Life Long Learners One of

¶ … Life Long Learners One of the key changes of the late 20th century, certainly enhanced in the early 21st, is the manner in which cognitive science has become ever more important within the paradigm of education -- particularly education throughout the life cycles. Contemporary society understands more and more that learning does not begin in pre-school and end with either the High School or College Graduation Ceremony. Instead, cognitive learning is a life-long experience that needs to be nurtured.

Cognitive science is a multidisciplinary field, comprising cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, neuroscience, and anthropology. In recent years, cognitive science has become a predominant paradigm in studies of the mind. Cognitive science incorporates concepts and methods from philosophy, cognitive psychology etc., whereas behaviorism dominated the psychological sciences during the first part of this century. Cognitive scientists are interested in mental structures and processes of the mind. Several individuals have attempted more rigorous definitions of cognitive science.

A computational view emphasizes that, cognitive science, sometimes explicitly, and sometimes implicitly, tries to elucidate the workings of the mind by treating them as computations, not necessarily of the sort that is carried out by the digital computer, but of a sort that lies within a broader theory of computation (Johnson-Laird, 2009). One of the more interesting contemporary theorists in the nature of development and theory related to a more ecological approach, that fits well within the idea of lifelong learning was, Urine Bronfenbrenner. (1917-2005) ("Urie Bronfenbrenner," 2005).

The Ecological Approach to Lifelong Learning - One can think of Bronfenbrenner as a sociological Stephen Hawking -- explaining the very minute and how it works with the very large. Hawking, of course, deals with the way small quantum data interact with the environment and how the larger cosmos interacts with the atom, etc. So, too, does Bronfenbrenner see the world, from the very tiny microsystem (the atom), through a series of "universes" to then form what we might term culture or society.

Within each of these structures, actions and interactions flow both ways, and much of what harkens towards human development is the result of situational and environmental issues (See Figure 1). For example, young children in the ghettos of Rio de Janerio often sell candy to locals and tourists as their only means of support. These children are able, because of their environment, to make rather sophisticated mathematical calculations in their heads, understand weights and measures, profit and loss, and numerical relationships far beyond their years.

Yaqui children in northern Mexico, however, have no use for this type of knowledge, but they do understand very complex weaving patterns that require unprecedented dexterity and ability to visualize multidimensionally. Thus, for Bronfenbrenner, it is the relationship between the external and internal environments that shapes not only what is important (skill set) for human development, but the manner in which what is important becomes "ecologically" part of the dominant culture (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).

Thus, if we translate this into a lifelong learning situation, it makes it clear that the external environment, the stimuli and response development and systems encountered are what contributes to a more holistic approach to whatever material is needed. But this does not go far enough -- using Bronfenbrenner as our basic theory, it is the mindset, the desire and the way that different models of learning occur to make it possible to have a robust, lengthy, experience.

According to modern scholarship, pushing the individual's cognitive (e.g.) brain's ability to "see" and visualize learning aspects actually improves with more stimulation and practice. In other words, as we learn more, we tend to learn better (Zull, 2002, 139-40). Figure 1 -- Bronfenbrenner's Theory of Development Color Issue Microsystems Home, School, Neighborhood (the near environment, everyday actions and places) Mesosystems Relationships between many microsystems Exosystems Government, media, workplace, school, society Macrosystems Overall culture, macro-society Chronosystem When the experiences occur, not just individually, but in historical preference, too.

Parts of the theory are individual but coherent. The microsystem is the smallest layer in the sense that it is closest to the child and contains all the structures of which the child has regular contact. It includes the relationships and structures that the child uses to define their surroundings (family, school, and neighborhood). The interactions in this layer are primary modifiers, but are continually impacted by other layers. The mesosystem is the rather amorphous way that Microsystems morph and interact with another -- connections between events and organizations.

The exosystem is the larger social system in which the child does not directly interact but has a profound effect on the Microsystems (positive and negative effects, etc.). The macrosystem, or the outermost layer in the child's environment consists of laws, customs, values, and norms -- all of which the child is expected to assimilate prior to becoming part of that specific culture.

Finally, the chronosystem or time development, is relative to the child's experiences within the structure of the "when" -- and the manner in which time affects culture and society -- both historically and practically (events and structures) (Paquette and Ryan, 2008). Again, using the ecological model, the impact of moving through learning cycles clearly changes based on the position one is in the overall system. For instance, as individuals age, whether they are teachers or doctors, their worldview changes.

With that change in worldview, then, comes the realization that many of the facts they thought they knew, or that may have been imparted in their classes, patients, or as parents, might need a bit of "tweaking." The power of our ability as humans to evolve intellectually and emotionally, though, is related to our ability to include a changing worldview into the craft of learning and teaching (Schoenfeld, 2002).

Also taking the ecological approach further, if explanations from the external world (outer realm of Bronfenbrenner's model) towards in inner world, students of all ages can construct and contrast alternative conceptual structures knowing that some are true, some are false, and some are both, depending on the circumstances. Indeed, this ability to take.