Reflections on Learning and Teaching

I have really been struggling with the concept of evaluating learning and teaching. I do a lot of it constantly, both formally and informally (and even tacitly). At the heart of this issue lies the idea of learning and what it is. I have really struggled with ontological ideas of learning. I feel like in some ways that the ontology of learning is overlooked as if it is trivial. I feel like the sheer complexity of describing learning has discouraged people from focusing on it. I do not think we adequately understand learning. The evaluation of instruction ought to take into account how well the instruction facilitates learning, but in order to do so, a clear and definitive understanding of learning must be determined. And so I struggle with what has already been proposed in terms of descriptive learning theory. It seems as though it is either a behavior, a cognitive phenomenon, or a reality construction, or some combination of the three (although this last combinatorial option seems rare to me).

Steve Turley made the observation that Richard Feynman decided that he was going to derive all of the mathematical proofs for himself that he would use in his science. In so doing he would come to understand things for himself without having to rely on others. I have somewhat determined to do the same by starting with a more fundamental perspective of theology. And so I reason:

One central purpose of creation was to receive a physical body in order that our existence as a spirit intelligence might be enhanced. This physical body would provide the means whereby a spirit intelligence could grow, develop, progress, etc. This progress would require that the spirit and body experience together different events that would facilitate the growth of one another. From here I venture to say that the growth of the spirit through experience with the physical body and its senses constitutes learning.


There are conditions to learning however. Experience alone is not learning. Experience that leads to the growth of the spirit constitutes learning.

*** It is important to understand how a spirit grows and what factors and forces contribute to that growth. I am still seeking to understand this by study and by faith.

From these premises I make the following assertions:

1. Learning is the acquisition of experience that develops the spirit.
2. As experience is evaluated and expanded it can be shared with others. This constitutes the learning process.
3. The sharing of experience demonstrates that learning has taken place.
4. Sharing experience also leads to learning in others as it constitutes a reciprocating experience with both learner and sharer "learning".

These were just some thoughts I've had. I feel like if I could understand learning better, I could devise better instruction to facilitate learning. That is where I am going with this. What I have written may be all wrong in a few days or as I learn more, but this is where I am at. It is ok to learn more, break down our understanding, and rebuild it again to incorporate new experience.