Conference Input

I'm attending perhaps the most radical conference on adult education I've ever attended (AERC/CASAE), and it's been fascinating to see my work through the lens of academics. I've come to understand that theoretical frameworks are the launch pad (or sounding board) for most people's work, and not grassroots activity. Interesting. As a result, I'm going to attempt to briefly "foreground" the theoretical frameworks that inform my work in program planning:

1) Complexity theory: all ingredients in the program planning process are interlinked and inextricable, and a combination of positive and negative feedback loops (this worked; that didn't) moves the process forward.

2) Chaos theory: order emerges out of the chaos of not-knowing, but may become "chaotic" again if there is a significant shift in thinking, a significant change in the progam planning "ingredients" (new people, funding changes, etc). Order is achieved slowly are carefully, not hastily or based on assumptions.

3) Emergence theory: chaos is self-organizing, so that if we allow enough time and space (and don't need to see order too quickly), a pattern will emerge and strong/weak ties between different tasks or people can be identified, so that strong ties can be pursued.

4) Community development: learning and development is a social process carried out by members of a particular "community". As such, true change can only be initiated by and carried out at the grassroots. However, external people, ideas or resources can influence or affect how this change happens. Dissenting, antagonistic voices become damaging, and so it's important to have a good handle on various voices within the community throughout the program planning process.

5) Learning in Context: Because individuals are part of the collective (which in turn shapes the individual), one must remain aware of the context in which the program is being developed. On a corollary note ...

6) Post-modernism: we can only ever known what we have been taught or allowed to "know". We are the products of our upbringing and our experiences, and have to remain vigilant about our biases and assumptions as we work.

7) Emancipation/liberation theory: There are always people with power and people who want power and people who don't even know that they could have power. As program planners, we need to remember that all education is political.

Sheesh ... so many theories, and so little time. Let's just do the work.