Action Learning and Learning Organization LO29329

From: Alfred Rheeder (alfred@pvm.co.za)
Date: 10/16/02


Replying to LO29307 --

Dear Alan and Orglearners,

Thank you for your reply. Alan wrote:

> From a lifetime of attending nightschool, and professional experience, I
> know one thing - all the theory you learn at school means nothing until
> you apply it in a real life situation.
>
> I suggest to really learn, you have to DO something constructive with the
> information you have accumulated. Even then, it takes real effort to
> extend the range of this information, to be creative.

Constructive creativity as an emergent phenomena of learning - leading
to/building upon knowledge - enabling one to act with purpose is
important. I think we should bare in mind that digestions also take place
during learning. I have observed that creative people tend to "go to/look"
for information they seek rather than wait for information to "come" to
them. Maybe this is indicative of there tacid awareness of the emergent
and digestion phases of learning -the harmony between closing towards and
op ening up to the surroundings.

How often do shools or universities do exactly the opposite? I can only
imagine the predicament teachers and students find themselves in.
Imagine the carriculum composed of a vast amount of information and fixed
time-frames. Imagine a class room filled with 40 students "swinging"
between emergence's and digestions at different stages. What happens when
a teacher overwhelm a student with information when the student is closing
up towards the environment? I can imagine creative students and teachers
often being in trouble.

> In our day and age there aren't many mechanical engineers who can drive a
> lathe, weld, or perform innumerable other tasks requiring 'trade skills'.
> This separation breeds a dependecy of the tradesmen on engineers, and
> vice
> versa. The fact is we are getting to the stage where most people cannot
> 'do a job of work'.

My opinion is that what you wrote is indicative of the information
paradigm and its corollary fragmentation/segmentation.

>Parents who believe their kids are 'dropping out'
> when they become tradesmen, are symptomatic of the problem, it comes from
> middle class snobbery.

Alan I think this snobbery is just an effect but not the cause. Why are
we as adults so bothered by otherness?

Here in South Africa we are still a fragmented/segmented society across
all possible spheres. However it amazes me that young children seem to
embrace otherness, in fact they thrive on it. I wonder what happens
between childhood and adulthood?

Sometimes I think that we will live in a completely different world if we
were all just young children.

Regards

Alfred Rheeder
alfred@pixie.co.za

-- 

Alfred Rheeder <alfred@pvm.co.za>

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