BODY/CONNECTIONS
Maybe one or two sentences per each, use paraphrases instead of block quotes, get the one sent
This draws on the notes at http://metameso.org/~joe/body-connections.html
The first point of connection is to andragogy, Malcom Knowles's theory/practice of adult education. In succinct form, Knowles's five principles of andragogy are as follows: (1) that adult learners are self-directed; (2) that they bring a wealth of experience to the educational setting; (3) that they enter educational settings ready to learn; (4) that they are problem-centered in their learning; and (5) that they are best motivated by internal factors. (squish and/or move to previous section) Blondy points out both uses and challenges to each of Knowles principles of andragogy. For example, "Cheren stated that while learners may express a desire to be self-directed in their learning, most lack the required understanding of learning necessary to be self-directed and thus need guidance and encouragement in the learning process."
In short, unlike andragogy (which basically takes the point of view of the adult educator), and unlike heutagogy (which focuses on self-directed learners), paragogy looks at the learning environment as a whole. Accordingly, it relates to other theories of an "ecological" and contextual nature, drawing inspiration in this regard particularly from Nishida's notion of basho ("shared context in motion") which helps us think about how a context constrains or supports different types of (inter-)actions, and also about how we can (re-)shape the contexts we find ourselves in.
Additional connections are basically in two subsections: "human ecology", and "theories of learning". There are significant points of overlap.
the view from human ecology
Strategic Niche Management is focuses on system change, zooming in on three levels...
This is relevant because we're talking about a system (like P2PU.org or a given class like Collaborative Lesson Planning, etc.) and looking at how change works within that system
«The multi-level perspective argues that transitions come about through interactions between processes at three levels: niche-innovations (peer) build up internal momentum, through learning processes (meta-learning) , price/performance improvements, and support from powerful groups; changes at the landscape level create pressure on the regime; destabilisation of the regime creates windows of opportunities for niche innovations.» (Can be reinterpreted to talk about a learning context.)
The internal processes themselves have three phases: "coupling of expectations", "articulation/learning", and "network formation". (Feed these ideas back into our best practice framework and vice versa -- sort of an independent check.)
the view from theories of learning
Contrast with P2PU defaults (are tasks sufficiently challenging?) (incorporate us "testing" ourselves by writing this paper and learning about paragogy?)
My own current view is that learning needs (a) testing/challenges; (b) compatibility with the way the learner thinks (cf. The Myth of Ability - the real life "Good Will Hunting" good at different things and the recent unpublished study on JUMP Math -- it would be interesting to have a dialog with him and/or see what sorts of ideas can be re-used) -- also cite stuff by Anna De Liddo on "Cohere" sketching concepts, articulation here, compare the RSS feed table on metameso; and (c) real motivation, e.g. related to power. And they get pissed off when they are motivated, but they're not being satisfied! "It's not working the way I wanted it to, but I still learned... weird response.(very paragogical) "
Putting this all together (trim and make succinct/concrete)
We can cite Engestrom and Schmidt (and referenced Wenger) to drive home the point that learning is an important part of any productive process, and that it is especially key in Commons Based Peer Production (CBPP).
We can also look at "The Nature of the Firm" as an example of another type of system for managing productivity.
«Given that production could be carried on without any firms at all, why and under what conditions should we expect firms to emerge? Coase noted that there are a number of transaction costs to using the market; the cost of obtaining a good or service via the market is actually more than just the price of the good. This suggests that firms will arise when they can arrange to produce what they need internally and somehow avoid these costs.»
To sum up
We are looking for conditions of effective learning and effective production, particulary how to learn produce conditions where learning is effective, but also how learning plays a role in any effective productive enterprise.
How do people learn how to contribute to the Free World?
- affective filter ... about tolerance for ambiguity/failure while learning (esp. w/in language learning)