conference report
going to be more about empathy and relevance and L&D has to ask itself whether business can change the processes to be more human. He said that only when technology is invisible does it truly work. Twenty-four hours later and the conference delegates were being challenged by Lotto to think about how the brain works. If the L&D profession doesn’t have some understanding of brain function can it really help people to learn? Neuroscientist Lotto suggested that learning was all about seeing things differently: everything begins with perception and we are creating perceptions of the world around us (see Ted Talk for illustrations of optical illusions). But our perception is not based on what we see alone. Lotto said that only 10% of the information that the brain uses comes from our eyes. How does this make any difference to how we learn and how we teach? One of his experiments involved children aged 8-10 creating a scientific experiment which was, despite opposition and rejection, eventually published in a reputable scientific journals (search Blackawton Bees for more detail). The aim of the experiment (apart from finding out about bees) was to see science differently and help the children involved to see themselves differently. Lotto suggested that to learn we need to learn to question our assumptions
but that is difficult because we are so often blind to the assumptions that we make. One way to progress is to ask questions. Which is what the Blackawton Bees children did but asking questions creates uncertainty and that in turn leads to stress. Even so, says Lotto, the best questions are the ones that create the most uncertainty. He suggested that evolution’s answer to uncertainty was play. Play is one of the only human endeavours where uncertainty is actually celebrated. Uncertainty is what makes play fun. The most successful animals on earth, the
Play is one of the only human endeavours where uncertainty is actually celebrated. Uncertainty is what makes play fun
most adaptive are those that play. Play is not an activity it is a way of being. We play in order to play – it is the only activity we do where the only point is the activity and yet it is seemingly pointless. Play takes place in a safe space and has various functions: l celebrates uncertainty l encourages diversity l opens possibilities l engenders co-operation l is instinctively motivational. All of the above list, said Lotto, could be applied to learning. But we’re stuck in a paradox: we can’t change business if schools don’t change and we can’t change schools if business doesn’t change. To be a good leader/teacher is to lead by example, to admit to mistakes, and to see quality in others: all traits that can be mapped to the functions above. To teach, suggested Lotto, is to shape another’s history not by telling them what to see but how to look and do it through questioning.
Peter Williams is editor of e.learning age
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