Jan Visser

1. PriorcommentServiceinnovation–thethingsthatmatter
Service innovation is generally defined in economicterms, referring to the “production
and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money” (oxforddictionaries.com).
Key concepts (my view):
• Economy (original meaning): The management of resources in a household. That
household is now increasingly our beloved, but oh so tiny and fragile, planet earth.
• Service: Not something that is provided by one entity to another, but a co-creative
engagement of parties for their mutual benefit. Increasingly important ‘parties’ in this
context are non-human. They include the biosphere and planet earth at large.
• Value should best be thought of in terms that are more comprehensive than what can
be expressed numerically, particularly beyond mere financial gain.
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2. BUILDING THE SCIENTIFIC MIND:
Alifelong human development challenge
Jan Visser
President, Learning Development Institute
http://www.learndev.org jvisser@learndev.org
https://www.facebook.com/learndev
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3. Cross-fertilizationGenesisofanidea-1999
AERA symposium on ‘Overcoming the underdevelopment of learning’ held in Montreal,
Canada, involving participants representing diverse disciplines and interests:
• Natural sciences
• Human learning
• Social criticism
• Engineering
• Educational development
• Technological innovation
• Transdisciplinarity
BtSM identified as key area of interest and action for meaningful educational reform.
More detail about the symposium at: http://www.learndev.org/aera.html
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4. Inceptionofthe conceptInitialthoughts-2000
Paper available at: http://www.learndev.org/dl/TSM-ConceptPaper.pdf
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5. Gestation2000–2005
A period during which LDI’s core attention went to even more broadly defined interests,
such as:
1. Clarifying and researching the Meaning of Learning (MOL); The Learning Stories
Project as part of this investigation.
2. The Book of Problems: An exploration of what we don’t know about learning.
Search for more information about what we did at http://www.learndev.org/ArchivedEvents.html.
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6. BirthandmaturationAdecadeofinternationalcolloquiaandsmallerevents
Colloquia in:
• 2005: The Hague (general)
• 2007: Vancouver (complex and long-term change)
• 2009: Cairo (our home in the universe)
• 2011: Stellenbosch (sustainability)
• 2013: Lembang (beauty and harmony)
• 2015: São Raimundo Nonato & Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brazil (under preparation; 17-21 august; Building peace in
the minds of women and men)
In addition to:
• local action/meetings in India, Egypt, Indonesia,
• Lakeside Conversations in The Netherlands, and
• discussion raised in existing professional fora, such as AECT.
Check out BtSM 2015 at http://www.learndev.org/BtSM2015.html and, from thereon, follow the links to all other colloquia.
Join us in Brazil !!!
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7. Results
Shared understanding of the meaning of ‘scientific mind’ as:
a way of being in the world, inspired by the heritage of the millennia-long history of the human pursuit of
knowledge (scientia) for the advancement of understanding and wisdom, comprising
• habits of thinking and dispositions in approaching the world, as well as
• values, ethical concerns, aesthetic considerations, and attitudes, alongside
• mastery of a complex array of skills and mental capabilities in select domains,
with such ‘select domains’ depending on an individual’s interests and prospective needs and desires. (They are different for a
carpenter, a theoretical physicist, or a musician.)
Recognition of the complexity and multi-dimensionality of the scientific mind as only
incompletely represented in the next slide. Its acquisition is typically facilitated by
modeling and learned by practicing.
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8. Results
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9. Threeproblemsthebackdropofourconcern
• The problem with the world
• The problem with learning
• The problem with schooling
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10. The problemwiththe world
We have entered a geological epoch, proposed to be named the anthropocene (Paul
Crutzen), in which human activity has begun to have a significant , potentially
catastrophic, impact on the earth’s ecosystems.
As a consequence of the pervasive spread of communication networks around the world
humanity has become a planetary community, occupying a planetary habitat (Marshall
McLuhan’s global village).
Yet, as individual members of our species we are lacking a truly planetary
consciousness and the ability to develop complex thinking (Edgar Morin*) so as to be
able to interact constructively with the planet’s and humanity’s complex problems and
challenges.
*E. Morin (1999), Seven complex lessons in education for the future (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001177/117740eo.pdf)
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11. The problemwithlearning
• Too narrowly defined.
