Information is then pooled.

Georgia NeSmith
gnesmith  @  aol.com

>In my experience, the more difficult student response to deal with was "I
>don't care if you fuck chickens as long as you don't tell me about it." That
>is, the issue of why "out" gays and lesbians had to "make such a big public
>deal" about their sexuality (according to the students' perception) was a
>major obstacle.

Maybe a good proactive approach is to make the issue about love or
companionship rather than sex. The students might relate more easily to
ideas of hiding love, desire to share one's life with the person s/he loves,
etc. Personally, I think when homosexuality is reduced to pure sexuality,
the understanding will be in line with the chicken parallel you cited. It's
easy to swap one chicken for another, but not a much loved partner for
another. That point is usually underplayed if made at all.
Granted, many come out before finding a long term companion and may even
desire independence, but it doesn't preclude the fact that the hopes and
desires are basically the same. We don't talk to children growing up about
finding a sex mate; we include so much more, so whether gay or straight,
people typically aren't content with just sex and coming out is not about
just sex either.
I'd make life issues the focus and respond to the ones reacting as you
stated with, "Yes, but we're talking about life outside of the bedroom, not
techniques in bed. What do lovers deal with when they are the same sex?" or
something like that.

Tamra Temple TeaTemple  @  structurex.net