Final Comment: “Powerful Learning” and Education

Powerful Or ‘Just’ Learning

In recent decades the literature has made reference to ‘powerful learning’ and ‘empowering’ practices (see Könings et al., 2005; Kuindersma, 2013; Bokas, 2017). Not wishing to diminish the published research on these themes there appears to be very little that distinguishes the constructs from that already published and cited on what we know is likely to lead to quality teaching and learning outcomes. This book has provided a step back in time to consider the ontological and epistemological origins of knowledge and education. History recorded through philosophy, theology, art, literature, and more recent disciplines such as psychology and education are the heritage of current thinking and the bank of knowledge for our current global twists and turns. Events, such as the pandemic, climate change and AI, challenge the knowledge extant and can suggest the need to reinvent life as we know it. Just like the explorers of past times enablers can be discovered. They can also be found in the treasure box of ideas, knowledge, and wisdom we have on reserve waiting for reinvention.

Can there ever be ‘powerful’ learning? The term suggests an authoritative status of knowing or some higher order of learning that has some form of robust mass or solidity. Powerful defined is having power over others, and commanding respect such as we might associate with charismatic leaders or venerated artists. Can these characteristics belong to learning? Assuming the aim of education is to pass on knowledge and understanding then it does seem reasonable to consider some association between learning and power. However, one wonders if the word is redundant. Surely learning is ‘power’. A similar argument can be applied to the term ‘empowering’. Whether it’s a powerful process, or empowering, or not, seems to be a subjective dimension best assessed by the perceptual values of external rules and knowledge brokers. Therein lies the paradox for responsive education. Use of the term ‘powerful learning’ in the literature appears to belong to an institutional or policy perspective. The focus of the chapters in this book have been on the learner, beginning with recognition of the powers of encounters or moments in time and space.

For learning to occur there must be some fundamentals in place. Let’s assume that potential learners are ready and interested in knowing more about the phenomenon in their existential moments of being. Something will take place in that moment. The experience of the moment has boundaries in space and time which could last and be judged by another to be illustrations of the learner’s ‘learning’. However, for the learner there may be quite a different narrative. A cognitive dialogue will take place in the mental processing of the person which may translate to what others perceive to be some form of knowing but which the person through their conscious or unconscious actions is able to demonstrate is meaning making or, ‘learning’. Responsive education is able to respond to those moments of readiness in the learner’s experience and guide their cognitive processing to enhanced knowing and learning. So, it seems there is an argument in semantics here. The argument is that education needs to be responsive to the needs of the learner. The learner as recipient of the process can be enabled, or not, depending on the match with their internal processing needs. Perhaps, then, a good match between the educative process and the learner’s action can be assumed to entered a state of ‘powerful learning’.

Curiosity, imagination, connection, and communication are keys to responsive education and learning. Rather than shape the next generation with pre-determined values of outcomes, educators need to be excited by the ideas and flare offered by the next generation and guide their wild and seemingly crazy ideas; finesse their thinking and champion their ambitions. That seems akin to powerful teaching. The learning that follows may surprise and, yes, have powerful impact. Finally, as referenced in the book’s Preface there is wisdom in recognising that knowing occurs in steps or pillars that build on from relationships (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Pillars to wisdom and knowledge