The Connected Educator: Chapter 3

The Connected Educator

Chapter 3: Learning to Learn 

“The most important thing any teacher has to learn, not to be learned in any school of education I ever heard of, can be expressed in seven words: Learning is not the product of teaching.  Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”

(John Holt, 2011)

I am unclear about what is meant by, “Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”  I would like to restate John Holt a bit differently.

Learning is not the product of teaching.  Learning is the byproduct of a fertile open mind.  

Which really seems to be the core learning from this book, at least in the first three chapters which is, in it’s way restated by the author as, “Teaching does not make learning occur.  Learners create learning.” (p. 82)

• As Dewey stated, “Education is a social process.  Education is growth.  Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself” (Dewey, 1897, p. 78)

There seems to be a lack in teaching our students, especially in the younger grades that learning is interactive.  At some point during those formative educational experiences, inquiry is squelched.  

• “The illiterates of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” (Futurist Alvin Toffler, 2011) 

This is so true.  If the body of information and knowledge is changing at such a fast rate. 

(2007 video, “Did you Know 2.0” stated that “technical content doubles every two years, and that by 2010, it is predicted to double every 72 hours.”) 

We need to be open to the possibility that truth is only relevant to what is currently known.  Truth is a symbol.  A symbol’s power resides in it’s ability to support the creation of stability within the a chaotic world of ______________________.  (Fill in the blank)  

If we insert politics, we see two sides trying to create differing truths in an attempt to derail each opponent's campaign.  If we insert ethnicity, we see a small group of irresponsible individuals who, through their online “movie” their attempt to shift truth, thereby creating a global mayhem causing the American deaths.