Re: [AlwaysLearning] "... Learn without a teacher ... ? ? ?
Bill Ellis
>BE:
> Posted by: "Holly O" hollyo@... achildshome
> , ... I would not agree that one can learn without a teacher. ...
> (snip)
The above sounds like apologetics -- confusing words instead of logic.
"Teacher" in my dictionary is an "instructor one who teaches."
This implies a person, one who consciously imparts knowledge.
To say that anything from which we get knowledge is a teacher is to
try to change the common meaning of the word.
"Teaching" is something one person does to another.
"Learning" is something a person does to and for themselves.
Or as Charles Hayes put is "Learning is something you take.
Education is something given you."
Roland Meighan a Prof of Education at the Open University in
the U.K. uses this distinction to suggest that we should pay more
attention to why, how, when and what we learn, than we do
to why, how when and we teach.
Brain research in the past decade has done a lot to discover how
we learn as distinct for how we teach. It points out that we are
learning all of the time; from birth to death, from waking to sleeping.
Information floods into our brains in a jumble from our 5 senses.
It is sorted in the mind into sets that can be recalled and used.
Every mind is unique and different. No two mindsare the same.
To sit 20 minds down in a group and expect all ofthem to be
ready at the same time, to learn something, in the same
way is an act of futility.
This suggests we replace the educate/teach/school system with "learning
centers" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any age
to learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools,
democratic
schools, learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in that
drection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.
This may be the wave of the future.
IMHO
Bill Ellis
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AGaianParadigm/files/
Sandra Dodd
-=-This suggests we replace the educate/teach/school system with
"learning
centers" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any age
to learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools,
democratic
schools, learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in that
drection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.
This may be the wave of the future.-=-
Yes.
And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To
facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work
more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
"learning
centers" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any age
to learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools,
democratic
schools, learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in that
drection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.
This may be the wave of the future.-=-
Yes.
And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To
facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work
more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Steve Cooperman
***-This suggests we replace the educate/teach/school system with "learning centers" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any ageto learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools, democratic schools,
learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in thatdirection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.This may be the wave of the future.-=-*Yes.And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.***
I recently helped launch a center that might fall in this category, although 'activity center' might be a better description, since the focus is on people who come into our space doing whatever they're drawn to do (or do better), based on either already knowing what that is, or being inspired by something they see, hear, etc. being done, or some resource that we have.
One of our experiments is that we have mostly young people involved in the forming and running of our space so that the 'adults' involved, raised and schooled in a traditional way, don't see themselves only as 'facilitators,' let alone as completely responsible and in charge. What we want to create is a community of people of all ages working/playing/learning together, with roles changing depending on the situation, and we believe it would be difficult to do this if the organization was run by the 'adults.'
I have been very conscious about my role as the oldest member, by a long shot, of the core group - I am 50, plus there are two teens (homeschoolers who are unschooling wannabes) and two 21-year-olds - that is making consensus decisions about how things are run, including how we become financially sustainable. I might have a little more clarity about the vision, I have a lot of business and organizational experience so I share that, and I make myself available to help make things easier for whoever might need/ask for it, but mostly I pursue my own interests and passions, and try to be an example of what we hope everyone does. I'd get bored just sitting around waiting for someone to need my help...Steve Cooperman
To: [email protected]: Sandra@...: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:47:36 -0700Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] "... Learn without a teacher ... ? ? ?
-=-This suggests we replace the educate/teach/school system with "learningcenters" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any ageto learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools,democraticschools, learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in thatdrection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.This may be the wave of the future.-=-Yes.And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.Sandra[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
_________________________________________________________________
Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live.
http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in thatdirection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.This may be the wave of the future.-=-*Yes.And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.***
I recently helped launch a center that might fall in this category, although 'activity center' might be a better description, since the focus is on people who come into our space doing whatever they're drawn to do (or do better), based on either already knowing what that is, or being inspired by something they see, hear, etc. being done, or some resource that we have.
One of our experiments is that we have mostly young people involved in the forming and running of our space so that the 'adults' involved, raised and schooled in a traditional way, don't see themselves only as 'facilitators,' let alone as completely responsible and in charge. What we want to create is a community of people of all ages working/playing/learning together, with roles changing depending on the situation, and we believe it would be difficult to do this if the organization was run by the 'adults.'
I have been very conscious about my role as the oldest member, by a long shot, of the core group - I am 50, plus there are two teens (homeschoolers who are unschooling wannabes) and two 21-year-olds - that is making consensus decisions about how things are run, including how we become financially sustainable. I might have a little more clarity about the vision, I have a lot of business and organizational experience so I share that, and I make myself available to help make things easier for whoever might need/ask for it, but mostly I pursue my own interests and passions, and try to be an example of what we hope everyone does. I'd get bored just sitting around waiting for someone to need my help...Steve Cooperman
To: [email protected]: Sandra@...: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:47:36 -0700Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] "... Learn without a teacher ... ? ? ?
-=-This suggests we replace the educate/teach/school system with "learningcenters" that provide resources and opportunities of any one at any ageto learn on their own volition. Unschooling, charter schools,democraticschools, learning co-op and many other resource centers movng in thatdrection and providing opportunities for life-long self-learning.This may be the wave of the future.-=-Yes.And in those environments, there tend to be "facilitators." To facilitate means to make something easier, to make something work more smoothly. They are there to facilitate other people's learning.Sandra[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
_________________________________________________________________
Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live.
http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]