Syntony Quest: Evolutionary Learning

EL Center Directory | Learning to Learn

Evolutionary: Consciousness | Literacy | Competence | Praxis

It’s all about Evolutionary Learning!!

The Evolutionary Learning Center has been created as an online support center to empower Evolutionary Learning Communities (pdf) in the real world.

We use the metaphor of a tree to introduce you to the many ways in which you can participate with Syntony Quest in dialogue, learning, design and action. The trunk of the tree represents the guiding framework and the core principles of all our work. This framework or scaffolding, as we like to think about it, represents the process of Evolutionary Learning that takes place through five iterative and mutually supporting stages of the syntony quest:

—• Learning to learn

—• Evolutionary consciousness

—• Evolutionary literacy

—• Evolutionary competence

—• Evolutionary praxis

The Syntony Quest is a never ending journey of understanding focused on our role in the cosmos, on listening to the harmonies of change, and on learning to dance and co-create with them in an informed and conscious way.

This journey leads from evolutionary consciousness to conscious evolution – so that we can engage in the purposeful creation of systems of syntony. The emergence of an evolutionary consciousness implies that each of us embody the lived awareness of the dynamic web of interconnections of which we are a part. Consciousness of this sort is transformative. First, it gives us a sense of awe. The beauty and magnificence of our evolving cosmos, when heartfelt, is overwhelming. Second, it is more than a cognitive understanding because once you perceive the splendor of evolution and the responsibility that being an actor in the process implies, you cannot go back to old ways of thinking and old patterns of behavior. You just have to do something about it.

And here is where the journey gets interesting. Because now the purpose of our individual and collective existence focuses in - on learning to play our part and to dance the evolutionary dance, as well as out - on contributing positively and ethically to the emergence of new possibilities for future generations. The vision we gain through this bifocal perspective enables us to create the pathways that will allow us to live in partnership among ourselves and with our home planet. Of course, there are skills and competencies that we have to pick up along the way in order to do this effectively, but that’s all part of the Syntony Quest. That, after all, is what conscious evolution entails.

Learning to learn

Tell me, I forget.
Show me, I remember.
Involve me, I understand.
— Ancient Chinese proverb

One learns through the heart,
not the eyes or the intellect.
— Mark Twain

Learning to learn means preparing the ground; creating the conditions for unfoldment of the syntony quest. In order to become syntony questers, we first need to become lifelong learners.

Learning is a powerful process for transforming society. Learning to learn involves assuming the responsibility for our own development and freeing ourselves from the dependency of being taught. According to Bela H. Banathy in his book Systems Design of Education: A journey to create the future (1991), there are two types of learning: Maintenance and evolutionary learning. Maintenance learning is about acquiring fixed knowledge and available skills. Schooling usually focuses on maintenance learning of facts, formulas and history. And although it is very important, it is not enough in times of rapid change and global challenges.

The syntony quest calls for evolutionary learning, which is creative and future oriented. It is a kind of learning that calls for new ways of thinking, for collaborating, for developing our ethical intelligence to make responsible choices for ourselves and future generations in order to be proactive and strategic about our common future.

Here are some ideas and tools to help you become a lifelong learner:

Self-directed learning

Where do you begin? Start by reflecting on where you are and where you want to go, what you are and what you want to become. Then try to write down a learning objective: something concrete that you want to know, understand, change. Think big. Use the format of the learning contract [link to learning_contract.pdf in Resources] to aid you in developing a learning strategy. You can do an individual or collaborative learning contract. Sometimes having a learning pal – a friend, a partner – can be very helpful. And of course, getting together with others with the intention of learning together is the first step in creating an evolutionary learning community.

Pyramid of meaning

The pyramid of meaning [link to the Pyramid_of_meaning.pdf in Resources] is a framework that can be used to move consciously to higher levels of meaning creation. Use it as a tool to define your learning objectives using the learning contract suggested above.

Becoming a lifelong learner involves going beyond schooling. Formal education may have its place but it should not become the only legitimate way of learning. Live and learn.

You can get inspiration and ideas to empower yourself as a self-directed learner in the following books:

Bateson, May Catherine (1994). Peripheral Visions. New York: Harper Collins.

Banathy, Bela H. (1991). Systems Design of Education: A Journey to create the future. Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications.

Freire, Paulo (1997). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 20th. edition. New York: Continuum.

Glazer, Steven (Ed.) (1999). The Heart of Learning: Spirituality in education. New York: Jeremy Tarcher/Putman.

Gardner, Howard (1991). The Unschooled Mind. New York: Harper Books.

Holt, John (1989). Learning all the time. New York: Harper-Collins.

Knowles, Malcom S. (1980). The Modern Practice of Adult Education, Englewood Cliff: Cambridge.

Knowles, Malcom S. (1975). Self-directed Learning. Chicago: Follet Publishing Company.

Leonard, George (1968). Education and Ecstasy. New York: Dell Publishing.

Merizow, Jack (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Palmer, Parker J. (1993). To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.

Rogers, Carl (1969). Freedom to Learn. Columbus: Merrill Publishing Company.

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