Welcome to On Learning, a blog dedicated to exploring the nature of learning.
The purpose of On Learning is to engage with the field of education by raising questions, exploring topics, and challenging thinking. As primary author of the blog, I do not claim to have answers to education’s greatest challenges. Instead, I hope to foster active reflection and dialogue that opens up, deconstructs, and hypothesizes about stuck or unexplored places.
At the time I write this, I have been in the field of education for more than forty years; half of that time as a student and half as a teacher (though undoubtedly a learner throughout the entire run).
When I was a child, I often spent free time playing school with my neighborhood friends and stuffed toys. In this role-playing version of school, the teacher would stand at the front of the room directing students and distributing stars. In its simulation of my real life, playing school brought me joy.
Years later my enchantment with school – both real and imaginary – lessened. School seemed more a chore and less like play. I longed for the carefree days of summer when I could sew, paint, imagine, and create to my heart and mind’s content. While there was never any doubt that I was learning in school, it always seemed like the learning could be more alive.
Looking back, these ideas represented my first venture into developing a philosophy of education. At age eight, I had stumbled upon ideas better articulated by educational philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, “above all things we must beware of what I will call “inert ideas” — that is to say, ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilised, or tested, or thrown into fresh combinations” (Whitehead, 1929, p. 1).
Today, more than ever, schools are faced with the challenge of LIVING and learning. Developments in computer technology have placed the world’s knowledge at students’ fingertips. Sit-n-Get schooling has lost its grip (if it really ever had one). Students no longer need to rely solely on a teacher to disseminate knowledge. Knowledge is readily accessible through a variety of search engines and video platforms. With this in mind, schools are challenged to evolve. School as a technology — a tool for learning — may need to innovate and adapt to the ecolog(ies) of present and future times. What might that mean for learners? teachers? learning spaces?
How do we transform school culture to be a living and learning culture?
How do we challenge students to engage with problems that matter to them and their surrounding communities?
How do we ensure the learning experiences students engage in are educative?
These are just a few of the questions On Learning will explore. My hope for both present and future generations is that “playing school” includes learning opportunities unrecognizable to the stuffed animals of my youth.
Onward. On learning…