from Jay Cross and Internet Time Group
This afternoon I had a wonderful conversation with George Leonard about informal learning. George is the author of Education and Ecstacy, Mastery, and The Life We Are Given. He is president of Esalen Institute, a 5th degree black belt in aikido, and proof positive that aging does not impair one’s ability to learn.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Jay,
Would you please be kind enough to share with the rest of us ( who were not lucky to meet such an interesting person) some of your insights regarding informal learning ?
TY,
Meir
Meir,
I’ll be sharing a lot on informal learning before long. And I hope to get feedback and ideas from you and other faithful readers. I’m still working on frameworks but it’s clear that we have to respect people as individuals instead of automotons or slaves. People are bright but work doesn’t challenge them to do bright things. The word “curriculum” came up in a later conversation today and I shuddered; it suggested too much control over the free will of the learner. Curriculum is for kids; exploration is for adults.
jay
Hey Jay,
I love that last quote: “Curriculum is for kids; exploration is for adults.” And I loved Mastery…it was life changing for me in many ways. Thanks for sharing a bit of your meeting.
Hi Jay,
Thank you for your answer.
I love the saying ( I believe it’s yours)that formal learning is appropriate to novices , while informal is better suited to experts or experienced ones.
The more I think about informal learning and its interfaces with collaboration, the more I come to the realization, that in it it’s the appropriate paradigm for learning today.
Meir
Hi Jay:
Just astonished. What is George Leonard’s age?
I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts on explorative informal learning. Cheers!
vkn
George is either 82 or 83 years old.