Dear Organlearners,
Stan Berberich <sberberi@uhl.uiowa.edu> writes
>Isn't ignorance actually a prerequisite for learning? Is it possible
>that ignorance itself is not bad -- it is simply a fact. Is it not
>BECAUSE of my ignorance that I have opportunity to learn?
>[side thought-- back to your post: could ignoring my ignorance
>be the antonym for learning?]
Greetings Stan,
You ask "Is it not BECAUSE of my ignorance that I have opportunity to
learn?" I want to agree with the sentence as such. But the history of
that ignorance determines very much whether the ignorance is an
opportunity for learning or not. If that ignorance was the result of
willful decision, then it is seldom an opportunity to learn. Let me
explain.
Before the fall of the apartheid system in South Africa, oppressed
people fought the system from many angles. One of the most effective
angles was to make use of children in civil unrest. The slogan used to
get the children involved was "Freedom before Education". Thus from
1976 to 1990 many black children participated in the battles of adults
rather than learning about contributing to civilised life. Since 1994
(the New South Africa) they form an extensive generation of people who
are ignorant and care nothing about learning. Since they have to make
a living, they base it on their youthful experiences, thus living by
crime and violence. They also set an example to other youths. Since
1994, few children (approximately 10%) who finished with school, find
jobs. Many of the other 90% now also live from crime. Add to this
immigrants from countries north of South Africa who also experienced a
life of crime and violance, then you can understand why South Africa
has become one of the most dangerous countries to live in.
Stan, your side thought "could ignoring my ignorance be the antonym
for learning?" is thus descriptive of a substantial part of the South
African society. Furthermore, this "ignoring" is like a fungus attack.
It produces spores which infects the many organisations on all walks
of live, making them "ignoring organisations". The situation is now
much worse than before 1994.
I think that we have to make a distinction between the noun ignorance
(which is a being) and the verb ignoring (which is a becoming). The
verb ignoring is definitely and antonym for the verb learning. The
noun ignorance is an antonym of the noun learning when the ignorance
result from willful ignoring. When ignorance result from a lack of
learning opportunities, it is merely an articulation of this lack of
opportunities
>I was raised in a school system that required the "right"
>answer. If you had the "right" answer you were recognized
>and honored; if you gave the "wrong" answer or "didn't know"
>you were embarrassed and looked stupid. The consequence
>for me was to equate ignorance with stupidity. I learned
>through the process to hide ignorance because I didn't want
>to look stupid. I learned that I could hide my ignorance in
>"right" answers ("will this be on the test?").
It was definitely also my experience as a youngster. Ten years later,
it was also my experience as a teacher for four years, but then in a
very different society. Another ten years later it was also the
experience of my own children, again in a different society. Some of
my family and friends are teachers. They also find it to be the
prevailing condition at their schools. I wonder how widespread this
condition is all over the world?
The only exception was four years (1976-79) at the College of
Education for Further Training (CEFT) where I was a lecturer in
chemistry and chemical education. I used to think that CEFT was an
exception because all the students were already practising teachers.
But since I have become acquainted with Peter Senge's (1990) work on
Learning Organisations, I know for the better. CEFT functioned
somewhat as a LO. But in those times we did not have a De Geus or
Senge to tell us what we were.
>In the years since I read that story, I've found that ignorance is
>nothing to be feared or ashamed of. In fact it is something to
>celebrate. As soon as I discover an ignorance I am excited
>because I know I have been presented the opportunity to learn.
Yes. I see clearly two kinds of ignorance: ignorance as a result of
willful ignoring and ignorance as a result of no previous learning.
The former ("ignoring ignorance") is an antonym of learning. The
latter ("missing ignorance") is an "archeonym" (this word does not
exist, but the Greek word "arche" means beginning.) You wrote about
the latter ignorance and I agree. But should your writing refer to the
former kind of ignorance, very little of it would have been true.
>At, thank you for reminding me of this event in my life.
Stan, thank you for helping me to trace the depths of "becoming-being"
pairs "ignoring ignorance" and "missing ignorance". Whereas "missing
ignorance" is integral to our humaneness, "ignoring ignorance" assists
in destroying our humaneness.
>And Rick, thank you for this forum. I know there are times
>when my writing to the list is more for my benefit (the sense
>of "I am here") than for anyone who might read it.
>[Host's Note: Stan, you're very welcome. ...Rick]
Hear, hear.
Articulating our tacit knowledge in formal (explicit) knowledge is an
very important subprocess in learning.
At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za>
Snailmail: A M de Lange
Gold Fields Computer Centre
Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
--"AM de Lange" <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>