Learning Communities

There is a serious disconnect between the current education system and the global environmental, economic and societal changes that are taking place. Our current school system teaches people to be complacent consumers who do not engage with the issues that are causing these changes. If we want our children to be able to deal with the upcoming radical changes, we need a different way of looking at education and learning. Not a new school, not a new program, not a new test or tool, but a paradigm shift - a shift towards community-based education or ‘learning communities’.

Learning communities, as we envision them, are cooperative. They are inter-generational and lifelong. They are non-hierarchical, integrative, and non-linear. They are fluid, permeable, and expanding. They are holistic and based on the needs of actual communities, not artificially imposed communities. And like real communities, they are not static, or concrete, they can grow, change, or come apart, depending on the needs and dynamics of their community. Learning communities can overlap and can exist without being visible. Learning can take place in arranged apprenticeships, in spontaneous gatherings, or in virtual group discussions. Learning processes can start with a problem or issue that the community is facing or it can originate from a personal passion fired up by an inspiring individual. Learning communities function as challenging, nurturing, and open spaces to explore, fall, and get up. They serve the community as well as the individual. As the individual is growing, so is the community.

We are inspired to address this issue out of personal frustrations with the current school system, coupled with a shared vision for a future of education we think is possible. We see learning happening in our communities every day. We have a tendency to become paralyzed and depressed by the irreversible environmental damage, systemic social injustice and dysfunctional societal structures. The linear, capitalistic, and short-term world view is dominating, serving as the foundation on which we base our decisions. Decisions concerning our environment, economic ‘development’, democratic procedures, and our educational system. We refuse to be passive, paralyzed, and depressed (oppressed) citizens. We like to believe we can make a change. We have agency, and we should use that productively and positively. Making a short video, as an intervention, is just a small part of contributing to social change.

Our intervention is a two and a half minute video showing our vision of learning communities. We suggest a different way of looking at education in order to facilitate learning experiences for people of all ages that will actually prepare us for the societal, environmental, and economic changes to come. Changing the way people think and feel about education does not happen overnight. But we are not the only ones swimming upstream. With our video we can reach out to, connect with, and mobilize the people who are fed up with mainstream education. We can maybe even inspire people who have not thought about education that much until watching our video. Our video intervention addresses educators, learners (creating grass-root action), and community activists. We can speak to a diverse audience, because we use a variety of ways to convey our vision. In our video, we play with the synergy between audio and visual, but we adopt a serious tone in our text, and we call for action at the very end.

The reasons for us to choose a video as a medium to communicate our vision are many. First of all, it has become an increasingly popular tool to spread ideas. Secondly, it is easy to distribute. We both have an online video channel and blog, and we both have extensive community networks to share this video with. Also, we find that with combining audio and visual we can create a powerful message while allowing us to be playful and creative even though the roots of our message lie in some heavy-handed thoughts. All in all, a video seems to be a convenient tool to reach many people from diverse backgrounds.

As we are advocating in our video, we call for a change in the way we approach education and learning. We need a change, but we do not need to start from scratch. We see learning communities everywhere, and we also see the potential of communities to build and grow. Libraries and community centers offering workshops for the public are learning communities. Purple Thistle Institute and the Invisible Learning movement provide us with opportunities to think about (and practice) learning and education in a different way. Children International Summer Villages (CISV) and Katimavik are organizations that promote community work and facilitate experiential and relevant learning experiences. The Ste-Emilie Skillshare (Montreal) is a community art space devoted to empowerment, self-determination and collective liberation. These are just a few examples of the many innovative and courageous initiatives that are already out there. We need to critically re-evaluate our education system, radically shift our perspective on it, and start creating an effective, relevant, and sustainable way of educating future generations. We need faith combined with action. First we need a starting point. May our intervention be one.

Robin and Fleur