Learning communities as cryptoforests

Wilfried Houjebek’s Cryptoforestry blog looks for “forests in cities” and for “cities in forests” – a purpose I want to adopt as I travel around different places working with schools in New Zealand. 

He describes cryptoforests as a “cultural and not a biological way to classify nature”.

And claims that “the recognition of a cryptoforest is a visionary act, not a mechanical operation: there is no machine vision here.”

1) Feral forests (Planted tree zones, for instance along motorways, that have been allowed to become wild to the point that their wildness is outgrowing their manmadeness.)

2) In limbo forests (Tree-covered plots that feel like forests but technically probably aren't; states of vegetation for which lay-language has no name.)

3) Incognito Forests (Forests that have gone cryptic and are almost invisible, forests in camouflage, forests with a talent for being ignored.)

4) Precognitive forests (Lands that are on the brink of becoming forested, a future forest fata morgana.)

5) Unappreciated forests (Forests regarded as zones of waste and weed, forests shaming planners, developers, and the neighbourhood. NIMBY forestry.)  

It is a lovely way of looking at forests – one that allows us to more widely imagine what the connection between human systems and natural ecosystems might be.

And it makes me want to look at "learning" and “learning communities/networks” in a similarly "visionary" way.

1) Feral learning communities (Learning communities, for instance associated with a prior event or a conference, that have been allowed to become wild to the point that their wildness is outgrowing their manmadeness.)

2) In limbo learning communities (Imposed or artificially populated teacher learning communities that feel like learning communities/networks but technically probably aren't; communities formed to meet a contract outcome; states of networking for which lay-language has no name.)

3) Incognito learning communities (Learning communities that have gone cryptic and are almost invisible, communities in camouflage, communities with a talent for being ignored.)

4) Precognitive learning communities (Communities that are on the brink of becoming learning communities, a future learning community fata morgana.)

5) Unappreciated learning communities (Learning communities regarded as zones of extremism, immaturity, irresponsibility, belligerence, anecdote, and romanticism; communities embarrassing those with institutional authority, policy writers, politicians and curriculum developers, and the neighbourhood. NIMBY learning communities.)

I can identify examples of each but it is likely I will not understand these learning communities fully until I find a way to join them.

Houjebek uses this lovely extract in his post A forager's critique of the 'Anthropocene' to argue that the Western mind misunderstands wilderness.  It comes from Nelson's 'Make Prayers to the Raven'

This apparently untrodden forest and tundra country is thoroughly known by a people whose entire lives and cultural ancestry are inextricably associated with it. The lakes, hills, river bends, sloughs, and creeks are named and imbued with personal or cultural meanings. Indeed to the Koyukon these lands are no more a wilderness than are farmlands to a farmer or streets to a city dweller. At best we can call them a wildland. 

The fact that Westerners identify this remote country as wilderness reflects their inability to conceive of occupying and utilizing an environment without fundamentally altering its natural state. But the Koyukon people and their ancestors have done precisely this over a protracted span of time. From this viewpoint, they have made a highly effective adjustment to living as members of an ecosystem, pursuing a form of adaptation that fosters the successful coexistence of humanity and nature within a single community.  

 In a society where teachers have always worked for institutions perhaps we are similarly blind to the many learning communities that exist amongst the un-schooled, the ex-schooled, the après-schooled and the post-schooled.

E. M. Forster captured this blindness from a different angle -

As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through exams, so long must we take this examination system seriously. If another ladder to employment was contrived, much so-called education would disappear, and no one would be a penny the stupider.

Is it possible that we fail to recognise embedded learning communities? – those that occupy and utilise micro-environments and cracks in the surfaces – those that do not need kilometres of corridors, acres of IWB covered walls and square metres of tarmac covered parking spaces?   

Houjebek goes on to cite Ellis and Ramankutty who argue that we have reached a period of geological time (Anthropocene) where it is “we who decide what nature is and what it will be”.  They claim that nowadays we “live in human systems with natural ecosystems embedded within them” rather than the flip.

