Experience & Learning for the Postmodern Caveman

Application Project

Thomas W. Whiteley

Colorado State University

Adult Teaching and Learning I

2013SP-EDAE-624-801

Dr. Leann M.R. Kaiser

April 27, 2013

As the caveman recorded his history though a visual presentation upon the

walls of caves, I have recorded the history of my newly required knowledge in experience and learning. These 21st

century hieroglyphics are to be used as a modern tool in which I can apply

learner-centered opportunities that may present itself to me. They shall act as my guild, and reminder of learning through

experience.

How the Postmodern Man learns(Tools)

• 1. Reflecting on concrete experience • (Constructivist theory)• 2. Participating in a community of Practice• (situative theory)• 3. Understanding of desires and fears• (psychoanalytic theory)• 4. Resisting dominant social norms• (critical cultural theories)• 5. Exploring ecological relationships • (complexity theories)

• (Fenwick, 2003)

Reflecting on Concrete Experience(Constructivist Theory)

ConstructivismClick Here

1. Concrete Experience; engaging oneself in a new experience

2. Reflective Observation; skills in recognizing experiences from different perspectives

3. Abstract Conceptualization; taking the experiences and analyzing it in which to create new ideas and concepts

4. Active Experimentation; retaining decision-making and problem-solving abilities for actively engaging in experimentation on newly formed concepts

(Kolb, 1984)

Participating in a community of Practice(situative theory)

Community of Practice

Click Here

A group of people who share a passion for something they know how to do

We should cultivate and nurture the growth

Fundamental PurposeCreate, Expand and Exchange of knowledge

within the Individual

(Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002)

Understanding of desires and fears (psychoanalytic theory)

• The psychoanalytic perspective sees our unconscious and interfering with our conscious experiences

• Work through psychic conflicts to learn

• (Fenwick, 2003)

Click HerePower of the Unconscious Mind

Resisting dominant social norms (critical cultural theories)

• Transforming existing social orders by questioning and resisting norms

• Where is postmodernism

• (Fenwick, 2003)

Click HereWhose lens is it anyways?

Exploring ecological relationships (complexity theories)

• Leaning is the sum of it parts• “Consciousness, identity, action and interaction, objects and

structural dynamics of complex systems” (p. 37)

• Binding the experiences in a complex system

• (Fenwick, 2003)

Click HereSimplifying the Complexity

The gathering of Information is complicatednot complex

Experience and Education: A Brief Summary

Click Here John Dewey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc

Good Will Hunting(Rated R for Language)

Summary

How the Postmodern Man learns• Reference

• Fenwick, T. J. (2003). Leaning through experience: Troubling orthodoxies and intersecting questions. Malabar, FL: Krieger

• Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

• Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge – seven principles for

cultivating communities of practice. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/2855.html