This text is a call to action. The title Escape from Teaching may sound a bit like an imperative. However, much of the recent findings from educational and brain research, especially regarding the potential benefits of informal and self-structured learning, are never realized in educational practice. It is time to ask: What did we really learn from all those years that we spent in instructional and often insulting contexts? What have we got to show from our formal education and what can we become as a result of this experience? What do we forget in such contexts and did it deprive us of our self-confidence and self-structuring skills? What consequences are associated with seeking and testing can equip us with permanent skills and abilities? How could educational institutions change to become places for successful self-directed skills development? And, how can we, as individuals and as a society, develop the potential that rests within us all?
Autorentext
Rolf Arnold, PhD, obtained his doctorate at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1983 and his postdoctoral qualification at the Distance Univerity of Hagen, Germany, in 1987. Since 1990, he has been Professor of Pedagogy (Vocational and Adult Education) at Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany. He is also Scientific Director of the Distance and Independent Studies Centre (DISC), Kaiserslautern, Germany, and speaker of the Virtual Campus RhinelandPalatinate (VCRP).
Klappentext
This text is a call to action. The title may sound a bit like an imperative. However, much of the recent findings from educational and brain research, especially regarding the potential benefits of informal and self-structured learning, are never realized in educational practice. It is time to ask: What did we really learn from all those years that we spent in instructional and often insulting contexts? What have we got to show from our formal education and what can we become as a result of this experience? What do we forget in such contexts and did it deprive us of our self-confidence and self-structuring skills? What consequences are associated with seeking and testing can equip us with permanent skills and abilities? How could educational institutions change to become places for successful self-directed skills development? And, how can we, as individuals and as a society, develop that rests within us all?
Inhalt
Introduction: The reason: the competence catastrophe
Chapter 1: The human species is capable of learning
Chapter 2: We can learn, but we cannot be taught
Chapter 3: Learning is not mediated, but appropriated
Chapter 4: We learn from others, but we think alone
Chapter 5: Learning is less preparation and more identity formation
Chapter 6: Education is about seeking, not finding
Chapter 7: Self-study skills are the key to change
Chapter 8: A new understanding of learning and how to promote it
Chapter 9: Self-learning requires appreciation, guidance, stimulating arrangements, and support
Chapter 10: Skills development requires a guide for educational institutions
Conclusion: The outlook: Journey to the age of self-structured learning
Bibliography
Author biography