L4D Learning for Democracy

What premises should learning be built on?

The following is a summary of the discussion that took place in the third part of the online group about dissolving boundaries.

This discussion began with a brief mention of the textbook as a threatened bastion of schooling. The textbook embodies the dominant educational paradigm that sees learning as a steady progression through pre-prepared content crafted by experts. That progression is enforced by coercion (obligatory attendance, marks, exams, ... and ultimately the threat of exclusion and failure) in the name of equality. Research shows however that the in depth understanding necessary to respond to the complexity and fast-changing nature of the world around, requires intrinsic motivation not external threats. The example of the textbook raises the question of the structure needed to enhance learning without getting in its way.

The discussion then moved on to reply to the question: on what premises should learning and institutions for learning be built? The concept of deeper learning: a reflective practice in which knowledge is developed not in isolation, but in relationship to the world around as well as to individual or collective experience and other knowledge - was taken as a possible indication of the educational premises being sought. Deeper learning points to two key facets of learning: the necessary connectedness of learning requiring wider perspectives, peer exchange and interrelated thinking as well as greater importance granted to experience and practice; the importance of intrinsic motivation stemming from the learner's needs and desires that leads to deeper learning which is more desirable in that what is learnt is more readily applicable in a wider variety of situations and in changing contexts.

Sir Ken Robinson's plea for the importance of imagination and creativity also offered a rich supply of possible paths to explore. He presents the concept of divergent thinking - the capacity to see questions from various perspectives and to perceive multiple, different answers - as a main-stay of imagination and, as such, points to a number of possible premises for future education.

Finally, examining the current debate about education reform in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland points to the key role of institutions like schools in diminishing anxiety due to complexity and fast-moving change. Simultaneously schools are required to prepare young people to confront complexity and change.  The advocates of the reform propose heightened control over education, however, complexity cannot be handled by control. You cannot cut up complexity into convenient, simpler segments and deal with them one at a time. One expert rightly pointed to importance of motivation and relationships but underestimated the importance of structures in making changes or hindering them.

Here is a brief list of the premises that arose in this short discussion:

• Education needs to be built on respect for the individual and the richness of diversity.
• Education should encourage divergent thinking, non-linearity and imagination rather than conformity and standardisation.
• People do their best when they do the thing they love, as a result education needs to foster and cater for intrinsic motivation.
• Education should question things that are taken for granted.
• Most good learning happens in groups so education needs to facilitate groups, communities of practice and peer exchange.
• Education needs to be a model in the handling of change and complexity, both in its form and in its practices.
• Education needs to emphasise and encourage a holistic, interconnected perspective.

learning, dissolving boundaries, schooling, motivation, connectedness, deep learning, ken robinson, divergent thinking, creativity, control

Last updated 266 days ago by Alan McCluskey