I offered up a definition of learning as I see it a while back on my Mission to Learn blog. Readers there would not have been surprised that I see learning as being much more about ongoing process and interaction than about specific events or degrees or credit. Earlier this week, I was reading Digital Habitats by Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, and John Smith and found the brief definition of learning they offer to be very well put:
By learning, we do not mean just book learning, or classroom learning, or even e-learning. We see learning as an integral part of life. Sometimes it demands an effort; sometimes it is not even our goal. But it always involves who we are, what we do, who we seek to connect with, and what we aspire to become. (Digital Habitats, 4)
This definition really resonated with me because it is this sort of perspective that informs the work we do here at Tagoras and why we feel that learning can be such an integral part of meaningful engagement with members and customers. Learning truly does point to “who we are” and “what we aspire to become.”
The only modification I would make to the definition offered by Wenger and his co-authors is to stress that most learning is not “book learning, or classroom learning, or even e-learning” (at least as it is usually understood). One of the real opportunities – and challenges – for organizations is to find more innovative ways to engage their prospective learners (members, customers, prospects, volunteers) during the great percentage of time in which they are not engaged in formal learning.
I’ve wrestled with how to define social learning in another post, and certainly the concept is relevant here. Effectively defining and designing social learning should be one of the essential responsibilities of every education department, and arguably a primary goal for any organization that wants to lead learning in the field or sector it serves.
If you feel your organization is doing a great job at any of this, making headway, or making attempts but running into barriers, we’d welcome a chance to talk with you as part of our ongoing research. Please comment here or drop us a line.
Jeff
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Your quote from our book reminded me of this statement in a wonderful book I’m reading by Mimi Ito (“Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning With New Media,” Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2009):
“Sociocultural approaches to learning have recognized that kids gain most of their knowledge and competencies in contexts that do not involve formal instruction. A growing body of ethnographic work documents how learning happens in informal settings, as a side effect of everyday life and social activity, rather than in an explicit instructional agenda.” (p 21.)
I think the big question for associations is how they can participate in and contribute to those informal settings and activities. I keep wondering whether associations as we know them today will be able to leap into a new technology and social landscape that’s defined by the kids that Ito and her colleagues have studied.
John – Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by, comment, and share that great quote. I’ve read about “Hanging Out…” in various places. Sounds like I should add it officially to my (always too long!) reading list. How associations can participate and contribute to those sorts of informal settings and activities is indeed a big question, and I think your “as we know them” qualifier is an important one. It’s going to be very interesting to see what associations look like 10 years from now. – Jeff
My pleasure, Jeff! And while I’m recommending books, here’s one that I think will help figure out what Associations will look like: Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur,
Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers (https://businessmodelgeneration.com/ ). Because just as the old styles of learning and engagement are changing, so are the business models. Inventing business models for associations that will really work will depend on having more precise ways of talking about learning AND about money. Business models for communities of practice has been a theme we’ve been exploring at https://cpsquare.org for several years. We haven’t come up with an easy formula yet, but I think we’re also making some progress.
thanks for this help for giving me extra knowledge of learning and its cocepts…..