So “Culture” embeds “Nature”, and “Society” embeds “Ecosystems”.

Furthermore Ellis and Ramankutty argue that our decisions on “what nature is and what it will be” are predicated on economic reasoning. 

“Where wilderness remains, it’s often only because exploitation is still unprofitable.”

They reduce the role of conservation management to “My Little Pony” like species domestication …

“Conservation management turns wild animals into a new form of pets.” 

This seems similar to our interest as educators in taking over/capturing/embedding “unappreciated learning communities” if we think they might add authenticity to our “in limbo learning communities”.  For instance, look at our renewed interest in the learning communities of MMORPG gamers and FAN fiction writers.

“what learning  is and what it will be” is much like “what nature is and what nature will be”  -  both are embedded within society – both are things that society decides.

The recent events in Japan (and for that matter Christchurch) might cause a re-appraisal of these culture embedding nature arguments as hubris and vainglorious ambition.

Camille Paglia would most likely reject them … In Sexual Personae she sees nature prominent - in the driving seat – the embedder rather than the embedded.

"Human life began in flight and fear. Religion rose from rituals of propitiation, spells to lull the punishing elements. To this day, communities are few in regions scorched by heat or shackled by ice. Civilized man conceals from himself the extent of his subordination to nature. The grandeur of culture, the consolation of religion absorbs his attention and win his faith. But let nature shrug, and all is in ruin. Fire, flood, lightning, tornado, hurricane, volcano, earthquake - anywhere at anytime. Disaster falls upon the good and the bad. Civilised life requires a state of illusion. The idea of the ultimate benevolence of nature and God is the most potent of man's survival mechanisms. Without it, culture would revert to fear and despair."  Sexual Personae 1991 Chapter 1 “Sex and Violence, or Nature and Art"

Perhaps learning needs to shrug a little.

Comments

[Doug Noon]

Artichoke - thanks so much for this post. The Cryptoforestry blog is a juicy find that I look forward to sampling again and again as time allows. The reference to Richard K. Nelson's Make Prayers to the Raven was what set the hook for me completely. I've been carrying the book with me for months, reading a few pages here and there as I go. His rendering of Koyukon culture fascinates me, as I've worked with Koyukon people for over 20 years and feel like I am only just now seeing them for the first time.

Your linking of culture and "learning communities" reminded me of Neil Postman's essay, The Educationist as Painkiller:
This, then, is the strategy I propose for educationists—that we abandon our vague, seemingly arrogant, and ultimately futile attempts to make children intelligent, and concentrate our attention on helping them avoid being stupid. You may be inclined to think that I am playing with language, proposing a semantic trick. Perhaps. But it is no “mere” semantic trick. By changing the way we talk about our role as teachers, we provide ourselves with necessary constraints and realizable objectives. To return to the medical analogy: The physician knows about sickness and can offer specific advice about how to avoid it. Don't smoke, don’t consume too much salt or saturated fat, take two aspirins, take penicillin every four hours, and so forth. I am proposing that the study and practice of education adopt this paradigm precisely. The educationist should become an expert in stupidity and be able to prescribe specific procedures for avoiding it.

Cheers.

[Artichoke]

Thanks for the comment Doug – I also love The Cryptoforestry blog and have located a copy of Nelson's Make Prayers to the Raven so I can learn more about the Koyukon Culture.

I was especially taken by Stephen's response to the post

"When you live in Canada, you learn to appreciate forests - not the tame forests where the animals are as pets, but the wild forest, the forest that can kill you, the forest that springs up unwanted and unappreciated and becomes your entire country, your entire culture. Learning should be like that,"

Learning should be like that

Your take on the post is valuable - that The educationist should become an expert in stupidity and be able to prescribe specific procedures for avoiding it.

