Sasha Barab's Research: theory


		*-- seeking a new model of learning*

At the very core of the traditional pedagogy is the polarization of the learner and the learning context. Such polarization inevitably leads to the production of impoverished knowledge (inert knowledge), which is knowledge that can be recalled when students are explicitly requested to do so, but is not something that can be readily applied to relevant real world situations.

As a researcher and an educator, I have been engaged in an epistemological reflection regarding human learning and development. As such, my research has primarily been concerned with the building as well as the testing of the crucial components of a new paradigm of human development, namely, the ecological paradigm. This new model stands in sharp contrast to the traditional Cartesian paradigm which lies at the very root of conventional pedagogy.

At one level this has involved the design of rich learning contexts through which the content is situated in rich contexts, supporting students in learning the "whats" in a manner that allows them to appreciate the "whys." At another level this involves situating the student as part of a community. Rather than a focus on the situatedness of meaning or content, this perspective focuses on communities and what it means to learn as a function of being a part of a community. This shift in the unit of analysis from the individual's context to the community context leads to a shift in focus from the learning of skills or developing understandings to one in which, "developing an identity as a member of a community and becoming knowledgeably skillful are part of the same process, with the former motivating, shaping, and giving meaning to the latter, which it subsumes" (Lave, 1993, p. 65).

Cartesian paradigm
As suggested in the illustration below, the Cartesian model separates the individual (knower) from the environment (known). Such a model leads to the belief that knowledge refers to a self-sufficient substance that can be understood independently from the environmental context in which it was learned. This model can only encourage the production of impoverished knowledge.

Polarizing learner and learning context

Ecological paradigm
As suggested in the illustration below, the ecological model, as an alternative to the Cartesian model, situates the learner within the learning context. Grounded in current principles of self-organization and systems theory, this model contextualizes (or ecologizes) the learning situation.

Coupling the learner with the environment.

| Ecological Paradigm || Eco-Model Testing Grounds || Reflections on Technology || Theoretical Inspirations |

Last updated March 10, 2001

URL: http://inkido.indiana.edu/research/theory.html
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