Education through Travel
We believe that travel is an incredibly powerful context for teaching and learning. Information technology has fundamentally changed pedagogy, and every education now needs to incorporate experiential learning. Globally, more and more students travel away from their home environment to gain firsthand understandings of their world. We invite you to partner with Inbound in the delivery of your global education programs.
Travelling, not Touring
We believe that great adventures begin at the end of a dirt road. We know that the most memorable travel moments come when we ditch the itinerary. We think that spontaneity, flexibility, and an adventurous mindset are critical to expanding our world view. We live by the rule that travel can have lasting positive economic and social impact on local communities. We love to partner with small businesses to provide travellers with home-cooked meals, thoughtful lodging, and atypical excursions that highlight the people, places, ecosystems, culture, and community in the places that we work and play. Our programs are not tours. They are authentic travel experiences.
Kolb’s Theory Behind Experiential Education
According to David Kolb, learning can be defined as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience.” Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Education is widely regarded used in the field of education, and Inbound Travel uses it in our design of outdoor education programs. Our programs fit in to the cycle below:
The four stages: experience, reflecting, abstract, and active are designed into our programs. No matter which country students are in, or what program they are participating in, we will be sure to have novel experiences for them to take part in. Our leaders are trained and are well experienced in leading thoughtful reflections which promote abstract thinking and prompt students to change their behave, act in a new way, which then leads to new experiences, and the cycle repeats itself.
Our programs actively engage students, and are meant to complement traditional classroom models (although Kolb’s theory can certainly be applied to learning within schools as well)! We are hoping for our students to take lessons learned during the program and apply it to their lives once they are back home. Learning is not limited to a one-week program, but is a lifetime process with continual evolution for the learner.
Inbound staff and partners are constantly seeking learning opportunities and teachable moments where students can work to solve problems, learn more about the culture they are in, and then provide the space to reflect on their experience.
All students are different, and everyone has their own learning style. WIth that said, our program leaders are hired for their emotional intelligence and ability to engage students in meaningful ways.
Student Learning
Inbound Travel and our partners work diligently to promote student learning every day on our programs.
While in-country, our leaders not only guide the students visiting different sites and communities, but also through their own learning journey. Leaders give full context on the area, issues, and culture of the location where the program takes place. We feel it is crucial to have this context as they experience the program and reflect on their own place in the world. We lead thoughtful reflections and discussions with individual students and groups throughout the program.
We work with educators to adapt our programs to your learning goals. Our speciality is creating a space that is outside a students’ comfort zone. We develop our programs with the desired outcome that our students become more open to new experiences, and question some of their previously held beliefs.
Education is a constantly evolving profession. Inbound understands and appreciates this, and as the world changes, we develop and adapt to these changes.
Experiences We Offer
Inbound offers custom made programs which are to meet your needs. We can design programs with educational content based on lessons learned in the classroom, or to fit the parameters of a particular curriculum or set of requirements.
We have been working with educators for years to develop programs which meet student learning goals and experiences. You can have as much say as you would like in the program development process. The framework of the Inbound program design is based on your student learning outcomes.
We specialise in:
- Service-learning
- Cultural immersion and exchange
- Community impact
- Outdoor education
- Adventure travel
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award
- Open-enrolment student travel
- School group travel
- College and university study tours
Please contact us at hello@inboundtravel.com to discuss your programming needs.