Unlearning LO24499

From: Artur F. Silva (artsilva@mail.eunet.pt)
Date: 04/28/00


Replying to LO24229

At 01:08 22-03-2000 -0600, ceo@work911.com., I.e., Robert Bacal wrote:
>On 21 Mar 00, at 19:43, Artur F. Silva wrote:
>> I have been following this thread with interest. One of the reasons is
>> because I always thought that "unlearning" is a crucial step to learning;
>> so "teach how to unlearn" is crucial in teaching, as it is in OD.
>
>I've gotten lost re: who said what but here's a few takes on the
>unlearning thing. While it pops up over time, the real core issue here is
>definitional. If someone goes from "knowing A" to "knowing B" (lets say
>going from the earth is flat to the earth is round), have they unlearned
>A, and learned B anew?
>
>Or did they learn B as something new but not unlearn A?
>
>I'm not sure it matters. Maybe it does, and I'd love to hear people
>discuss the practical implications of the terms.

I will send during the week end an example of a real case from the
workplace where it matters a lot.

>In psychology, there is the concept of "unfreezing" which I think is a
>better one. (sorry I can't recall the originator). The theory goes that in
>order to learn a new thing when there is a pre-existing contradictory
>thing, there must be an unfreezing of the original learning, an opening
>up.

The idea came from Lewin in the field of social change. He stated that in
order to change one must 1- unfreeze; 2- change; 3- refreeze.

The idea as been used in the field of learning by many people.

Argyris ("On organizational Learning, 2nd edition, Blackweel, pag 69/70)
says: "At the outset D. Schon and I (A&S, 1974) used essentially the same
model... But we soon learnt that the model was useful primarily at an
abstract level of discourse and for single-loop learning. When we
attempted to help individuals unfreeze the old (knowledge) in order to
produce double-loop learning, we found that were sever crucial gaps in the
model".

Then, he discusses four of these crucial gaps; I will summarise only two
of them.

"...the second gap namely the pervasivness with which individuals are
unware that they do not have the skills that they may value. The gap...is
compounded by the fact that the lack of awareness may not be due simply to
some void or missing knowledge, but may be actually tacitly designed,
largely automatic, and hence, a highly skilled action".

Of course "highly skilled action" implies tacit knowledge...

The fourth gap relates to the differences between espoused theories and
theories in use and model I and Model 2 of interpersonal relationships
(people that think that they are inquiring but are covertly advocating,
people that think that they empower others but are really controlling
them, etc.)

Regards

Artur
Artur F. Silva <artsilva@mail.eunet.pt>

-- 

"Artur F. Silva" <artsilva@mail.eunet.pt>

[Host's Note: In assoc with Amazon.com...

On Organizational Learning by Chris Argyris http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0631213090/learningorg

..Rick]

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>


"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.