‘Fun and Adventure’ as a way of learning

I’m currently having to examine how 2 articles ‘view’ education for my ‘Education and the Social Sciences’ Module.

The two I chose are by Messer & Wolter (Swiss, writing in 2007) and Stronkhorst (Dutch, writing in 2005). They both take largely quantitative looks at the impact of exchanges abroad. The former concludes it has no impact on earnings or likelihood of future studies, the latter concludes it only has minimal impact on the academic development and learning outcomes of the students.

Not good news for me both as someone who spent a year in France and as a researcher with the belief that time spent overseas is benefitial for the development of the individual and their academic career.

Both articles concede that there is an element of personal development. But both articles separate this from educational development. But they also dismiss the ‘fun and adventure’ aspects (their words, not mine) of living overseas in the development of an individual. So where does the personal start and the educational end?

If we take a developmental look at education (which the likes of Froebel started), this only applies to the Primary and Early Childhood phases of life. If we truly believe in lifelong learning surely the experiential, gradual learning through new experiences is just as valid. Else, not only the year abroad but much of the development which happens through this PhD is a waste of time. And not to acknowledge that sort of learning would be a shame.