These might become the basis for further debate and discussion that could eventually lead to a well elaborated philosophy of instruction. That is my hope. If I manage to continue the discussions already underway and provoke them a bit more, then I shall count this effort a success. There is much yet to be done. In this essay, the key terms that I adopt are instruction , learning , knowledge and philosophy and I use them in the following way.
Instruction is that which supports or facilitates learning.
This implies that the kind of learning that is of interest is planned or intentional learning, which involves a goal of some kind. Learning essentially involves a change in abilities, attitudes, beliefs, capabilities, knowledge, mental models, patterns of interaction or skills. These changes may be localized within an individual, a group of individuals, an organization, or perhaps even a society. To be properly called learning, such changes should tend to persist over time and across a variety of distractions. The fact that changes have occurred should be either directly or indirectly observable.