The instructional design process of human centered learning presumes that knowledge and identity are shaped through the cultivation  of wisdom and understanding.

In simple terms, the teacher might ask: 

  • what does the student need to do? (wisdom)
  • what does the student need to explain? (understanding)
  • what is the goal of the learning experience? (knowledge)

It is possible to simplify the design of a learning experience down to these three questions. Then the process of organizing the activities and questions into the most desirable sequence begins. If greater diversity is needed, the wholistic framework provides four (or twelve) distinct areas where the teacher could focus learning activities or explanations.

Knowledge

“To know is to become!”

This is the fundamental assumption of human  centered learning. Knowledge is not a collection of information but an embodied expression of identity. Knowledge can be cultivated as the sum  of wisdom and understanding.

Understanding

“Truth in seeking.”

Individualized understanding provides a secure  foundation for a well-lived life by liberating ideas from power structures and enabling the transfer of wisdom from multiple sources.

Wisdom

“Love in action.”

The first goal of philosophy, rhetoric, and  formal education, wisdom can be understood as effective action guided by  experience or instruction that enables the learner to do something.  Activity may be physical, spiritual, psychological, or social.

Transformational Pedagogy – All Resources

  • The Limitations of Online Learning

    The limitation of online instruction is that much of it presumes education is entirely a matter of information transfer…and forgets that humans require more than answers to questions in order to live educated (and liberated) lives. The big question we face politically with both funding of the arts and with online schooling is really one…

  • The Challenge of Competency

    Formal education still has to wake up to the fact that a human being is more than just a walking brain – or at least figure out some way to measure academic growth besides standardized tests!