In the United States, we tend to focus on learning as primarily an individual activity, something that we do apart from others. Unfortunately, this is largely untrue. Most learning begins as an individual process of self-discovery, but it cannot last for very long in that form. The learning with the greatest and most enduring impact on us is shared and social, learning that involves teams, groups, or communities working together to solve problems, explore important questions or complete projects. Even though the idea of transformative learning implies a shift in the perspective of individual learners, such shifts are unlikely to occur without collaboration.
Reflection is a social process.
It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to create spaces in which we can examine our own assumptions by ourselves. We need others points of view to help us co-create this reflective space. If we free learners and facilitators to collaborate with each other as equals in a learning process, then our experiences will be richer, more meaningful and of greater transformative value. Don t be afraid to experiment or inspire Even as we help our learners become comfortable with improvisation in their work, so too must we embrace the chances we have to experiment in the way we create learning experiences. It is the desire to experiment that, more than anything else, leads to significant innovation, and learning is a field in which innovation is critical.