When Knud Illeris wrote about education’s “sorting function” (Illeris, 2007, p. 237), he was primarily concerned with role that education plays in the replication of social inequity from one generation to the next; but, when I read the phrase, I thought of another reason why I don’t like the phrase “program planning.”
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Why I *heart* Illeris (2007)
Illeris, K. (2007). How we learn: Learning and non-learning in school and beyond (M. Malone, Trans.). London and New York: Routledge.
Introductory Review
I first encountered this book in a class on Adult Learning. I loved it. Most of my colleagues did not. As with the writings of many European intellectuals, Illeris is not an easy read. Phraseology and sentence structures will feel foreign to most American readers, and it is sometimes difficult to identify the common thread that ties the various sections of a chapter together, especially at the beginning of a chapter. However, readers who stick with Illeris will find that seemingly disparate thoughts come together in creative and convention-challenging ways.
Introductory Review
I first encountered this book in a class on Adult Learning. I loved it. Most of my colleagues did not. As with the writings of many European intellectuals, Illeris is not an easy read. Phraseology and sentence structures will feel foreign to most American readers, and it is sometimes difficult to identify the common thread that ties the various sections of a chapter together, especially at the beginning of a chapter. However, readers who stick with Illeris will find that seemingly disparate thoughts come together in creative and convention-challenging ways.
Notes on Illeris (2007) Chapter 12: Learning in Different Learning Spaces
Illeris, K. (2007). How we learn: Learning and non-learning in school and beyond (M. Malone, Trans.). London and New York: Routledge.
Chapter 12: Learning in different learning spaces (pp 214-233)
Before you begin reading these notes on Chapter 12 , you may want to read my overview/review of the entire book. Notes for Chapter 13 can be found here.
Key Points
Chapter 12: Learning in different learning spaces (pp 214-233)
Before you begin reading these notes on Chapter 12 , you may want to read my overview/review of the entire book. Notes for Chapter 13 can be found here.
Key Points
- Types of Learning Spaces
- Everyday Learning
- Illeris prefers this term over “informal learning” and “non-formal learning” because:
- There is really no distinction between informal and non-formal learning forms
- It makes clear “unintended, yet omnipresent” nature of this type of learning (p. 216)
- It implies the importance of context.
- Schools/Educational Contexts
Notes on Illeris (2007) Chapter 13: Learning, Education, and Society
Illeris, K. (2007). How we learn: Learning and non-learning in school and beyond (M. Malone, Trans.). London and New York: Routledge.
Chapter 13: Learning, education, and society (pp 234-252)
Before you begin reading these notes on Chapter 13 , you may want to read my overview/review of the entire book. Notes from Chapter 12 can be found here.
Key Points
Chapter 13: Learning, education, and society (pp 234-252)
Before you begin reading these notes on Chapter 13 , you may want to read my overview/review of the entire book. Notes from Chapter 12 can be found here.
Key Points
- Assumptions/Misunderstandings about Learning/Education that are prevalent in society
- Even those who know they are these conceptions are false tend to embrace them because they are that engrained in the culture.
- “The key function of the misunderstandings has precisely been to veil the adaptation, disciplining and selection that suited the old industrial society” (p. 238)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Why I Hate "Program Planning" (Part 2)
I just finished reading Thomas J. Sork’s chapter in the 2000 edition of the Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. If I had encountered this work a few months earlier, perhaps I would not have started this serial rant on “program planning.” Don’t get me wrong—I still don’t like the phrase “program planning,” and there is plenty about the way adult education conceptualizes it that sticks in my craw—but there is something about Sork’s treatment of the subject that makes it more palatable and even interesting to me.
I first started feeling uneasy with “program planning” when I picked up Caffarella’s textbook (2002). As I skimmed the table of contents, I wondered, “What does this have to do with adult education?” Most of the topics I found there—except, perhaps, the one on learning transfer—looked as though they would have been just as at home in a course on convention planning or hotel management. It seemed so event-oriented and—though Caffarella does not espouse a linear interpretation of her Interactive Model of Program Planning—so formulaic.
I first started feeling uneasy with “program planning” when I picked up Caffarella’s textbook (2002). As I skimmed the table of contents, I wondered, “What does this have to do with adult education?” Most of the topics I found there—except, perhaps, the one on learning transfer—looked as though they would have been just as at home in a course on convention planning or hotel management. It seemed so event-oriented and—though Caffarella does not espouse a linear interpretation of her Interactive Model of Program Planning—so formulaic.
Hanson (1991) on Participation
Hanson, A. L. (1991). Understanding participation in programs. In T. J. Sork (Ed.), Mistakes made and lessons learned: Overcoming obstacles to successful program planning (New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, vol 49) (pp. 29-41). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Type of Work
Book chapter
Focus / Goal
Discusses “elements that influence participation in continuing education programs” (p. 29)
Audience
Raises important issues to think about when planning programs. However, because it is geared toward continuing education and approaches this topic from a business-like perspective, it seems a little less relevant to me. All those years of working in churches drove home the message that every participant is important and that programs should continue to be offered regardless of the size of the audience. While I understand that program planners cannot continually operate with negative cash flow, I will never feel truly comfortable with any that smacks of a profit motive.
Type of Work
Book chapter
Focus / Goal
Discusses “elements that influence participation in continuing education programs” (p. 29)
Audience
- Program planners, in general
- Special emphasis is placed on planning continuing education events
Raises important issues to think about when planning programs. However, because it is geared toward continuing education and approaches this topic from a business-like perspective, it seems a little less relevant to me. All those years of working in churches drove home the message that every participant is important and that programs should continue to be offered regardless of the size of the audience. While I understand that program planners cannot continually operate with negative cash flow, I will never feel truly comfortable with any that smacks of a profit motive.
Sisco (1991) on Effective Learning Climates
Sisco, B. R. (1991). Setting the climate for effective teaching and learning. In R. Hiemstra (Ed.), Creating environments for effective adult learning (New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, vol 50) (pp. 41-50). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Type of Work
Book chapter
Audience
Instructors working with adult learners
Problem Addressed
Establishing an effective learning climate
My Notes
This article could easily be turned into a checklist for instructors to use when starting a new program. In fact, the appendix contains a checklist created for that purpose, but it is based primarily on Pratt (1984).
Type of Work
Book chapter
Audience
Instructors working with adult learners
Problem Addressed
Establishing an effective learning climate
My Notes
This article could easily be turned into a checklist for instructors to use when starting a new program. In fact, the appendix contains a checklist created for that purpose, but it is based primarily on Pratt (1984).
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