Learning should always be an active process and a two-way partnership between teaching and learning. In essence, learning and its counterpart exist as a vibrant dialogue between individuals whose role in the relationship is continually transformative. I’d like to explore this thinking further.
As a teacher, it is clear that my role is to share knowledge with my students. It is also my role to provide them with an environment in which they might learn. The prompts I provide, the questions I pose, the dialogue I facilitate and the connections I create space for all play an essential part in their learning. When I get this right, the learner finds themselves immersed in a context that is conducive to learning. The learner has opportunities to think, to question, to postulate and argue. They have access to the resources they require as they engage with ideas, develop their skills and frame dispositions. I provide opportunities for them to build their understandings and feedback, which allows them to see their path forward more clearly. It is easy to imagine learning as a consequence of the environment I create for my learners, but this oversimplifies the situation.
If the environment is a collaborative one where there are fellow learners to engage with, their learning is strengthened and enriched by the interactions which occur. The role of the teacher retains its significance, but the presence of learning peers brings a fresh dynamic. Each learner in this collaborative learning environment is also a teacher. They ask and answer questions. They model the process of learning. Feedback is provided, and dialogue ensues that opens one’s eyes to fresh perspectives on the world. Some students achieve success on a task while others find struggles and this mix of expertise and novice status in the moment demonstrates how learning is provisional and frequently changes. So we are now imagining learning as that which occurs between people inside a learning environment, perhaps we call this a classroom. Once again, we have oversimplified things.
Our imagining of learning as a discrete process occurring neatly within the walls of our school ignores that every member of our community is shaped by their experiences beyond the classroom. Our histories, our culture, our family, our traditions all come with us when we arrive ready to learn. The day to day experience of life is packed up rather messily with us and taken along for the ride with us. Every learner’s interpretation of each and every event that occurs in our classrooms is shaped by their past, present and future. Chaos is almost inevitable thanks to the mix of possible permutations. Even the best-laid plans are likely to require immediate adjustment to fit the needs of any collective. Learning is thusly seen as a blending of new experiences, past experiences and collective experiences, and yet we continue to oversimplify things.
The school exists within and as an expression of the political and social structures which give it its form. Schools are a construct of many forces with society. Curriculum is planned to reflect always shifting political and social imperatives. Funding and policy determine what is and is not possible. Priorities for learning filter down into the classroom and are ever-changing. New technology brings fresh affordances and new challenges. Culture is transformed continuously, and while schools might be seen as bastions of tradition, the march of change cannot be held at bay. As the world changes, as each generation comes and goes, the nature of our learning environment is altered. So learning is that which occurs collaboratively between individuals in collectives where the culture and expectations are shaped by the world outside and inside our schools. And yet there is more to this learning environment.
To this point, we have focused on learning as a process focused upon the learner. But when we see learning as dialogue, we must understand that the teacher is also a student and that the act of teaching is also an act of learning. The teacher shares knowledge, skills and dispositions, and as they do, their understanding of each is reflected back. In this sense, teaching is like looking through a window on the world that also allows us to see ourself. We teach, and we learn. This dialogue between teacher and learner and between teaching and learning has impacts at each point of the process. The student, the teacher, the peers, the community, the culture and the society in which it all occurs are shaped by the learning that flows outwards from our lessons.
Only by acknowledging that education shapes, at least as much as it is shaped by the world can we understand the complexity of the place that teaching truly plays. This is why learning is best seen as a two-way partnership between teaching and learning.
By Nigel Coutts