How to create Learning Experiences

A pioneer of learning and education for change, Paulo Freire, believed that learning had to be very different from just providing information. He described that approach as the 'banking' theory of education, just putting lots of information into peoples' heads.

His approach, which is mirrored by that of many other educators, is active, and circular.

Stories

The idea is that people are stimulated to think by stories and events. These might be stories you recount (for example the story of Abraham Bol in the PIctureJustice area). It might be a video such as the 'Reality of Youth' video from Honduras in the resource area. It might be an event or story known to you locally. Often the story will be something that surprises or provokes thought, challenging peoples' thinking (Freire called this a generative image or theme) For example the 'Crushed' video in the resource area talks about the needs of modern Zambia, but challenges the people of Zambia, rather than 'outsiders' to take action on these needs. This might be surprising to people in other countries who are used to the idea that a heavily indebted poor country like Zambia needs outside assistance.

Reflection

It's really important to get people to 'do work' on the ideas which are under discussion. If they are simply listening the most they will do is 'bank' the information. If they get to work, in groups or individually, and react to the stories and themes, working out how they affect their own ideas, then they will start to really learn. For example the picture 'opening shutters' in the PictureJustice area can be interpreted in many different ways, and in doing so can get people to bring their own thinking and ideas to the surface. You'll be surprised how many insights people have once they start doing this.

There are resource available on this site, and also links to resources on national sites, which will give you ideas. Many of them use techniques from the following 'toolkit' -

Reflection toolkit

Groups and teams

Get people to work together in small groups or even pairs - that way they will learn from each other. You can also introduce an element of challenge by inviting several groups to do the same activity and then report back. Make sure you get every group to bring back a report on what they've done to the whole group. Make sure you manage the time! it can easily slip away if people aren't kept to a certain allowance of time!

Pictures and maps

Some themes lend themselves to pictures, maps and diagrams. For example, If you are talking about the ways your group can take action on the Millennium Development Goals you could make a big 'timeline' from a row of sheets of paper and get people to draw in ideas on it. If you are talking about justice and community needs you could draw a map of a community and highlight the places where the needs are and where changes could happen. Challenge teams to create posters to represent the issue they are discussing. Or maybe to even invent a 'logo' which is your 'brand' for the response you want to make. Even people who insist that they can't draw often get absorbed in this kind of activity.

'Mirroring'

Sometimes when a situation is very different from our own it can be helpful to try and discover the connections and similarities between that and your own 'world'. If your group were focusing on the 'Reality of Youth' video from Honduras they might think that the situation there was very different to that for their own youth. In a discussion with people from a number of countries on that video some found it was a much harder situation than their own youth. Some said it there was much less poverty than where they came from. However many agreed that the issues the young people were facing - families, role models, education, hope and the future, were universal.

Role plays and stories

A community drama group wanted to make their own, very short, play about debt. They showed a rich group having a meal in an expensive restaurant. They showed a beggar sitting outside, and the group instructing the waiter to take the scraps from the meal to the beggar. When the group left the waiter went to the beggar and handed him the bill and asked 'why weren't you at the banquet?'. This play was devised by an ordinary group of people as part of an activity. People will say they can't draw, and they will also say they can't act!, but set them off in groups and you'll be surprised what they come up with!

Investigations and research

You may want to get the group to find out more about an idea or an issue. For example you may have watched the 'Grace' video and want to find out more about what the Millennium Development Goals are and what a Biblical view of them would be. You can divide your group into research teams and give them some downloaded printouts from the Micahchallenge site, or if you have convenient access to a computer allow them to scour the web for information. Provide them with Bibles, and possibly resources like concordances and Bible Dictionaries and give them a short assignment to come back to the group with ideas on each goal.

 

Changed Understanding

Any story has a beginning, a middle and an end, and you need to keep in mind that just like in writing a story, when you plan an event or session there should be an end. You want people to say more than just 'that was fun' or 'that was interesting' - you want them to be able to say that their ideas and attitudes have been changed. This happens in the 'cycle' shown above in the diagram as people react to stories and images and think them through, 'do work' on them, learn from each other and question what they thought and did before. If you have noisy, active sessions, and even disagreement and passion, this is more likely to lead to real learning than a quiet, thoughtful and passive time together (although of course there's a time for being quiet and reflective together too!). Learn  from the sessions you lead. If there are people who don't 'engage' with the group, or if there are activities that don't work well, try something else. Dig into the toolkit, look at other resources.

Changed Attitudes and Action

We learn when we do. and the test of what we've learnt is what we do. Of course many of the outcomes of learning are things that people put into practice over a period of time and in different aspects of their lives. Nevertheless try to look for opportunities for people to express their learning in action - to make it physical. It may be as simple as a letter writing campaign, a fund raising project, a sponsored project, or it may be something more involved and long term, like choosing to pursue some study, to make a journey, to develop contacts with another group, or getting involved in a campaign or project.

Round and Round

Some educators call this cycle of learning 'loop learning' and also talk about 'double loop learning'. The point about it is that the end of the circle is also the beginning. Each new encounter with your own experiences, or with the stories and images of other peoples experiences, can lead to another cycle of reflection and changed understanding. This is, for Christians, a very Christlike journey because it is to admit that we are children, that we are ready to learn, and that we are open to change in our lives.

Try it out and Tell us!

Create your own events and teaching sessions, and please send any ideas and materials you produce, particularly if they are linked to  pictures, stories and videos on this site, to us by using the feedback link.