b'ARTICLEKolb recognised that people learn differently, and he sets it out thus:The Accomodator The DivergerConcrete Experience Active ExperimenterHands-on member of team Pragmatic team memberIntuitive decision maker Getting things donePeople person Risk takerFeel and Do Feel and WatchThe Reflector The AssimilatorReactive Observer Abstract ConceptualisatorThe Search for understanding teamThe logical team membermember Systematic plannerHow things happen Quantative analysisImpartial Building theoriesThoughtful judgement Think and WatchThink and DoAdapted from Kolb by In-CommunicationExperiential learning is not: of the communication skills requiredThe writing of new information onto thethroughout veterinary practice. They blank slate of your mind feed back on how the client feels andThe act of memorising an immutableevidence when that occurred in the bank of knowledge interaction as well as offer skills-based knowledge about which proficienciesA passive process that happens to amay have worked differently. From this learner; rather it is an active process thatwe can invite the learner to try parts of Specic aimsengages them and invites participation the consultation again adopting some of these newly acquired ideas to see how they feel in practice.The leading exponent of experiential Experience learning, David Kolb recognised that Feeling we all learn in four styles, depending on the social environment, educational experiences or on the basic cognitive structure of the individual in question. ExperimentLearning cycle Reection That being said, we all have a Doing figure 1 Watching fundamental Kolb learning- style, and its interesting to see those learning styles in play during a typical encounter-based training session.Conceptualise Although we actively encourage Thinking participants to have a go, another popular phrase being learn by doing, we recognise that for some, the act of observing can also be an active learning experience.In order to achieve this active process, simulated clients, actors, role-players,So, how can we make that happen?call them what you will, are engaged toHere, Kolb also creates for us a learning bring to life challenging situations in safecycle (figure 1):learning environments. Use of actors isLearners engage at any point in the cycle now quite commonplace throughoutwhere they feel most comfortable, but industry training. research shows that learning by doing However, we promote the use of whatreaps the greater learning rewards. After we call specialist clients. These are role- all, you wouldnt undertake a cruciate players with high abilities in characterrepair without having first tried it on a portrayal, and trained knowledgecadaver!16www.inspiredvet.co.uk'