The relationship between education and learning and its consequences for dialogic pedagogy

Abstract

Education is often viewed as formalized learning. I argue that the relationship between education and formalized learning is more complex and profound. In this conceptual essay, I examine the relationship between education and learning. Specifically, I discuss the cases when learning is not education and education is not learning. I argue that learning becomes educational when the person, the learner themselves, appreciates their learning. When learning is not appreciated by the learner, it does not constitute that person’s education. Thus, education is an ephemeral subjective construct, prone to appear and disappear as the person’s attitude to their learning changes. Also, education can be non-learning-based when it involves insights – abrupt, discontinuous changes of the person’s subjectivity – which are not caused by and rooted in the person’s experiences. Like learning, for an insight to be educational, it has to be perceived and appreciated by the person. I argue that human life consists of the flow of learning and insight. Noticing learning and insight by the person involves discontinuity of the person’s subjectivity, participation in activities, and other people that is recognized by others and the person. I discuss diverse forms of the person’s appreciation of learning and insights that constitute education. These forms vary from the behaviorist appreciation, as its lowest form, to the critical appreciation through critical dialogue as its highest form. Finally, I consider the consequences of defining education through a person’s appreciation of the transformation of their subjectivity for dialogic pedagogy.

The educational regime of the Bakhtinian dialogue

“…It is important to note that all these listed rights are NOT recognized in conventional and innovative foisted education based on Kantian educational paternalism (Kant, 1784;Matusov, 2020aMatusov, , 2020bMatusov, , 2021aMatusov, , 2021bMatusov, , 2022b…”

“…The first political principle of the Bakhtinian dialogue in education is a student's self-education. The student has a legitimate right to be the final authority to define their own education: whether to study or not to study, what to study (i.e., curriculum), how to study (i.e., instruction), with whom to study, when to study, where to study, why to study, and how to define education -its purpose and quality in the first place (Matusov, 2021b(Matusov, , 2022b. This political principle of the right to self-education follows from the Bakhtin's defining his dialogue as "consciousnesses with equal rights."…”

The University of Students: A place for joint self-education

“…Conversely, education is self-education (Gadamer, 2001). Education differs from learning because for learning to become transformed into education, it must be positively appraised by the learner; the learner must make an authorial appraising, a judgment about their learning or insight/satori (Matusov, 2021b). That is why genuine education is always self-education.…”

The Pre-service Teachers’ Internship Program during the Pandemic: Prospects for a New Landscape of Teacher Education

“…The main reason is that the system of education, at large, still gives a huge space for behaviorism to play its roles. Due to the dominant practice of preparing students to take exams and make them pass or get a good grade (Matusov, 2021), teachers are likely to motivate students with various strategies for them to be successful in exams.…”

“…Thus, the no-involvement phenomenon of the students in learning online could be deemed a behavioral issue. From the perspective of behaviorism, use of rewards and punishments could be useful to motivate students to learn (Matusov, 2021). With appropriate rewards and punishments, the students' behavior (not joined the online classes) could be changed to the intended scenario (joined the online classes).…”