personal philosophy of adult learning
Name: Matthew Smith
Course Department, Number & Title: D500 Introduction to Adult Education
Semester & Year Enrolled: Spring 2017
Document: Personal Philosophy of Adult Learning
I chose to include my philosophy of adult learning as this is when I worked through each of the studied learning theories in one space. In bringing critical theory, dialogue, emancipatory learning and situated cognition under one umbrella, I came to the conclusion I am a radical even though my professional position requires more humanism than I prefer. It is also when I first recognized my most altruistic efforts can, in fact, be oppressive exercises which perpetuates the status quo.
To the first point, recognizing myself as a radical education practitioner means I understand learners should continually adjust their understanding of citizenry through a cognitive, emotive and practical process in which social experiences are reflected upon and incorporated into our understanding of self, or disjuncture. It is line with Kolb’s theory of experimental learning. It is the root of Jarvis’ theory of reflective learning. It demands being able to critically reflect on individual understanding versus that of the rest of the community. Understanding this relationship is important to the theme of my artifacts, emancipatory dialogue, insomuch as we cannot have an empathic and whole-person understanding of another (central components of emancipatory dialogue) and break from self-oppression if we do not understand the differences between how we see society versus how another might.
There isn’t a true application of this artifact as it is a theoretical exercise. It did open my eyes quite a bit, however. As mentioned in another caption statement, I currently have staff critically reflect on applying new concepts in their community or at home. Informally, I engage in conversations in which I directly discuss situated cognition, share personal experiences and try to make learners uncomfortable by letting them arrive at their own conclusions to a problem’s solution and then ask them to reflect on why they arrived at said solution. This is not radical education, however. It is critically constructive, of course, but not radical and it is certainly not a manifestation of emancipatory dialogue. This, then, is what I would have done differently. Instead of ending with one paragraph noting I am growing impatient with standing by and participating in oppression through the drive to profit, I would have spent more time exploring how I might use my philosophy of adult learning to empower workers to organize, take direct control of the work they do and free themselves from self-oppression. A future goal is to put the takeaways from my philosophy into a coherent learning program at work.
Course Department, Number & Title: D500 Introduction to Adult Education
Semester & Year Enrolled: Spring 2017
Document: Personal Philosophy of Adult Learning
I chose to include my philosophy of adult learning as this is when I worked through each of the studied learning theories in one space. In bringing critical theory, dialogue, emancipatory learning and situated cognition under one umbrella, I came to the conclusion I am a radical even though my professional position requires more humanism than I prefer. It is also when I first recognized my most altruistic efforts can, in fact, be oppressive exercises which perpetuates the status quo.
To the first point, recognizing myself as a radical education practitioner means I understand learners should continually adjust their understanding of citizenry through a cognitive, emotive and practical process in which social experiences are reflected upon and incorporated into our understanding of self, or disjuncture. It is line with Kolb’s theory of experimental learning. It is the root of Jarvis’ theory of reflective learning. It demands being able to critically reflect on individual understanding versus that of the rest of the community. Understanding this relationship is important to the theme of my artifacts, emancipatory dialogue, insomuch as we cannot have an empathic and whole-person understanding of another (central components of emancipatory dialogue) and break from self-oppression if we do not understand the differences between how we see society versus how another might.
There isn’t a true application of this artifact as it is a theoretical exercise. It did open my eyes quite a bit, however. As mentioned in another caption statement, I currently have staff critically reflect on applying new concepts in their community or at home. Informally, I engage in conversations in which I directly discuss situated cognition, share personal experiences and try to make learners uncomfortable by letting them arrive at their own conclusions to a problem’s solution and then ask them to reflect on why they arrived at said solution. This is not radical education, however. It is critically constructive, of course, but not radical and it is certainly not a manifestation of emancipatory dialogue. This, then, is what I would have done differently. Instead of ending with one paragraph noting I am growing impatient with standing by and participating in oppression through the drive to profit, I would have spent more time exploring how I might use my philosophy of adult learning to empower workers to organize, take direct control of the work they do and free themselves from self-oppression. A future goal is to put the takeaways from my philosophy into a coherent learning program at work.
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