The Learning Arena: our robust methodology for effective experiential learning

Arena symbolising MTa’s Learning Arena methodology for structured, participant-focused experiential learning.

Published

17 April 2018

jamie thompson mta

Written by

Jamie Thompson

Head Facilitator and Managing Director at MTa Learning

The Learning Arena by MTa is a methodology for facilitating effective experiential learning activities. It is a practical model underpinning our approach to experiential learning, which is fundamentally participant focused.


When does experiential learning fail?

The main reasons we’ve seen experiential learning struggle to deliver over the years are:


1) The activities are not well enough designed to elicit honest un-self conscious behaviour, or do not focus on the type of learning outcomes required.
2) The facilitator is not aware of the need for participants to draw their own conclusions about potential improvements they could make to their skills, attitudes and behaviours. Or sometimes the facilitator is aware, but finds themselves unable to resist ‘adding value’ by giving their opinions.
3) The process for delivering the activities has not allowed for the necessary cycle of activity, reflection, learning/hypothesis, implementation and testing of changes, followed by further reflection and refinement until valuable improvements have been embedded.


All MTa activities, programmes and certifications provide facilitators and coaches with the tools to take their learners systematically through the Learning Arena process, ensuring their relevant learning opportunities are maximised.


Want to delve into the detail?

Click here: The Learning Arena: MTa’s methodology

jamie thompson mta

Written by

Jamie Thompson

Head Facilitator and Managing Director at MTa Learning

Jamie is passionate about inspiring and developing people through experiential learning. With an engaging, empowering and creative approach, he's trained over 1,000 facilitators and trainers from 37 countries through the MTa Masterclass. The creative activities developed by MTa Learning are now used in over 100 countries by thousands of the world's leading organisations including as Emirates Airlines, Amazon, Nissan, and Verizon USA. Jamie pairs his passion and experience with an impressive corporate and academic background, having started out at Deloitte before joining MTa, and now serving as a Leader in Residence and Guest Lecturer at Leeds University Business School.