Learning From Each Other

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African Proverb.

Learning and growth does not happen inside a vacuum. Learners do not delve into understanding by digging into their vast, individual pools of inherit knowledge and skill. Understanding is contextually bounded and formed by relationship with others (Taylor & Snyder, 2012). Too much education has been focused on skills, knowledge, and how to do things. Fleming (2012) noted that the antidote to this individualistic focus of learning is unity and collaboration with others.

Individually-focused learning stems from internal processes that arise from personal experiences, values and histories. Socially-focused learning, in contrast, arises out of social learning networks where ideas from these networks form the basis of new ideas and concepts (Collin, 2008). Social learning is one of the key dynamics of transformative learning; social learning is intended to reach out and educate to care for the world (English & Mayo, 2012). Without this socialization of learning and social transformation, hope for justice, civility, and common good would be lost.

Relationships are tricky things. Bringing people together to explore new thoughts and ideas often carries within its practices outbursts of emotion, conflict, power imbalances, and relational break-down. How does one keep to the task at hand when bringing people together to learn? What are the considerations one must understand in attempting such practices? And what holds these groups together?

Indeed, what does hold our social networks together? We shall explore this concept in future blog posts….

References

Collin, K. (2008). Work-related identity in individual and social learning at work. Journal of Workplace learning 21(1), 23-25. DOI: 10.1108/13665620910924899.

English, L. M., & Mayo, P. (2012). Spirituality and adult education. In Learning with adults: A critical pedagogical introduction (pp. 179-187). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Fleming, T. (2012). Fromm and Habermas: Allies for adult education and democracy. Studies in philosophy and education 31, 123-136. DOI: 10.1007/s11217-011-9268-1.

Taylor, E. W., & Synder, M. J., (2012). A critical review of research on transformative learning theory, 2006-2010. In E. W. Taylor, P. Cranton & Associates (Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning (pp. 37-55). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.