ABSTRACT

Every day we are confronted with problems and challenges which we address by drawing on our experience and by using this experience to find ways of learning what to do in new circumstances. Learning through experience is the normal, commonplace approach to learning and we take it for granted. Whilst much is known about teaching and being taught, far less attention has been given to learning in context - in particular, to learning outside the classroom. Yet this is in fact where most learning takes place. One possibly neglected area is the role which people, other than the learner, play in facilitating learning. This role is undertaken not only by teachers, trainers, parents and counsellors, but also by managers, supervisors, care-givers and friends. This book brings together the experiences of a number of practitioners, who write from often strongly contrasting perspectives. Such perspectives include feminism, Marxism, critical pedagogy, post-modernism and Gestalt, humanistic, clinical and transpersonal psychology.