Towards a New Consciousness

Walter Brueggemann is a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures. He says:

Moses was not engaged in a struggle to transform a regime (in Egypt ); rather his concern was with the consciousness that undergirded and made such a regime possible. 
                THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION  p. 21

Reading this, I was blown away! I saw for the first time that our work in education is towards a new consciousness, not new regimes or new systems. The regimes and systems arise out of the consciousness of the men and women who build them.

Folks, this changes everything. I have understood the Berardinelli Theory of Impact (From How Do They Know They Know? Evaluating Adult Learning, Jane Vella, Paula Berardinelli, Jim Burrow), which we enthusiastically teach, as meaning behavioral indicators of learning and transfer, and systems change indicators of impact. The latter always bothered me because I figured I’d never live long enough to see this distant enhancement:  munitions factories closed, jails and prisons razed, universities alive with learning . . .

Now I am studying indicators of changed consciousness in myself:  joyful laughter at the puppy, frank communication, thoughtful speech, slower response time, colorful plates of food (lots of green), daily swimming . . .

Measurable, cogent, documented indicators of change in my consciousness as a result of learning. Now, watch the new systems arise!

So I had lunch with Paula Berardinelli and described this new learning: Yes! She said. Yes!

Dialogue Education teaches evaluation:  measurable, documented indicators of learning (behaviors) and transfer (behaviors in a new context) and impact (behaviors showing a new consciousness).

What do you think?

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Bring this kind of theoretical thinking with you to the only remaining Advanced Learning Design course in 2013, in Stowe, VT November 12-14. Join facilitator Peter Perkins.

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