Didactic theorising and self-education
My main problem with all of the “didactic” theorising is that “auto-didactic” learning is never really on that screen. It is not part of the analysis. It is simply ignored. As if it was something unworthy, amateurish, incompetent and of secondary interest only. From a “didactic” perspective learning activity is always considered to be (more or less closely) coupled to some sort of instructional/teaching activity.
- What if we dropped that bias…?
- What if “auto-didactic” self-education was treated as the “norm”…or even premier form of intentional learning?
- What if we explicitly tried to foster environments in higher education that support and cultivate self-education…?
I hold the view that the steadily expanding digitisation and networking capabilities within our societies are fundamentally changing the dynamics around self-education.
To ignore this in the realm of higher education and university teaching and learning is more than an unfortunate omission. It basically ignores the reality of how a lot of intentional learning and personal growth is increasingly realised and mediated beyond the confines of contemporary formal education.