Month: October 2015

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Being in a Learning System

Last evening, I had the pleasure of participating in the International Bateson Institute session at the October Gallery in London with a number of wonderful IBI colleagues and extraordinary guests. Our discussion skirted around the notion of how systems learn. At one point, one of the guests asked, “What is it like to be in a learning system?”

Of course, all living systems are learning systems, but I think what he meant was what is like to be in a learning system that has the characteristics of the kind that supports the learning the IBI team had just observed at a Reggio Emilia inspired nursery school a few days before. This school and schools with similar learning “systems” lack the typical authoritarian relationships between teachers and children. Children control the flow of their own learning within stimulating contexts developed by the teachers. Learning emerges, percolates, and loops back and winds its way through the day. Children follow their curiosities and interests. They share and negotiate knowledge, while developing relationships with one another and among rich conceptual contexts. They seamlessly integrate sensory and disciplinary explorations.

But, back to the question about what is it like to be is such a learning system. As I pondered this question, it struck me that I had experienced such learning systems with my dog. I, of course, took her to dog training classes, which were as much about training the owners as about training the dogs. However, much of her learning was outside of these contexts. And, some of the most powerful learning for both of us occurred on our twice daily excursions into the forest near our home. For her, she lives in a world of relationships. It’s incredibly apparent as you walk through the forest with her. She is completely engaged and paying attention to as many sights, sounds, and smells as she can handle. She watches birds and things I couldn’t see with great intensity. She followed scent trails, and listened intently. And, with all of this she kept an eye on me. She’d run off exploring and following smells, but she’d keep track of where I was. And, sometimes our communication became coordinated without any verbalization needed. Sometimes just a glance and eye contact was all that was needed to coordinate which direction to go or when we needed to stop for a drink or a snack. At one, point we were off trail and climbing up the side of a mountain. We reached a point where the only way to go was both me to crawl under a tree to reach a more open area beyond. Part way under the tree, she became very agitated and looked at me saying, “we have to leave.” My initial impulse was to push on, but I “listened” to her, and backed out, then proceeded back down the mountain. I realized, she probably knew there was a mountain lion nearby.

The only other time she acted with such intensity was after we had moved to another city and went to a new veterinarian for an ear infection. When the new veterinarian entered the exam room, she reacted as if a threatening entity had just entered the room. I controlled her, but dismissed her behavior as a weird aberration, but I shouldn’t have. She was right. The veterinarian was a genuinely nasty person, not only in her demeanor, but also in her approach to sucking as much money out of her clients as possible… $677 in this case. I will listen to my dog from now on. (A week later we went to another veterinarian for a urinary tract infection. When the vet walked in to the exam room, she greeted her as she usually does with a kind of “oh, you’re okay” greeting. It was an interesting contrast… and $77 in comparison to the previous vet.)

But, the point of this learning system between my dog and I during these outings is that they involve mutual learning based on relationships of trust and respect. In the good learning systems of children in schools, the learning systems are based on relationships of trust and respect. But, most schools blow it. They may say they value trust and respect children, but it doesn’t take long for them to undermine the very tenets they say they hold.

The minute they raise their voices or exert authoritarian control, they have undermined trust and respect. The minute they take away what the children value as important, they have undermined trust and respect. And, of course, with most schools, when children enter and are immediately subjugated by the official curriculum, codes of conduct, grading systems, and high stakes tests, we have taken away all trust and respect.

The same holds true for taking a dog and putting her into a cage, followed by harsh treatment with hitting, yelling, etc. The dog has received no respect and trust… and will not respect and trust its owner.

What other learning systems function on trust and respect?

What systems are not based on trust and respect?

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Solidification, Policy, and Fear

For a number of years, I helped run a small satellite organization of a much larger international one. It was a place where people could gather and learn something about themselves within a nice social context. The number of people who came fluctuated, but there was a core group who came and helped support the week-to-week operations, including donating money to rent space. The group was loosely organized. We did have someone who took care of money and someone who took care of our web presence. Other tasks were more spontaneous, but it worked.

But, when I moved away the larger organization stepped in (the timing was impeccably bad) with requests for aligning to certain policies, which related to getting insurance coverage through their carrier and giving a certain amount of money to the central office every month. Well, that little policy maneuver is going to end the group. They will quietly dissolve into nothingness, leaving a number of people high and dry. And, what hurts so much is that these people could have benefited by the continued existence of this group, even if it was struggling and hobbling along. The group provided support and inspiration for the people who came. And, now, because of the inflexibility of “policy,” they will be abandoned.

I was around when this “big” organization was small and had no policies. It dealt with situations as they arose. There was a sense of personal connection with everything that was done. Now, dealing with the organization feels remote and cold. And, they talk about how to make it more personal, but they shoot themselves in the foot before they even begin.

Policy solidifies everything. The minute you start creating policy, you doom your organization to an inability to change, to an inability to be flexible or to adapt. Such solidification of the ways in which “things” function has led to the extinction of organisms. If a species doesn’t have the ability to adjust to changes in the environment, it is not going to survive over long periods of time.

