Learning edge culture
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Learning edge culture refers to a collective state of mind that places a premium on pushing individuals out of their perceived comfort zones and into settings in which greater learning can take place. There is a common belief among adherents that true and meaningful learning, academic or otherwise, can only be experienced when an individual pushes his or her boundaries of learning. Different organizations and groups have different descriptions of the "learning edge," but this page will discuss the common attributes of the term and what it means to build a culture around the learning edge.
Learning edge
As part of ongoing education reform, education experts have devised many different theories on how people learn. The learning edge is a term some experts have assigned to one of the mental states an individual goes through when learning a new skill. In most prevailing theories, the learning process can be described as one's movement along a continuum. When learning, one begins in a state of comfort with one's existing knowledge. As new information is presented to the individual, he or she becomes less comfortable as the new knowledge challenges them. The individual will eventually learn this new information and become competent with this knowledge, but only after pushing the boundaries of one's previous knowledge. The state of mind one enters when pushing one's previous knowledge is what some call the learning edge. The learning edge is meant to be outside of one's comfort zone, and is believed to cause the distress that enables one to adapt to and overcome challenging situations.[1][2]
As a culture
As described above, experts believe the benefits of pushing an individual to and beyond his or her learning edge can be great. Proponents of learning edge strategies believe that the most good can be done by constantly challenging students throughout their education. These supporters also praise healthy risk-taking behavior and systems that employ constant meaningful assessments for both students and educators. They strive to reward excellence and prefer to treat failure as an opportunity to refine one's skills. Creating a culture that is based on these beliefs, whether in a single school district or otherwise, is the goal of those who support learning edge culture.[3]
Other practices
Competency-based learning
Competency-based learning is an approach to education that is based on student performance and achievement. The learning edge is used commonly when discussing competency-based programs, as teaching in these programs is designed to work at a different pace for each student. This is thought to keep each student at their learning edge rather than being left behind or getting too far ahead of other students.[3]
Comprehensive systems of learning supports
Comprehensive systems of learning supports are pools of resources that are designed to help schools excel or improve. One thing these systems address is the idea of student-centered learning, or prioritizing classroom goals based on student need. This can mean adjusting expectations to better match lesson pacing to students' learning edges.[3]
See also
Footnotes
