Summary of the first week

I came away from the Google Hangout thinking that we had been addressing a crucial issue about schooling: at any time in any class there are some pupils who are able to learn by themselves and there are some pupils who need the teacher to chivvy them along. We need to be able to release those pupils who want to fly whilst at the same time teaching those who need the structure and support of a taught class. Of course, before we can do that we need to identify which pupils are in which state (and this might change according to subject, topic, time of day ...)

I came away from the discussion forums thinking that learning is really a little more complicated than most of my colleagues seemed to suggest. I believe that there are (at least) three phases of learning:

• Ripping which corresponds to Thornburg's campfire in which a teacher transmits information to a mostly passive learner. This need not be oral; the 'teacher' could be a book that the learner is reading. 
• Mixing which corresponds to Thornburg's watering hole in which a learner compares the newly transmitted learning with other ideas. These might be the learner's previous understandings which now need to be modified or even unlearned. This might take place through dialogue with other learners in a collaborative process. This seems to be similar to constructivist learning.
• Burning which corresponds to Thornburg's cave. In this process the learner consolidates and memories the new understanding. This is often done through homework, for example when the learner is writing a n essay (or a reflective blog!) on their learning. Most learners probably need solitary and peace and quiet for this phase of learning.

I think these two reflections are somehow different sides of the same coin. The teacher's skill is to make sure, for each learner, that they are learning efficiently in each phase of learning. During ripping, how should learning be transmitted: lecture, powerpoint, book etc? During mixing, how can a group conversation be structured so that all learners are benefiting? How is consolidation best achieved during burning: should the learner be writing an essay or composing a poem or building a wall?