Women in the law enforcement and military have some shared experiences that civilian women do not usually have. The police and military work gives these women more experience in term of skills and expertise or knowledge than their civilian counterparts in important ways. Experiential learning by David Kolb may be important in understanding the differences in the experiences of army or law enforcement and civilian women. This type of learning facilitates education involving direct participation in real life events and settings. It also involves the formation of abstract concepts, reflection and observation, and concrete experience besides concrete experience, reflection observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (Kolb 37).
Moreover, under the reflective observation stage of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, a new experience is acquired, and particular emphasis is laid on the inconsistencies that may exist between understanding and experience. At this stage, the women police officers and military women officers when compared to civilian women who do not acquire any new experiences due to lack of experience and encounters with law enforcement and even war.
Additionally, under the phase of abstract conceptualization, the reflection is supposed to result in new ideas being formulated or an existing abstract idea and concept being modified (Kolb 98). Under this head, it may be argued that the women who are either military officers or police officers are more experienced than the civilian women due to lack of new ideas or concepts. Further, the women military and police officers usually experience several things while in combat which civilian women do not because they do not have the opportunity to learn new ideas and concepts.
Lastly, the active participation stage of Kolb’s experiential learning concept differentiates women police or military officers and civilian women. At this stage according to Kolb, the learner is expected to apply the ideas and concepts learned in their daily lives and experiences. According to Kolb’s experiential learning theory, individuals usually go or progress through various stages involving concrete experience, observation, and reflection on the experience, formation of abstract concepts, generalization, and analysis. The learner is then expected to use these experiences in the testing hypothesis in future circumstances which lead to an individual gaining new experiences.
Also, there are various learning styles proposed by David Kolb that may help in understanding the differences in experience by women who are police officers or military officers and civilian women. The first learning style according to Kolb is the diverging learning style which involves watching and feeling. Here people have different viewpoints and experiences due to their ability to view things differently in different situations where brainstorming or idea generation is required. Individuals using this learning style are usually emotional and imaginative besides the tendency to work in groups and encourage teamwork. Using the style, it may be argued that the women police and military officers’ experience or experiential learning differs from that of the civilian women due to their differences in feeling and watching the real events as they unfold.
The other learning style is assimilating which entails watching and thinking. Here, individuals consider concepts and ideas to be more important than people and are therefore in need of concise explanations instead of practical opportunities (Kolb 56). As a result of this, people who prefer this learning style tend to prefer learning real ideas and sometimes abstract concepts and then tend to take the time to reflect on their learning experience. Women police or military officers who possess this learning style are usually more experienced than their civilian counterparts due to their ability to concentrate more on ideas and concepts rather than people. They also tend to have more experience than the civilian women due to their interaction with the real situations such as maintenance of law or order and actual engagements in war.
Another learning style is converging which involves doing and thinking meaning it involves actions rather than abstract ideas or concepts. Individuals such as women police officers or military officers who have the converging learning style have the ability to find solutions to some of the problems and practical issues facing them and the society. Therefore the converging learning style is mainly applied by those who are problem solvers and critical thinkers; they have a preference for practical skills but are not much concerned about interpersonal and people aspects. Women police and military officers who have this learning style have different experiences from those of civilian women who in most cases lack practical solutions to the issues that face their societies due to limited skills and knowledge. Their experiences are also different from the civilian women in that they focus more on technical functions and activities other than people and interpersonal aspect of things that are happening around them.
Furthermore, the accommodating learning style by Kolb is a hands-on learning style which involves doing and feeling. Here, the emphasis is laid on intuition and not logic whereby the analysis by other people is used in taking an experiential and practical approach to various issues and problems in the society. Individuals who have this accommodating learning style usually depend on the information supplied by other people and do not carry out personal analysis of situations. Their experiential learning is therefore usually based on their own guts and not analysis. Women military and police officers with this experimental learning style, therefore, tend to have more experience than the civilian women.
In conclusion, Kolb’s experiential learning puts experience at the center of individual learning and development which explains the differences in experience between women police or military officers and the civilian women. Through experiential learning, the military and police officers who are women tend to have relatively more experience, ideas, and concepts than their civilian counterparts who lack the experiential learning.
Work Cited
Kolb, David A. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Pearson Education, Inc., 2015.
