The Role of Learning in a Democracy LO30626

From: AM de Lange (amdelange@postino.up.ac.za)
Date: 09/30/03


Dear Organlearners,

Greetings to all of you.

Not a day goes by without something reminding me how close democracy,
learning and creativity are related. So i decided to use Google's advance
search engine to see how much this relationship occurs on the web. The
results are
democracy 8 140 000
learning 58 700 000
creativity 5 050 000
democracy learning creativity 141 000
democracy learning creativity wholeness 2 600

The fourth line indicate that only about 3% of all files have something to
say on all three together. When wholeness is added to stress the
relationship between them, it drops to a disheartening 0.05%.

I do not want to argue on the difference between a democracy and a
republic. For example, the US Army gave the following definition in 1928
(see http://www.ety.com/HRP/leaflts/demo.htm )
"A republic is a form of government under a constitution which provides
for the election of
(1) an executive and (2) a legislative body, who working together in a
representative capacity, have all the power of appointment, all power
of legislation, all power to raise revenue and appropriate expenditures,
and are required to create (3) a judiciary to pass upon the justice and
legality of their government acts and to recognize (4) certain inherent
individual rights."

What makes a democracy? The shortest answer is that people="demos" vote
regularly every few years who will rule="krateo" them as the next
government. But to vote for the right persons rather than making a
gambling bet requires that they must have the knowledge to do so. This
knowledge can be obtained only through learning.

It is here where the problem begins. Think of the unemployed people in a
country. It may range from as low as 6% (USA) through 30% (South Africa)
to as high as 70% ( Zimbabwe). The policy is usually that the government
has to create jobs or at least conditions for such jobs. The policy is
seldom that people have to learn how to create jobs for themselves as
entrepeneurs. Why?

Far too little emphasis is paid in the educational systems of countries on
the role of creativity in learning. Pupils and students are trained in the
creative successes of others in the past rather than taught how to become
successful themselves through their own creativity. It is even worser that
they are often trained for jobs of which the market is saturated. The
worsest is that only those who can attend and afford such training have
access to it.

What does it take to act effectively as an entrepeneur, i.e., creative
worker? What does it take to elect a goverment which promotes
entrepeneurship so that unemployment will shrink? Nothing else but a
knowledge of creativity. Such a knowledge has to be acquired through
creative learning. How can we promote this?

Firstly, we have to focus more on the successive feedback loops of
learning. "WHAT" am i learning? This is often the only loop in Outcome
Based Education (OBE) -- a modern panacea. "WHY" am i learning it and
"HOW" am i learning it? These loops are seldom addressed in OBE. "WHEN" do
i have to learn it? This loop is neglected grossly.

The various feedback loops give sense to the act of learning. But they do
not ensure that the learning will be creatively. Satisfying the necessary
and sufficient conditions for creativity are needed. The necessary
condition involves the dynamics of entropy production. How to meander
along the path of the "punctuated equilibrium" from digestions to
bifurcations and back again. This complexity requires a mentor/teacher
thoroughly versed with this dynamics.

The sufficiency condition involves the 7Es (seven essentialities of
creativity). Each of them has to increase during the act of learning. For
example, consider wholeness ("unity-associativity"). Whatever new is
learned should be integrated with previous knowledge. Knowledge is not the
sum of some disciplines, but it is a whole which is more than the sum.
Knowledge requires transdisciplinary thinking. It is the ability to think
in terms of many disciplines as well as in the gaps between such
disciplines.

Democracy is a serious issue. Learning is also a serious issue. But what
about creative learning to benefit democracy? Is it not one of the many
treasure maps to get a foothold in the world of mind? I must be honest.
Trying to get a grip on creativity is for me far more difficult than to
study mathematics, physics, chemistry or biology. It requires a honest
look at the mirror.

What is this mirror? Organisational learning! To observe how other people
are learning. To participate with them in learning. To share in a common
vision. To become aware of mental models which inhibit learning. To
discover the power of systems thinking. This mirror is the Learning
Organisation (LO) as Senge described it.

I found a good publication on the web.
"Organisational Learning and the Future of Higher Education"
However, its URL is a horror (it all is one long line)

http://excellence.shu.ac.uk/publications/Final%20Publications/Organisational%20Learning%20and%20the%20future%20of%20HE.pdf

It even mentions that Reg Revans as early in 1982 used the term learning
organisation. Revans already wrote in 1969 about "learning systems". He
was a pioneer of "action learning". His book "The Origins and Growth of
Action Learning" (1982) is a classic book. But the relationship between
learning and doing had already been stressed as far back as 1916 in
"Democracy and Education" by John Dewey.

I think that a democracy needs people who know what to do rather than
having to be told what to do.

With care and best wishes

At de Lange <amdelange@postino.up.ac.za>
Snailmail: A M de Lange
Gold Fields Computer Centre
Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa

-- 

"AM de Lange" <amdelange@postino.up.ac.za>

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>


"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.