I was at one of our events this past week, and a teacher expressed some concern about how “honest” our facilitators were being with the students. In this instance, a facilitator was talking about how competitive the labour market is becoming—especially for young people—and how important it is to stand out, go the extra mile, and care about their futures.
I chuckled. In this particular group, most of the students were in Grade 12. Within months, they will be graduating and entering the labour market or post-secondary education. In some parts of Ontario, youth unemployment is well over 20%—in some areas, it’s closer to 30%. Let that sink in. This means that 1 in 5 (or even 1 in 3) young people looking for work will not find it.
If our facilitator was being tough, how do you think students will feel when they enter the labour market and can’t get a job?
Over the last year, we’ve redesigned all of our certifications and workshops to be hands-on, experiential, and rooted in real-life situations.
We have a philosophy at Flashpoint: certifications and experiences should be engaging, but they also need to provide lessons students can use beyond a single afternoon.
In SHSM and co-op, it’s often assumed that if a student is “out of the classroom,” then meaningful learning is happening. A placement is secured, a workshop is delivered, a certification is completed—and the experience is considered successful.
But it’s not that simple.
Some experiences stay with students long after they’re over. Others—even well-organized ones—seem to pass without much impact at all. The difference isn’t always obvious on paper, but it’s clear in how students respond.
They might have fun for an afternoon—but will it actually help them as they transition into life after high school?
These days, students are afraid of being “cringe” (did I get that right?). Our goal is to help them see past that and realize that caring about their future, being engaged, making connections, and creating opportunities for growth are some of the best things they can do for themselves.
Students need to be doing more than just participating. They need to be thinking, noticing, questioning, and connecting what they’re experiencing to something beyond the moment.
Without that, even the most “authentic” experience can become surface-level.
Engagement is the real metric.
Students engage more deeply when they understand why they are there.
Too often, experiential learning is presented as an opportunity without context. Students are told where to go and what to do, but not what they should be paying attention to. We often have students come to us with no clear understanding of why they’re there or what the session is about.
When that happens, they default to simply completing tasks.
But when we take the time to frame the experience—to make the purpose visible—students approach it differently.
They begin to ask:
- What am I supposed to learn here?
- What should I be noticing?
- How does this connect to what I’ve been doing in class?
That shift turns the experience from something they attend into something they actively process.
The Role of Discomfort
One of our favourite things to do at Flashpoint is to put students into unfamiliar situations.
Some of the most impactful experiences include moments where students feel unsure—where they don’t immediately know what to do, what to say, or how to respond.
These moments are often where the most growth happens. They do something for the first time, like talk to a student they don’t know or present in front of a crowd. They may take on a leadership role, when they previously shrank from taking charge.
In our Experiential Learning Field Trips we create opportunities for students to grow, force them into new situations and push them out of their comfort zone.
We are happiest when students who walked in shy into an experience, come up to us afterwards and say “Wow! I never did that before” or “I never thought of myself as good at public speaking”. Those are the days we pat ourselves on the back.
When It Doesn’t Work — and Why That Still Matters
Some experiences resonate with certain students but not others. That’s why we offer a range of opportunities—from visiting an aircraft hangar to engaging with senior staff at major companies, to hands-on builds, tech experiences, and creative sessions.
We have groups that are kinestethic learners. We have others that are more plan-oriented or academic in their approaches to problem solving. We bridge these gaps by introducing Lego and other tools into our challenges and solutions,.
The goal is not to ensure every experience is perfect. It’s to ensure every experience is meaningful in some way to each student.
Final Thought
Experiential learning is often described as “learning by doing,” but that definition is incomplete.
Students are always doing something. The question is whether they are learning from it.
A strong experiential learning experience is not defined by where it takes place or what activity is involved. It’s defined by how students engage, how they are supported, and how they make sense of it afterward.
When those elements are in place, even simple experiences can have a lasting impact. And when they’re not, even the most impressive opportunities can pass without leaving much behind.
That’s the difference worth paying attention to.
By Carmen Reis, CPA, MA
Carmen is the CEO of Flashpoint Training , Inc and Flashpoint Ignite.You can reach Carmen at Carmen@flashpointtraining.com.