Learning is Connecting

 An excerpt from the Introduction:

All kinds of connections help us make sense of information. There is the connection between people, such as the critical adult-child relationship so easily sacrificed to bureaucratic paperwork and demanding schedules. There is the connection between ourselves and the rich world around us—the world of people and the natural world. There is the connection between the left and right brain, which both serve important functions. There is the connection between neurons, new knowledge connecting with old. We learn by associating one thing with another. (As teachers, we were trained to say “Good connection!” when our students shared what something reminded them of. There was much richness there.) And there is the critical connection between mind and body, now known to be not two things at all, as Western language and tradition say they are, but one intricate circuit of information..

This foundation of connection contrasts with our human and cultural habit of ignoring or cutting out undesirable pieces of any picture. In a culture that emphasizes separation to the point of brokenness—neat categories of people and subjects, rigid hierarchies, fixed positions—real learning and good teaching are powerfully subversive acts which open doors of possibility. Learning is easy to encourage but hard to control. It could lead anywhere: to new relationships, new understanding, new ways of moving and operating in the world. And, unlike what we memorize while cramming for a test, real learning stays with us. As Cesar Chavez once said (in so many words), once our consciousness has been raised, it cannot be put back where it was before.