It is not semantics – it is a simple idea - "Practising Pedagogical Ignorance" -and simple ideas are powerful - I think it a a grand position and intend to explore and adopt –

I have played with “Ignorance Logging” (after Marlys Witte (Q-cubed Programs: What Is Ignorance?) since I first heard Witte speak about Kerwin’s Map of Ignorance in Auckland at the International Thinking Conference in 2001.

The Map of Ignorance (Kerwin, 1983-)
Domains of Ignorance

• Known Unknowns: All the things you know you don't know
  
• Unknown Unknowns: All the things you don't know you don't know
  
• Errors: All the things you think you know but don't
  
• Unknown Knowns: All the things you don't know you know
  
• Taboos: Dangerous, polluting or forbidden knowledge
  
• Denials: All the things too painful to know, so you don't
  

Back in 2001 Kerwin’s map of ignorance startled me – I realised I was ignorant about ignorance.

Since then I kept an eye of for different types and categories of ignorance - this is a good collection from Andreas Schamanek
A compilation with references of some classifications, systematics and other orders of what is not known.

I need to revisit this and find new ways to play with it in the context of learning.

[HOBO]

YES I AGREE WITH YOU HUMAN LIFE IS A GIFT OF GOD DONT WASTE IT.

[botts]

I love the idea that a learning community could be feral. That it could become so wild and entangled that it no longer resembles whatever it was that it originally resembled.

In Australia, the biggest danger of the feral forest is that it might catch alight and as the tangled, heavy, uncontrolled underbrush burns, the canopy above explodes with a violence not unlike a war zone. As the canopy explodes, the burning embers that are thrown into the air get blown forward ahead of the fire, sometimes for many kilometres, and when these embers touch down new fires are created. When this happens we start describing them as wildfires and wildfires are extremely dangerous and unpredictable, fast moving and incredibly hard to stop.

Imagine working with students who’s learning is dangerous, unpredictable, fast moving and incredibly hard to stop.

I want to see my classes go feral. I want to feed them with the passion and energy that comes from knowing that everywhere around us is the chance to learn, that all knowledge should be grabbed and grappled with and turned into usefulness, that everyone around us has knowledge that could be gleaned, that everyone of us has knowledge that should be shared, that not knowing is simply an excuse for finding out.

I’ve spent years reading and studying the “right” way to teach and learn. I have regurgitated countless thousands of words on proper controlled educational environments. I have university degrees that declare that I have mastered the understanding of how to appropriately disseminate knowledge to those who would come to listen to my outpourings of know-it-all told-you-so lock-step lessoning. But I’m not convinced.

The more I explore the fringes of learning, the more disinclined I become to believe that we have it right. I want to deconstruct and tear down and grant freedom. I want to lose control and give back power. I want to give permission to go feral.

[[email protected]]

I love this post. What a great comparison. This would make any sensible person see the cultural emphases our society places on learning communities... still.... after all we know.
I do not think we fail to recognize embedded communities more so than fail to accept them-- Like a first succession forest community. How we fail to see the roll, would rather change them, or wait 50 years for change...

What are we missing out on?

[Virago1]

Hi, botts

If you're interested in & connecting with others interested in the idea of feral learning, check out these sites:

The Feral Learner blog http://theferallearner.blogspot.com/

Fans of Feral Learning! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=396817202064#!/group.php?gid=396817202064&v=wall

Twitter tag #ferallearning

Cheers
Mary

[David - MA Security]

For further info on the subject, I recommend reading the "The next industrial revolution" article.

[Josh Verienes]

@David, read the book Cradle 2 Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. This 200 pages book is a must read for those who liked "The next industrial revolution" article.

[Jack]

an interesting post... and David, i definitely agree on the 'industrial revolution' article as well

[Andy]

article that you fit quite interesting to read & add another value to me

[Ann-Marie]

Interesting article; the analogy you used with nature and the learning community is unique and effective. Indeed, learning environment is feral. The current trends in learning opportunities resulting from globalization could support the idea that learning communities are feral. In my territory, students and teachers often have to engage in learning environments prevalent with guns firing and other violence activities. That learning environment is untamed. Similarly, the classroom environment can be seen as a natural habitat for learners and facilitators to engage in unpredictable learning experiences that change lives. I agree that our learning community is influenced by culture.

