Learning is not education

Abstract

Researchers and policymakers speak more often now about ‘learning’ than they do about ‘teaching.ߣ In this chapter, I explore what is beneficial, and what is concerning, about the shift of focus from the teacher’s perspective to the learner’s perspective. However, a theory of learning is not sufficient to support a wider conception of education, because learning must be enacted to be worthwhile and because the factors that go into shaping when learning is enacted go beyond matters that can be said to have been learned themselves. A wider conception of education needs to consider these other factors. This examination has implications for questions of teaching and how to evaluate it, for thinking about learning outcomes and whether and how they can be ‘measured,ߣ and for the normative elements and judgments that must go into any wider conception of ‘education.'