Learning contexts across the lifetime

One of the wonderful things about public education is that it provides children a dedicated context for learning. Even more than that, it really defines a child’s purpose structurally and socially: there job is to acquire skills, knowledge, and wisdom before entering the “real” world to contribute.

For me, this world of learning was something I never wanted to leave. The world of ideas and skills was the real world, and I wanted to find a place where I could keep learning. A life of research and teaching was a dream. The fact that I get paid to make and share discoveries still astounds me.

But in the rest of my adult life, learning contexts are exceedingly rare. Here’s a short list of contexts where I learn outside of my job:

• News. To an extent, journalists teach. I learn about the world, what’s happening in it, and why it is happening. I occasionally learn some history.
• Podcasts. I listen to Marketplace and learn about economics. I listen to Death, Sex & Money and learn about mortality and ethics. I listen to the Savage Lovecast to learn about relationships and sexuality. I listen to the Slate Culture Gabfest to learn about the human condition. These media spaces are places where analysis, ideas, and wisdom thrive, and are often grounded research.
• Books and movies. In these I learn to empathize, seeing the world and the world’s conditions through the stories of others.
• YouTube. Know how abounds, from how to tie knots to how to have difficult conversations with your teen.

The wonderful thing about these media is that they are explicitly framed as learning contexts. The news is intended to teach. Podcasts are designed for lecture and analysis. I listen to them because I’m ready and eager to learn about the world and its people and ideas.

In other areas of my adult life, I find that people are completely disinterested in learning. They don’t want to learn other people’s perspectives, learn new skills, or understand how the world works. They want to get their work done. They want to feel safe. They want confirmation that their beliefs are right. They want to be reassured about the future. Its only when they enter a learning context — a newspaper, a theater, a 20 minute podcast — that these anxieties melt away for a brief time, and they become open to knowledge.

How can we create more of these learning contexts? How do we create them in workplaces? How do we teach children to create their own learning contexts throughout their lifetime? Is there something about our formal educational systems that make people believe that schools are the only place where people learn? How do we help people value life long learning?