Reclaiming and re-embodying experiential learning through complexity science

At a time when ‘informal’ and ‘practice-based’ learning are receiving unprecedented emphasis in lifelong learning debates, this article offers an apologia for experiential learning (EL) in adult education. Taking the position that the signifier of experience allows a foregrounding of the problematics of experience and the centrality of embodiment in learning, the argument does not deny theoretical weaknesses plaguing the experiential learning discourse. In fact, four problems are described in EL theory and practice: ontological splits that ‘lose’ the body; disciplines that control the body; educational management that schools experience; and resulting exclusions. Towards reclaiming a more productive discourse of EL, an argument is presented for conceptually ‘re-embodying’ EL, drawing from complexity science. Three themes of re-embodiment (co-emergence, desire, and struggle) are presented. Pedagogic practices and reconfigured roles for adult educators suggested by these themes are discussed in the final section.