• Too much seen as a result of teaching.
• Too much perceived as taking place in school-like environments.
However:
Source: LIFE Center - http://life-slc.org/about/about.html
Need for a more comprehensive definition of learning as
“the disposition of human beings, and of the social entities to which they pertain, to
engage in continuous dialogue with the human, social, biological and physical
environment, so as to generate intelligent behavior to interact constructively with
change” (Visser, 2001)
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12. The problemwithschooling
• Perceived as the major or only environment where learning takes place.
• As a consequence, schooling is disconnected from all other learning spaces, causing
the wider learning landscape—if recognized at all—to be perceived as fragmented,
and learning to be seen as limited in time instead of lifelong.
• Approaches to teaching and learning are discipline-based instead of problem-based,
impeding learners to make the connection with the real world.
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13. Howto solvethese problems?
The world of the 21st century faces bigger, more complex and all encompassing,
problems and challenges than ever before. Such problems, which require responses by
a global community, can’t be solved with the mental tools of the past. We must take the
next step.
• Forget what we used to do and think anew from scratch.
• Do what has not been done before.
• Abandon, as need may be, any of the old ways.
Following in the next slides are a couple of thoughts about the world, about learning,
and about the school in a future context.
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14. We andtheworldofwhichwe arepartSomethoughtsforourfuture
• Take the world and our planetary habitat seriously, not simply for granted.
• Consider the ephemerality of consciously reflective human life on planet earth in the
light of the evolutionary history of the universe and become humble and wise.
• Overcome the idea that we and the world are separate entities. The world, as we know
it, is the world we see. We should learn to see ourselves as an integral part of it.
• Care for the growth of consciousness of the extent and nature of existing challenges,
problems and opportunities in a planetary perspective, accepting that we are at the
root of some of the problems.
• Attend to the value of stewardship of the earth and solidarity among members of our
species in harmonious coexistence with other species.
• Overcome tendencies to let individual and group interests prevail.
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15. Learningto becomeFacingthechallengeofconstructivehumanexistence
• Learn not to take for granted the ‘status quo ante.’ The world at the start of the third
millennium is no longer what it used to be; nor are we.
• Learn to challenge constructively and effectively self-proclaimed individual and group
authority, using the force of argued reasoning.
• Consider the building of the scientific mind along the lifespan as a subversive
opportunity to foment most needed radical change in how we see ourselves and how
we perceive of our place in the universe. Advances in cosmology, particle physics
and the life sciences may be of help.
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16. Schoolingorthedeliberatefacilitationoflearning
• Conceive of schooling as an organically sound component of a wider learning ecology.
• Care for broad understanding and deep investigation in specific areas.
(A T-shape with multiple verticals.)
• Care for the development of mind. Skills are not the endpoint of learning. They are
means towards the (self-)development of ways of being and becoming.
• Overcome the separation of teaching and learning, focusing instead on development of
learning dialogue for shared exploration.
• Broaden participation in schooling processes to including members of relevant social
entities (family, community, the world of work and artistic/intellectual production, etc.).
• Think of school as an enviroment for apprenticeship to shape the mental, emotional and
physical development of the participating individuals.
• Forget about the traditional curriculum. Overcome the focus on separate disciplines.
• Focus on the pursuit of knowledge instead of the acquisition of knowledge.
• Care for ways of inter-human interaction that allow people to agree on what we know,
recognizing the limits of knowing and knowing what we don’t know (civilized dialogue).
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17. After adecade ofBtSMcolloquiaWhat’snext?
It’s time for transition to something new in a world that bursts at the seams; a transition
that calls for modesty in our self-perceptions of who we are, and for a radical change in
our views of our place in the universe. Interestingly, the story of science, if properly
understood and relived as the pursuit of knowledge for understanding and wisdom, may
help us develop such modesty and change our self-perceptions and world views.
In that spirit, we’ll be focusing next on practical applications in diverse formal and
informal settings along the lifespan in which the BtSM idea can take shape in terms of
evolving educational practice and changed human behavior.
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18. THANK YOU !
If this has made you think, consider participating in the BtSM
colloquium in Brazil in August this year, about which more info is
available at http://www.learndev.org/BtSM2015.html.
Write to me (jvisser@learndev.org) if you have any questions or
suggestions.
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