[Ann-Marie]

The Impact of Culture on Learning

Is it the educators’ role to understand the culture of his learners and factor these differences in the teaching-learning process? Learning is affected by an individual’s experiences. These experiences are of the individual’s cultural and socioeconomic background. One’s culture contributes significantly to how information is received and assimilated. It is easy to understand how culture will affect access to information and how this information can be utilized. It is difficult, however, to grasp the concept that culture defines how one learns. My learning style is not determined by the fact that I am an African or Indian; my style of learning is dependent on my personal cognitive ‘wiring’. That means that my siblings and I would share identical learning styles. That is quite the contrary.

To assume that culture impacts adult learners’ preference of small group learning over individual or vice-versa is even more presumptuous. It is hasty to conclude that learners of certain culture will prefer group or individual learning experiences. The important ideology that adult educators need to focus on is diversity in methodology. Diversity based on my personal preferences as a unique individual with different needs and not my culture. I am currently engaged in an online learning environment with culturally different individuals; our differences do not interfere with our interactions. All of the courses require group interactions as well as individual assignments; as adult learners our cultural preferences are important, but not hindrances to our learning. We are made cognizant of the importance of understanding and appreciating our differences, how these differences impact our experiences and consequently our learning. This concept does not mean that I prefer individual learning experiences because I am culturally different.

[Ann-Marie]

Learning environment vary according to cultures. In my culture a learning community is considered to be a formal or informal group of individuals who share information and skills. From the perspective of the employer, job requirements do not consider the experiences of informal learning relevant and valid enough to acquire a position. The employer demands a formal learning experience – what about the adult who learns from life experiences? Community colleges are now embracing the concept of prior learning of mature adult learners who may not possess a formal education, but based on their professional experiences; qualify for enrolment in formal programs of study. Is the informal learning experiences considered a learning community? Does a learning community have to be confined to traditional or online learning?

[Aajiz]

Any type of revolution would take place through revolutionary writing...and its for communities to build good writer for nations...through some cultural activities and through some personal interest of writers...

[Bu-Ysello]

1) Feral learning communities (Learning communities, for instance associated with a prior event or a conference, that have been allowed to become wild to the point that their wildness is outgrowing their manmadeness.)

2) In limbo learning communities (Imposed or artificially populated teacher learning communities that feel like learning communities/networks but technically probably aren't; communities formed to meet a contract outcome; states of networking for which lay-language has no name.)

3) Incognito learning communities (Learning communities that have gone cryptic and are almost invisible, communities in camouflage, communities with a talent for being ignored.)

4) Precognitive learning communities (Communities that are on the brink of becoming learning communities, a future learning community fata morgana.)

5) Unappreciated learning communities (Learning communities regarded as zones of extremism, immaturity, irresponsibility, belligerence, anecdote, and romanticism; communities embarrassing those with institutional authority, policy writers, politicians and curriculum developers, and the neighborhood. NIMBY learning communities.)

Marvelous types of communities... Nice Shring...

[Study in Cyprus Colleges]

All properly drained lands left to themselves will eventually become forested as the final phase of ecological succession. Psychologically the forest has always been an upsetting force, a place of oppressing loneliness and deep silence, a territory of unspeakable dangers and dark secrets.

[Karie]

Great stuff! Thanks for this update.

[B. Goode]

Indeed. As more and more educators begin to re-conceptualize the realm of academia as a learning community, it is not too farfetched of an idea to visualize the learning community as akin to a forest, or as was postulated here, a cryptoforest. What this certainly demonstrates is that there still exists a recognizable diversity in learning community types and consequently, learning styles. One can only hope that the learning systems mentioned that were ignored will be reviewed as some of these “Incognito” types can be useful for implementation in other learning cultures.