What Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro Taught Me About Teaching and Learning

Peter Constantinou is a faculty member in the School of Public Policy and Administration. He has over 24 years of experience in teaching and has been experimenting with what he calls high-intensity learning experiences (HILEs). Traditional thinking about teaching and learning focuses on pedagogy and insight into learners, and some consideration has been given to the experience that students have in the process of learning.
His experience and research shows that when students feel pressure in experiential education activities, their performance improves. This August, he fulfilled a lifelong dream to climb Africa’s highest mountain. From this expedition and his work with experiential education, he concludes that without the possibility of failure there is little opportunity to learn and grow.