Скачать или смотреть Do We Want "Liquid" Learners?

The school year is wrapping up for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere. As I was working with a group of teachers in Indiana (face-to-face for the first time in a while) we got talking about everything our kids had been through this year.

I was reminded that our students have been incredibly resilient with all of the changes thrown their way.

And, I reminded the educators I was with that they had been just as resilient, they had dealt with so many changes throughout this school year.

Our conversations went back and forth about what next year would bring, but one thing we kept discussing was that with all the constant changes, it was extremely difficult to get into a depth with anything.

I saw this quote on Sunday and it made me wonder: Do we want "liquid" learners?

"I’ve come to believe that this is the defining characteristic of my generation: keeping our options open. The Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman has a great phrase for what I’m talking about: liquid modernity.

We never want to commit to any one identity or place or community ... so we remain like liquid, in a state that can adapt to fit any future shape. And it’s not just us—the world around us remains like liquid, too.

We can’t rely on any job or role, idea or cause, group or institution to stick around in the same form for long—and they can’t rely on us to do so, either. That’s liquid modernity: It’s Infinite Browsing Mode, but for everything in our lives."

— Pete Davis in Dedicated

This culture of restlessness and indecision, Davis argues, is causing tension in the lives of young people today: We want to keep our options open, and yet we yearn for the purpose, community, and depth that can only come from making deep commitments.

Put this into “school” perspective. There is no way our students can move out of being liquid if they do not have a chance to own their learning process. When all you do is what other people tell you to do, you are naturally going to want to remain liquid and shy away from commitment…

We want students to be adaptable, flexible, and resilient.

Yet, we don't want them to be so "liquid" that they never make the deep commitment that it takes to learn and create beyond surface level.

This is the paradox of learning in 2021 and beyond. And, in turn, it is the paradox we are faced with every day as educators.