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The Czech way of experiential learning: A symbol of games and play

This paper focuses on the theme of experiential education in its Czech form with a view to its basic programme environment, i.e. games and play. Play is viewed as a complicated symbol with the possibility of many interpretations. The Czech educator John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), recognised the importance of travelling as a means of completing youth education and also supported the use of 'games' and 'play' in achieving educational outcomes. Comenius concluded that a learning process began and ended with experience and that teaching and learning must be interconnected with experience in nature and must prepare for life itself. The characteristic features of the modern Czech Republic’s experiential learning traditions are connected strongly with the experimental work of Vacation School Lipnice and its followers. This has been discussed in several studies dealing with the dramaturgy methods of programme design and ways of experiential education shaped and refined by and within the Czech culture. This paper focuses upon play and games on a programme level and its impact on areas of personal development utilising a number of examples particularly from outdoor and adventure education settings.