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Learning Process
Pedagogy
What is mediated?
Personal Systems
Teaching
Habits of Mind

WE ARE ALL LEARNERS
    People who help young people learn are called teachers.
    People who help older people learn from reality are called leaders, mentors...

Knowledge, skills... are acquired through learning.

• Traditional teaching and focuses directly on causing people to 'learn about' and to 'learn how to'. Such an approach is in doubt in a world with accelerating rates of change & shorter timelines while simultaneously the times lines of education are being extended.
• Mediated learning (Feuerstein) addresses the acquisition knowledge & skills as in traditional education. More importantly mediated learning also attends to the acquisition of the means to learn, ie, by learning how one applies the personal means of acquiring knowledge and skills.

Feuerstein argues that the learner should have a teacher/leader who ‘mediates’ in the 
    - Input (perception, awareness, focus, transfer ...)
    - Elaboration (thinking, relating ...) and/or
    - Output (articulating, communicating ...) phases of learning
He goes on to say that the shared intentions and "reciprocity" of both parties (teacher/leader & learner) are critical to the success of their mutual endeavours.

It is helpful to understand the common learning dysfunctions 

The ROLES OF THE TEACHER/LEADER include
    - designer of learning tasks and experience
    - leader & facilitator of group and individual processes, including assessment
    - mediator of learning (more...)

PEOPLE WANT TO LEARN when they know the teacher/leader
    - ‘cares about me’
    - is enthusiastic about what is being taught 
    - helps make learning fun
    - is fair
    - 'helps me when I have a problem'

PEOPLE DO LEARN when the teaching/leading is focussed 
    - by providing enough time
    - by ensuring the level of difficulty is just right
    - by communicating a need to learn

LEARNING is about increasing the capacity of the learner to recognise, understand & respond to reality as he/she experiences it both now and in the future. In an increasingly complex world the capacity of the learner to manage his/her attention & thinking is of vital importance. 

The PURPOSES of LEARNING include to improved management of
    Thinking   -    Learning    -    Doing  -   Relating and Being

In the PROCESS of LEARNING it is essential to 
    - build on prior knowledge & experience
    - utilise the learner’s preferences (eg, left-right brain, visual,
       auditory & kinaesthetic information, multiple intelligences, etc)
       as starting points
    - elevate the level of awareness involved for the learner
    - elevate the level of thinking involved for the learner

OBSTACLES TO LEARNING are many & varied and may relate to 
    - previous experiences, 
    - present circumstances, beliefs & expectations
    - cognitive functioning including the way in which the learner takes
       in, elaborates and responds to information

We all have PREFERENCES which both support & limit our learning. They include an individual combination & balance of preferences for
    - Visual, Auditory &/or Kinaesthetic information
    - Left &/or Right brain type processing
    - Use of one or more of the Eight Intelligences (after Gardner):
               Verbal/Linguistic        Mathematical / Logical
               Body / Kinaesthetic    Visual / Spatial
               Musical                    Interpersonal
               Intrapersonal            Naturalistic

TEACHING and leading will generally include
     A Focus or Problem which is meaningful & significant to the learner
     Checking Existing Knowledge & Know-how
     Structuring a Learning Task and learning from it...
               attention to process, outcomes, demonstrating learning
               utilising (& extending beyond) preferences
               attention to intelligences being used
     Reviewing the Learning (noun and verb): process, outcomes, self, ...
     Bridging Forward to apply the learning in new situations (transference)

The human condition & potential is rich and complex. It is not appropriate for a teacher or the School to take a mechanical approach to the above framework. The above (or any other framework) does not represent a starting point without regard to the particular teacher & learner. Rather the above is offered as an outline that may well be useful for reflection about individual teaching, learning, class management and the future of the School. 

See also:
Thinking * Learning *  Independent Learning