The art of “learning in-between” (1. introduction)

In the summer of 2020, I published a short piece here in Medium titled the New Paradigm of 21st-Century Learning. I defined eight characteristics of this new form of learning, based on a new understanding of time and space, the potential to learn anytime and anywhere, and the methods by which this learning occurs. Time, my best friend, enabled me to contemplate and reflect upon this “paradigm”, try it with high school students, reshape it and connect it to innovative curriculum development emphasizing teachers-students co-design. However, I felt that I am missing something in the model, maybe its relationship to other forms or types of learning methods or learning in the commonsense of the word, “the activity of obtaining knowledge” (Cambridge dictionary) and “knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study” (Merriam-Webster). I was focusing on the act itself, the activities that build and shape learning and their definitions, and one day when asked by a friend and colleague: how would you characterize or illustrate your learning model, I paused for a moment and said: “learning in-between”. What do you mean she asked, I paused for another moment and replied: you know, people are associated with many forms and situations of learning — in school, in the university, in online courses, in training at work, at home, during a game, etc., and most of them are fully aware that they are engaging in an act of learning because of the relationship to an institution or a process that define as “learning”, even though it is not entirely clear if they can take this awareness further and harness it to continuous learning, i.e., purposely and deliberately, without external intervention, to engage in the act of learning elsewhere. I am interested in the moments when we are “in-between” the places where “in between the times” when we intentionally learn. I want to harness these “in-between” moments and places for a new kind of learning. Well, it is interesting, she said, however, I don’t think I got it… I have quite a challenge, I answered.

This is the introduction to a series of short Medium’s articles (I rather call them pieces), all describing, depicting, portraying, and hopefully revealing the art of “learning in-between”. All pieces are of course related and in a way, stem one from another. Hence, the first piece after this introduction will deal with the concept of Time, my best friend, as I mentioned in the beginning. We will look at the idea of time and its components, we will disassemble and reassemble it to creatively develop a new understanding of its role and its function in our life-long-learning; after time, we will look at Space, the different types of spaces, and their relationship to time, optimistically getting the essence of connecting space and time to new opportunities and new forms of learning; next, we will look at the Process of “learning in-between” which encompasses time and space to somewhat different methods of learning, sometimes it might be surprising, other times unexpected, culminating with a paraphrase on Descartes’ cogito, ergo sum, “I learn therefore I am”; following process naturally comes Content, which is not content but more likely what we are “learning in-between”. Well, in this distinctive setting learning will be focused on skills, competencies, and capabilities, however in unique and special ways; last but not list is Progressing, which takes all previous pieces and combine them into one integrated whole aiming at moving our mindset and our attitude continuously forward, yes, ceaselessly advancing our learning capabilities by taking advantage of the “in-between”.

Now that we set up the stage, we can dive into the rationale of “learning in-between”. We are praising and rightly, collaboration, teamwork, discourse, and social learning. Lev Vygotsky, the most important cognitive psychologist in modern times in my view, introduced us to a sociocultural theory that emphasizes that learning is fundamentally a social process. In this process, the support of an adult — parent, caregiver, peer, or teacher is fundamental or even crucial, and it is fascinating how Vygotsky’s theory is flourishing and blooming today. However, the “self” needs its own space in this complex reality, the “self” needs time to develop “alone” with a digital guide or a digital assistant, or even a digital collaborator, or just by itself. The “self” will thrive in the time and space of “learning in-between”, developing motivation, self-discipline, self-confidence, empowerment, and independence. It is also essential to note here that “learning in-between” is a complementary learning system that supplements and balances all other learning arenas. More than that, “learning in-between” is the red thread that goes “in-between” all learning arenas represented by different times and spaces.

Next week we will meet time and explore its unique role in today’s learning, beyond I believe the role we think the concept of time plays today in the learning process.