What I’d like you to do as you read this is to close your eyes, put your hands out in front of you and imagine yourself in a dark place. This dark place may be a wood or an underground room or perhaps a tunnel. I want you to imagine you are trying to feel your way around, trying to find a door, an exit or a light switch. The point is that you are on your own in a strange place with no light and no guide.
It often seems that thinking about learning transformation is like trying to find your way in the dark. We hear the term bandied about a lot but no-one seems to be able to give a clear description of what it means. We get the impression that it is somehow tied up with ICT and maybe also with BSF but is there more to it than that?
When you think of a transformation, what is it that comes to mind? Do you picture a butterfly changing from a caterpillar? Do you picture a lorry or a plane turning into a robot? Or maybe you think of converting AC current into DC current? Whatever you think of, the word ‘transformation’ conjures up a change from one thing to another. It is often a dramatic change but the point is that the result of that change is always known.
This does not seem to be the case, though, with learning transformation. Despite using the term, nobody really seems to know what the change or outcome will look like.
Transformation almost always involves some form of change. Yet change makes people uneasy. People are often wary of change; they worry about it and try to avoid it if they can. The thought or prospect of change often generates resistance in people, who would pefer things to remain as they are.
So here we have another obstacle in the way of learning transformation; not only are people unclear as to what it entails but they fear any change it may involve and develop understandable resistance to it.
So is there a way forward? I think there is.
If the word ‘transformation’ is unclear in this instance and generates resistance, perhaps we should focus upon the other word, ‘learning’ to find a way forward? Surely as learning professionals we know what learning is and what it could be? This is what I’ll focus on in subsequent posts.
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