Education is a monster. Sex ed, character ed, drivers ed. As teachers in the education system, we've become parents. Why is that? Did we ask for it? Who transferred that stuff from parents to teachers? It's not that I mind, but it needs to be noted. That is our job.
Why do they (yes, they and no, not we, don't lump me in there) think that what goes on in the four walls of a classroom inside a school building is so much more important than the learning people do all the time all day long all over the place with all sorts of other people using all kinds of tools?
At the Will Richardson event I shared an analogy. Maybe it was an allegory. Is an allegory just a long analogy? Whatever.
When my wife found out she was pregnant, she immediately went into learner mode. We went to the library and she checked out books on pregnancy. She fired up PaperbackSwap.com and traded for some more books. She connected online with other pregnant ladies. She connected offline with mothers and mothers-to-be. The frequency of her trips to the doctor formed a bit of an upside down bell curve: twice in rapid succession, then once per month, building to what will be weekly visits in the month.
This is learning. It is not education. My wife is a learner. She is not a student. The doctor is a mature learner. She is not a teacher. My wife, the learner, contacted this doctor. My wife reached out to her. She wanted to learn so she connected to a master learner.
This is where we are. This is one of a million examples I can give you about learners connecting with learners. That's how life works. It's what you're doing right now, reading these words!
For now, that's not how education works. But the more I've reflected on it, the less worried I am. A calm came over me as I realized all we were talking about was being learner focused. I am a learner. So it makes me nervous for those who are not. Learners will continue to connect with other learners.
Education may go away, but learning won't. And that's all right for learners.
