We continue to discuss Erich Fromm's ideas
and their connection to the The Significant Learning Model. Anthropogogy, as a significant learning model, was developed
by Nir Golan, Educational & Leadership Expert.
The
Anthropogogy model assumes that the distinction between children and adults is
no longer relevant in the digital age and that each student should be treated
as a 'whole' person irrespective of their age.
Fromm in his book "The
Art of loving" stated that: "Modern capitalism needs men who
cooperate smoothly and in large numbers; who want to consume more and more; and
whose tastes are standardized and can be easily influenced and anticipated. It
needs men who feel free and independent, not subject to any authority or
principle or conscience-- yet willing to be commanded, to do what is expected
of them, to fit into the social machine without friction; who can be guided
without force, led without leaders, prompted without aim-- except the one to
make good, to be on the move, to function, to go ahead." Therefore teaching should be carried out alongside the
comprehensive development of the human being regardless of his/her biological
age. Therefore, the child learner should be treated like an adult learner.
Anthropogogy:
to mean human learning. Anthropogogy: The study of human learning.
(Greek) –
Anthrop (άνθρωπ) means human being, and Agy (άγω) means to conduct/ lead.
According to Nir
Golan, Anthropogogy has four basic principles:
1. The
independent learner: the perception of oneself as an independent entity. A
person sees him/herself as someone who is self-directed; choosing what to
learn, how much and how to learn it. The role of the teacher is not to give
ready answers to predetermined questions, but to help the learner find out for
him/herself what the important questions are and how to answer them. Through
these questions, the dependence – independence conflict will decrease and there
will be fewer objections to learning. The teacher must strive to know the
student personally instead of just knowing about him through past records and
test data. Another aspect by Fromm: "In addition to conformity as a way
to relieve the anxiety springing from separateness, another factor of
contemporary life must be considered: the role of the work routine and of
pleasure routine. Man becomes a "nine to five" he is part of labor
force, or the bureaucratic force of clerks and managers. He has little
initiatives, his tasks are prescribed by the organization of the work; there is
even little difference between those high up on the ladder and those on the
bottom. They all perform tasks prescribe by the whole structure of the
organization, at prescribe speed, and in a prescribe manner."
2. Adapting
learning to that person's needs: the person is ready to learn when he/she needs
that specific learning process, and it is incorporated into daily tasks and
social functioning. He/she sees that the learning process serves his/her
personal development. The teacher’s role is to help students define their
essence and needs by giving them freedom so these children can start to
recognize their potentialities.
Fromm said that: "Most people are not even
aware of their need to conform. They live under the illusion that they follow
their own ideas and inclinations, that they are individualists, that they have
arrived at their opinion as the result of their own thinking - and that it just
happens that their ideas are the same as this of the majority."
Since every
person has their own characteristics and needs, therefore, the most effective
way of learning is to adapt learning to the needs and characteristics of that
individual person with reference to their emotional and mental components, and
not only to cognitive and behavioral aspects.
3. Renovating
learning: In the digital age where there is widespread availability of network
information, learning should give news and added value to the learner.
People approach
learning in possession of their life experiences. For learning to be more
significant, the learner needs to connect the current learning knowledge with
his/her prior knowledge. As such, educators have to find out the prior
knowledge of the person and his/her previous experiences in order to connect it
to the learning experience and not teach him/her things they already know. Thus
the person who teaches should renovate learning. Fromm continued: "We forget that,
although freedom of speech constitutes an important victory in the battle
against old restraints, modern man is in a position where much of what
"he" thinks and says are the things that everybody else thinks and
says; that he has not acquired the ability to think originally - that is, for
himself - which alone gives meaning to his claim that nobody can interfere with
the expression of his thoughts."
When children
are in a classroom being taught it usually has no effect on them unless it has
personal meaning. The important things in life need to be decided by the
learner and must also are discovered by this individual through experiences.
4. Immediate
and practical learning: The main motive for human learning is for problem
solving. The learner has a need for the immediate application of the learned
material, so learning has to be more focused in giving solutions to the
particular problem. Learning which cannot be implemented immediately is
perceived as a waste of time. Learners must be free to decide what is good and
relevant for themselves in their life. Fromm claimed that "In addition to
conformity as a way to relieve the anxiety springing from separateness, another
factor of contemporary life must be considered: the role of the work routine
and of pleasure routine. Man becomes a "nine to five" he is part of
labor force, or the bureaucratic force of clerks and managers. He has little
initiatives, his tasks are prescribed by the organization of the work; there is
even little difference between those high up on the ladder and those on the
bottom. They all perform tasks prescribe by the whole structure of the
organization, at prescribe speed, and in a prescribe manner."
Summary
Fromm left us a massage: "From birth to
death, from morning to evening- all activities are reutilized and
prefabricated. How should a man caught in this net of routine not forget that
he is a man, a unique individual, one who is given only this one chance of
living, with hopes and disappointments, with sorrow and fear, with the longing
for love and dread of the nothing and of separateness?"
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