Main Article Content
Abstract
This article outlines a new approach to the study learning and the improvement of education. The approach consists of two elements: a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning. Learning cultures are different from learning contexts or learning environments in that they are to be understood as social practices through which people learn. Learning cultures therefore do not exist objectively, but only in function of concrete practices of learning. This requiresthe study of learning to ?follow the learning?. In the cultural theory of learning, learning itself is seen as practical, embodied and social. While learning is often considered a descriptive term, it is argued that the use of the word learning always implies a value judgement about change (for example a change in cognition, behaviour or disposition). Unlike the study of physical objects such as trees or planets, the study of learning therefore needs to start from a conception of good or desirable learning. This becomes even more important when the cultural approach is utilised for the improvement of educational processes and practices. It is argued that in such cases we need to move from the notion of learning cultures to the notion of educational cultures. An educational culture is defined as a learning culture that is framed by particular purposes. A cultural approach therefore not only provides new ways for educational research and educational improvement, but also highlights that both research and improvement can only proceed on the basis of judgements about what counts as good or desirable learning.
Keywords
Article Details
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References
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- HODKINSON P., BIESTA G., JAMES D., 2008, Understanding learning culturally: Overcoming the dualism between social and individual views of learning, Vocations and Learning, 1(1).
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- QUENNERSTEDT M., ÖHMAN J., ÖHMAN M., 2011, Investigating learning in physical education: A transactional approach, Sport, Education and Society, 16(2).
- ROBINSON C., TAYLOR C., 2007, Theorizing student voice: Values and perspectives, Improving Schools, 10(1).
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References
ASHWIN P., 2009, Analsysing teaching-learning interactions in higher education: Accounting for structure and agency, Continuum, London.
BAUMAN Z., 2012, Kultura jako praxis, tłum. J. Konieczny, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa.
BIESTA G.J.J., 1998, Mead, intersubjectivity, and education: The early writings, Studies in Philosophy and Education, 17(2–3).
BIESTA G.J.J., 1999, Redefining the subject, redefining the social, reconsidering education: George Herbert mead’s course on philosophy of education at the University of Chicago, Educational Theory, 49(4).
BIESTA G.J.J., 2005, George Herbert mead and the theory of schooling, [in:] D. Troehler, J. Oelkers (eds.), Pragmatism and education, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam.
BIESTA G.J.J., 2007, Why “what works” won’t work. Evidence-based practice and the democratic deficit of educational research, Educational Theory, 57(1).
BIESTA G.J.J., 2009a, Pragmatism’s contribution to understanding learning-in-context, [in:] R. Edwards, G.J.J. Biesta, M. Thorpe (eds.), Rethinking contexts for teaching and learning. Communities, activities and networks, Routledge, London.
BIESTA G.J.J., 2009b, Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education, Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 33–46.
BIESTA G.J.J., 2010a, Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy, Paradigm Publishers, Boulder.
BIESTA G.J.J., 2010b, Learner, student, speaker, why it matters how we call those we teach, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42(4).
BIESTA G.J.J., 2010c, Why ‘what works’ still won’t work from evidence-based education to value-based education, Studies in Philosophy and Education, 29(5).
BIESTA G.J.J., Burbules N.C., 2003, Pragmatism and educational research, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham.
BILLETT S., 2009, Conceptualizing learning experiences: Contributions and mediations of the social, personal, and brute, Mind, Culture, and Activity, 16(1).
DEWEY J., 1957(1922), Human nature and conduct. An introduction to social psychology, The Modern Library, New York.
DEWEY J., 1963(1938), Experience and education, Collier, New York.
HODKINSON Ph., BIESTA G., JAMES D., 2007, Understanding learning cultures, Educational Review, 59(4).
HODKINSON P., BIESTA G., JAMES D., 2008, Understanding learning culturally: Overcoming the dualism between social and individual views of learning, Vocations and Learning, 1(1).
JAMES D., BIESTA G.J.J., 2007, Improving learning cultures in further education, Routledge, London.
MAXWELL B., 2010,. In-service initial teacher education in the learning and skills sector in England: Integrating course and workplace learning, Vocations and Learning, 3(3).
MEAD G.H., 2008, [in:] G. Biesta, D. Tröhler (eds.), The philosophy of education, Paradigm Publishers, Boulder.
QUENNERSTEDT M., ÖHMAN J., ÖHMAN M., 2011, Investigating learning in physical education: A transactional approach, Sport, Education and Society, 16(2).
ROBINSON C., TAYLOR C., 2007, Theorizing student voice: Values and perspectives, Improving Schools, 10(1).
SAYER A., 2005, The moral significance of class, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
WILLIAMS R., 1983, Keywords, Oxford University Press, Oxford.