Fossil 3248b

Such a tendency to solidify things, such as creating policy, seems to be rooted in a fundamental fear of change. People are afraid of change and of things that are different. So, we solidify what we can. We solidify our view and opinions. We solidify who we think we are. We see this solidification in prejudices and biases of all kinds, in hate, in acts of violence and aggression, and in acts of avoidance. Policy and bigotry are parts of the same beast. “Policy” sounds official and legitimate and is easily justifiable with all kinds of seemingly rational reasons for the existence of policy, but it still arises out of a basic fear of change, uncertainty, and difference.

How many of you have had issues with businesses where their response is, “well, it is our policy….”? Such statements are an immediate attempt to shut down the conversation. Problem solved. They do not have to think about the issue at hand. It’s policy. All the while, you have been screwed. My response to that statement is that I could care less about their policy. There is an issue here that usually borders on some level of illegality that needs to be addressed whether they like it or not and whether there’s a policy or not. I also recently encountered a new twist on policy with a medical practice. I had an appointment for my son with a top specialist, but he really needed to see someone sooner. My question was, could he see someone sooner, but still keep his original appointment. The answer was, “no, he would have to only see the new person. He could never see the original specialist. It was policy.” Who benefits from that policy? Not the patient. It’s for the convenience of the medical practice, or for the egos of the practitioners. On the other hand, I went to see specialist group where I’ve seen different doctors. They tag team so that patients can get in to see someone as needed. Who benefits from the flexibility? The patients.

Policy and solidification is a way of freezing our hearts. We lose our hearts. We need more than ever before to re-connect with one another as fellow human beings. We need to try to understand one another. We need to empathize and share our humanity. Policy and other solidifications disconnect. They harden our hearts and narrow our minds.

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Living In Sync With Context

It is difficult to live in sync with the natural context. In big cities, we are surrounded by cement, asphalt, steel, and glass with spots of grass and trees. But, such synchronization, as much as possible, should be our challenge.

Take a stab at guessing in what natural context this house (in the photo below) belongs.

House20151007_151140

When we think about where we live, what are the natural surroundings? What are the native soils, plants, terrain, etc? Our mere presence in a natural setting makes a difference, but what sort of dwelling and grounds will have the least impact on the local ecosystem? We may find that our impacts are more than we like, or less than we may have expected. But, this exercise can help us begin to think about how we can live and think in ways that are more in line with our local ecosystems.

By the way, the context for the house shown above should look something like that shown in the photo below. It is quite interesting how people move into the desert, then try to make it look like they live in a temperate forest setting with a large pond, trees, and grass. What isn’t shown are the sprinklers for the acres of grass.

DesertScene2015-10-8 142700

There’s a fundamental disconnect here… not even an attempt to live in sync with the desert ecosystem.

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Play and the Killing of Children’s Spirits in U.S. Schools

Play may be the most powerful form of learning. Play allows us to break rules, test boundaries, look at things upside-down. I can’t imagine a Richard Feynman who didn’t play; or, a Charles Darwin, or an Albert Einstein, or a Carl Sagan, or a Lynn Margulis, or a Stephen Jay Gould, or a Jane Goodall, or any great thinker, scientist, poet, artist, inventor, innovator, who didn’t play.

Gregory Bateson suggested that play was one of the three ways that we can find the limits of the possible. The other two ways are exploration and crime. But, all three of these seem to overlap and may, in fact, just be different ways of looking at the same process in different contexts.

Play is critical to learning. Without play, we lose the emotional impact that helps to embed learning richer and more meaningful contexts. Without play, we lose the ability to connect to multiple contexts and multiple ways of seeing and knowing, which are essential for deeper understandings. Without play, there is no curiosity, no “aha” moments, no joy of discovery, no astounding mistakes (as opposed to oppressive mistakes of tests, etc.).

And, yet, in the United States, we have now moved pretty much all of schooling away from play. We don’t even have recess. Kindergarten is now relegated to “work” and standardized tests. We are killing our children at the root of their humanity. Their very spirits of inquisitiveness and joy are being cut off at the knees. These are our children. What are we thinking!!! It’s an unconscionable act of psychological violence.

And, by the way, not all developed countries do this to their children. Here’s an article in a recent issue of The Atlantic about school in Finland:

”The Joyful, Illiterate Kindergartners of Finland”

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Jerome Bruner Turns 100 Today, October 1, 2015

Jerry Bruner was and still is an inspiration for my own work (teaching and research). I mentioned to him many years ago that he reminded me of Gregory Bateson, and he responded that he wasn’t even close to being at that level. He is a humble man with a great mind and heart. And, I only wish more people would pay attention to what he has to say about children, learning, teaching, and schooling.

Happy birthday, Jerry Bruner!

See Chris Watkins’ blog entry on Jerry Bruner:

Bruner scores a century!

Some of Jerry Bruner’s books:

Bruner, J. (1977). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. (1987). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. (1992). Acts of meaning: Four lectures on mind and culture. Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Towards a theory of instruction. Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J., & Haste, H. (1987). Making sense: The child’s construction of the world. New York: Methuen & Co.

Bruner, J. (2003). Making stories: Law, literature, life. New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.

He also edited and has a chapter in a book on play in which Gregory Bateson has a chapter:
Bruner, J. S., Jolly, A., & Sylva, K. (Eds.). (1976). Play – Its role in development and evolution. New York: Basic Books.