Learning as Process
We believe that learning is an integrating process through which the individual moves toward greater self-awareness and a greater aware
ness of
the surrounding world. People are constantly changing physi
cally
and mentally. What is to be learned changes as does the importance and usefulness of what has already been learned.
Learning is a result of the interaction between the individual and the surrounding environment. The individual chooses what to learn ant how to learn it. He or she also chooses how it will be integrated into his or her awareness. The product of this process is the individual consciousness. Our goal in teaching is to help students take more conscious control of their learning, and we see language skills as a powerful and fundamental part of this process.
Language as Dynamic Process
Language is extremely powerful. It both defines reality and is defined by it. It is a dynamic creative process which is constantly changing, a social activity which derives its meaning, from interaction. Personal reality is grasped and worked with through language. The ability to express one’s personal reality in words gives one the ability to externalize one’s thoughts and then reintegrate them again internally in different ways so that they can be used more consciously.
This interactive dialectical view of language reflects our ideological perspective which reacts against two major traditions in the analysis of language and the relationship between language and reality. Idealists define language as a realization of ideal forms or essences. Objectivists see it as a symbolic representation of the physical world. Both, however, see the development of language as based on certain preconditions external to the relationship between language and the knower. Language is viewed as static, not dynamic.
Our perspective views human intellectual development as a product of the constant interaction between the individual and his or her environment. Thought and language are inseparable. Language is that aspect of the developmental process called social reality to which thought is applied and against which it reacts and develops or expands. Language then becomes a focal point for individual human development.
Teaching as a Process
We have applied this perspective to our teaching. We see learning as a process through which all members of the group or class expand and develop their consciousness together, individually and socially. The social context
of learning is constantly worked with consciously. By social context we include the relationship among the members of the group,
the relationship between the individual and the subject matter, and the relationship between the group and the subject materials.
The dynamic of this process is determined by the participants. As stated above, we see learning as an interactive process in which we see ourselves, the teachers, supplying some input but not controlling the output. As the material is worked with, its meaning changes. The students too change as they interact with the material. Individuals learn differently because they have varied experiences, expectations and needs.
It is the
relationship
between word and reality, thought and language, and
the individual and society which produces learning. It is then with this emphasis that we have designed our course and work.
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The Hierarchical View of Learning
Although our methods evolved out of our practice, through trial and error, we have come to understand them also as a reaction against one widely accepted and traditional perspective on education and learning. Not all individuals who work in schools share this traditional perspective, and indeed, there have been many other trends in American educational theory. However, we do believe that the description which follows outlines, in its most basic form, the assumptions from which most current educational practice has evolved.
Most schools are hierarchically structured. The head of the school is the administrator responsible for the correct running of the school. Teachers are expected to teach students largely prescribed curricula. The learning of the student is measured quantitatively. A good teacher is supposed to produce good students, those who can accumulate an appropriate amount of prescribed information. This prescribed information is called knowledge. Intelligence then can also be quantitatively measured, for the local conclusion is that the person who accumulates the largest amount of knowledge is the most intelligent.
There are two assumptions fundamental to this perspective: 1) that since knowledge is quantifiable, it is objective; 2) that since learning takes place within a hierarchical structure in which the teacher teaches and the student learns, all or at least most knowledge to be learned is already known.
What this overlooks is the process of learning, the interactions between the student and the body of material to be learned or understood. This separation of the student from his or her learning process tends to produce passive and docile students.
Our Goals
We believe that students should take conscious control of their learning. We promote this by allowing for and encouraging differences between people and by creating an atmosphere of dynamic change and interaction in the classroom. Though there are clearly defined rules about how to treat people with respect, there cannot be rules for how people will expand their consciousness.
We feel that language and literacy are fundamental components of this view of learning. Literacy opens up new forms of knowledge and can give a new motive for action in life. It gives the student a greater
potential for access into our technological society and greater control over how he decides to deal with his life. These skills open up new options. They allow for greater control and involvement in society also.
