User:Arided/Paragogy

Outline of Paragogy
1. Context as decentered center.

For learning design in a peer-to-peer context, understanding the learner's self-concept may be less important than understanding the concept of `shared context in motion'.

2. Meta-learning as a font of knowledge.

We all have a lot to learn about learning.

3. Peers are equal, but different.

The learner mustn't seek only to confirm what they already know, and must therefor confront and make sense of difference as part of the learning experience.

4. Learning is distributed and nonlinear.

''Side-tracking is OK, but dissipation isn't likely to work. Part of paragogy is learning how to work one's way around in a given social field.''

5. Realise your dream and then wake up!

Paragogy is the art of fulfilling motivations when this is possible, then going on to the next thing.

Paragogy compared with Andragogy
I came up with these principles as responses to the "five principles of andragogy" as they were stated by Malcolm Knowles. In super-succinct form, Knowles's andragogical principles are: (1) that adults are self-directed learners, (2) that adult learners bring a wealth of experience to the educational setting, (3) that adults enter educational settings ready to learn, (4) that adults are problem-centered in their learning, and (5) that adults are best motivated by internal factors.

While I don't see anything wrong with the idea of "andragogy", I do think that it is not necessarily the best set of principles to apply in peer-based learning. A useful review and critique that goes beyond the soundbytes above is given by Laurie C. Blondy. With regard to the first andragogical principle, she writes:


 * "Robinson reported that learners did not prefer to be self-directed in their learning because they specifically indicated a desire for clear instructions regarding how to complete assignments as well as precise information from the course facilitator about which assignments would be graded. [...] 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."

Paragogy and basho
The first paragogical principle stresses the importance of understanding the idea of "shared context in motion" -- but what's that?

The philosophical foundations of this notion, summarized by Abe, describe the way in which events and objects arise from their larger contexts. In other words, the idea of basho can help us think about how a context constrains or supports different types of (inter-)actions, and also about how what we (re-)shape the contexts we find ourselves in.

Nonaka and Toyama take this idea and apply it to knowledge creation. They suggest that knowledge is created as people interact over time in a shared context, in a process that can be broken up into repeated phases they call Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination, and Internalisation (SECI). I prefer to think of these phases in more simple terms, as "what I do", "what we do", "how we do it", and "what it's all about".

My point with the first paragogical principle is that instead of just focusing on how learners see themselves (e.g. as "self-directed" or "dependent" or something else), we should be asking how the learning context shapes what learners are actually able to do. Note that this includes looking at ways in which learners can contribute to shaping their learning context. In a peer-based learning context, the learner is faced with various choices and possible interactions at all levels, ranging from deciding whether or not to do a given assignment; to deciding whether to enroll in a short version of a course or longer version; to choosing to facilitate a course; to becoming involved with co-creating the global features of the learning environment by working with other facilitators, technologists, and activists.

The key aspect of paragogy is that for the most part all of these options are available all the time: the learner isn't expected to "progress" from being a confused course participant to being a facilitator, technologist, or activist. Further, instead of simply saying "so-and-so lacks the required understanding of learning, so I need to help them", a facilitator should keep in mind that there are likely to be contextual features of the learning environment that are "blocking" self-directed learning -- possibly these include features that block the ability of learners to make adjustments on their own behalf, or to ask for help. This doesn't say what to do, exactly, but it invites all participants to come to the learning process with an open mind, not just an attitude that reduces everything to questions of "maturity".

To-Do
Taken from instructor's comments in his Collaborative Lesson Planning journal.
 * The next question would be: how to design a course or "lesson" that embodies paragogic principles. 6 October 2010
 * I still need to make some actual *lesson plan*. I do have some ideas in mind based on my DIY Math experiences and I think I just need to bang them out. I'll plan to post this stuff on Wikiversity (at least the first drafts will go there). 18 October 2010
 * I could add another layer of background later as part of an "assessment" phase, but this seems good for an "introduction" phase. 19 October 2010

Suggestions from Others
 * My first comment would be to make sure you're giving credit to others for their ideas, unless of course, they are all yours. from, Charles Jeffrey Danoff, Wikiversity User: Charles Jeffrey Danoff, comment on this version of this document. (done)
 * Done: I added a couple more sections of background and some key references -- which massively improves the write-up, I feel! by, Joe
 * The practice of Agile software development has a practice similar to what you describe. Collaborators have daily and weekly 'scrums' where they check in and explain what they are working on and where they have had difficulty. One interesting difference is that instead of herding cats, stakeholders are categorized as 'pigs and chickens.' from, Brylie Oxley, Wikiversity User: Brylie (Compare the video game "Angry Birds": “Players take control of a flock of birds that are attempting to retrieve their eggs from a group of evil pigs that have stolen them." -- from Wikipedia's entry on the game, care of the NYT 07/11/2010.)
 * Joe: I would love to see your lesson plan. You have some good ideas. Thanks. Dr. King

cf.

 * Instructor's earlier writing on paragogy.
 * Instructor's critique of a pilot study putting paragogical-esque principles into action with his P2PU course DIY Math, in Crowdsourcing a Personalized Learning Environment for Mathematics, pages 13 - 22.