LEARNING WITH YOUR LEARNERS

For learning to take place, one has to be challenged so that they find themselves in some sort of conflict or tension. According to Kolb, one is precipitated into state of cognitive conflict when some external event challenges his/her ideas and in an effort to resolve conflict, cognitive growth is achieved. This tension has to be carefully created by the facilitator. During conflict, the old assumptions clash with fresh understanding and new experiences emerge. This conflict is even better seen if learners are in learning groups. The dialogue that ensues brings about a wide range of data/ information that a single person involved in conflict would not have otherwise obtained. This is because the different members of the group all come with their diverse experiences.
The facilitator can do this by actively probing the learners in a supportive environment (the individual and the social) or so to say, problem posing (posing problems of human beings in their relations with the world). The facilitator and learners are both learning from the generated dialogue and reflections made. This mode of learning on either side has the advantages of constant reforming one’s reflections in the reflections of the learners and the students are not merely listening but actively involved in their own learning.
According to Freire, as the students continue to encounter with problems relating to themselves in their world, they get challenged and are obliged to respond to the challenges and hence learn. Their response to the challenge evokes new challenges, followed by new understandings; and gradually, students get committed to the learning.
What is the role of a “teacher” therefore?
· Carefully, to create a challenge for the learners, preferably in groups.
· To listen carefully and give support as the learners go through the conflict.
· Reflect on the learners’ reflections.
As he/she is doing so, he/she becomes a learner. This person ceases to be a "teacher" who in most cases is seen to poses all knowledge, but instead becomes a facilitator for learning to take place. This, I think is the basis of Vocational Pedagogy. I call it VP!