I spent a large chunk of my day today reviewing a design document and crafting lists and lists of questions. I love questions. Someday, I’m going to master the art of finding the right question to ask 9 times of out 10. Sounds like a silly goal, but I believe the entire process of learning surrounds not the answers people offer, but the questions we must ask along the way.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve spent time visiting some of my favourite learning and education related blogs. Today I decided I needed to take a step back from work, life and grieving and spend some quality time on-line. Of course, that means I have to pop in and see what Harold Jarche is writing about these days. In Harold’s post from 10.23.06 titled Formal education needs more informal learning, he writes:

According to Marilyn Taylor [PDF see page 53 for a reference to Taylor’s model], disorientation is a natural state in formal education:

Stage 1 Disorientation: The learner is presented with an unfamiliar experience or idea which involves new ideas that challenge the student to think critically about his/her beliefs and values. The learner reacts by becoming confused and anxious. Support from the educator at this point is crucial to the learner’s motivation, participation and self-esteem.

I believe that disorientation is an almost constant state in many workplaces today, so we had better prepare learners for it. Incorporating informal learning experiences in an ever widening variety of contexts could help prepare students to be better informal learners throughout their lives.

This disorientation theory explains a lot about my formal learning experiences over the past few years. I’ve often felt off kilter in formal learning environments – even in ones of my own design. Perhaps it’s due to the roiling fear in my gut that seems to strike whenever I’m put in a room and expected to participate in group learning activities. I’m just not comfortable when someone else is directing my learning experience. I want to sit back and absorb what’s going on around me, reading or listening, then reflect before I open my big mouth (or get my typing fingers in gear).

The increased anxiety I feel in formal learning situations is likely compounded by the fact that I don’t think I received much support for my learning style. Instead of gaining the requisite support as I moved through the confused and anxious stages, I was made to feel like a sore thumb because I didn’t fall in line with the accepted ideology about adult learners enjoying small group activities and teamwork.

On the other hand, I’m not sure I can agree with Harold that the work world is a constant state of disorientation. At least, not based on my own experiences. Perhaps I’ve taught myself how to handle work related learning experiences in a manner that has resulted in my ability to handle these situations with more comfort and confidence than traditional formal (school, university, professional courses) learning experiences. Instead of feeling disoriented in these situations I feel energized and ready to dive right in.

I always knew I was a little weird…

Things to look forward to: While I was in the CACE program at the U of A one of my profs introduced me to the Up series. Theresia sent out an email this week that made me smile. I’m looking forward to heading out to the Metro Cinema to catch up on other’s lives. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, here’s a blurb from the notification email:

49 Up is the 7th installment in the widely celebrated series which began with the seminal film 7 Up. In 1962, Michael Apted assisted then-director Paul Almond as he interviewed a group of economically, racially and culturally diverse 7-year-olds living in England.

He asked about their lives and their hopes for the future, and caught up with them every 7 years to repeat the process. Now, over 4 decades and 6 films later, Apted returns to his subjects once again, finding them at age 49.

Devoted viewers will be happy to reunite with characters who feel like old friends – the good-natured cab driver, Tony; the soft-spoken boarding school boy, Bruce; and Neil, who at 28 was seen wandering the highlands, homeless and verging on insanity.

But the film is also a rare treat for those encountering the series for the first time, as it artfully weaves into the contemporary images footage from years past, as far back as the 1964 original, creating a potent dialogue between articulations of the past, realities of the present & projections into the future.

Technorati Tags: questions, informal learning, education, Marilyn Taylor, disorientation, Harold Jarche, Up series

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