Summary of John Seely Brown on Motivating Learners: Big Thinkers
Summary of "John Seely Brown on Motivating Learners: Big Thinkers"
John Seely Brown discusses key ideas about motivating learners, especially in the context of preparing students for the 21st-century workforce. His insights revolve around embracing change, fostering curiosity, and learning through play and community engagement.
Main Ideas and Concepts
- Embracing Change as a Core Skill
- The most important attribute for children growing up today is the love of embracing change.
- Preparing students for the future workforce involves cultivating curiosity and a disposition that welcomes change rather than fears it.
- The "Gaming Disposition"
- Brown refers to a “Gaming Disposition” observed in hardcore gamers (e.g., World of Warcraft players).
- Contrary to stereotypes, these gamers are highly goal-oriented and want measurable progress.
- Their mantra: "If I ain't learning, it ain't fun."
- Gamers continuously learn by embracing change—leveling up, adapting strategies, and experimenting.
- Community and Collaboration in Learning
- Example: Young surfers in Maui forming a guild-like community similar to gaming guilds.
- These surfers intensely compete and collaborate by inventing new moves, recording and analyzing their performance, and sharing innovations globally via digital media.
- Digital media accelerates the spread of new techniques worldwide (about 48 hours for a new surfing move to propagate).
- This dynamic reflects how passionate communities drive rapid learning and innovation.
- Passion as a Driver of Learning
- Passionate engagement is seen not only in gaming and surfing but also in arts, music, dance, and athletics.
- When kids are genuinely interested and engaged in the right context, their learning potential is nearly limitless.
- Situated Learning and Communities of Practice
- Drawing on Jean Lave’s work on Situated Learning, Brown emphasizes the importance of learning by joining Communities of Practice.
- Learning happens often unconsciously through immersion and osmosis, absorbing tacit knowledge.
- This deep, contextual learning integrates knowledge naturally rather than through explicit instruction alone.
- Learning as a Lifelong, Dynamic Trajectory
- In a rapidly changing world, skills have short shelf lives.
- The key is to create contexts for continuous learning, scaffolding knowledge to improve and adapt.
- Learning becomes a platform for ongoing growth and potentially shifting into new fields.
- Life and learning should be viewed as trajectories through a “lifespace,” not fixed points.
- The Power and Importance of Play and Tinkering
- Play is a vital overlooked construct in education and learning.
- Learning involves playing with ideas, tinkering, and making concepts personal and owned.
- Examples include:
- Poetry: finding the perfect phrase that resonates personally.
- Engineering: experimenting with systems and devices (e.g., radios, cameras) to understand how they work.
- Tinkering involves trial and error; many things won’t work initially.
- Embracing failure without fear is crucial to fostering willingness to experiment and learn.
- Tinkering connects thought and action in a powerful, almost magical way.
Methodology / Instructions for Motivating Learners
- Cultivate a love for change and curiosity in learners.
- Encourage measurable progress and goal orientation (like gamers).
- Foster Communities of Practice where learners compete, collaborate, and share knowledge.
- Use digital media to accelerate learning and exposure to new ideas.
- Support passion-driven engagement in diverse fields (arts, sports, gaming).
- Promote Situated Learning by helping learners join and immerse themselves in communities.
- Emphasize learning as a lifelong trajectory, not a fixed achievement.
- Integrate play and tinkering into learning processes:
- Allow learners to experiment hands-on.
- Normalize failure as part of learning.
- Encourage learners to own and personalize their knowledge.
- Connect cognitive understanding with physical experimentation.
Speakers / Sources Featured
- John Seely Brown – Main speaker and thought leader featured in the video.
- Dusty Payne – Mentioned as a world-class young surfer from Maui, illustrating community learning and innovation.
- Jean Lave – Referenced for her work on Situated Learning and Communities of Practice.
This summary captures the essence of Brown’s philosophy on motivating learners through curiosity, community, play, and embracing change in a rapidly evolving world.
Category
Educational