Category: Readings

Article: Falk, J. H. (2005) Free-choice environmental learning: framing the discussion.   Environmental Education Research, 11:3, 265-280, https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620500081129

 

 

Free-choice learning (FCL) is something I have been conducting for some time now without having had the ‘correct’ terminology to describe it. As a mature student completing my degree for interest rather than as a compulsory part of schooling or work, I am very much a free-choice learner. I choose to spend the resources (in terms of time and money) doing this degree with no real expectation as to the end result other than self-improvement. The key points I took from this reading were as follows:

• Free-choice learning is effectively the non-compulsory learning experiences where the learner has a deal of control over the fundamentals of said learning: the how/why/what/where and when (p.265).
• All visitors (to a museum for example) will learn something from their visit, but that something may not be what the institution wanted or expected.
• People undertake FCL for more than one reason: self-improvement, value creation, fulfilling personal intellectual/emotional needs (p.266).
• Most learning, especially environmental learning, occurs outside of formal schooling (p.266).
• The more the work/school/family/elective spheres of environmental learning overlap, the greater the learning success will be.
• There are 3 core constructs at play: learning, free-choice learning and learning infrastructure.

Learning

Learning is difficult to define; it incorporates many parts of the brain and varied bio-chemical/electrical/mechanical stimuli. Each person learns differently even when presented with the same stimuli:

People [learn] through a constant process of relating past experiences to the present, connecting what is happening in the present to what has happened in the past… Learning is a dialogue between the individual and his or her social/cultural and physical environment; learning is a contextually driven effort to make meaning in order to survive and prosper in the world.¹

Learning is:

• highly personal
• non-linear
• idiosyncratic
• contextual
• a process
• informed by prior knowledge
• a product
• time-consuming
• cumulative
• collaborative
• social
• sociocultural

Asking questions to gauge the learner’s take-home education from a learning experience often misses the point; instead of asking ‘what did they learn?’ we should be asking ‘how did their learning today contribute to their overall experience?’.

Free-choice learning

As already covered, free-choice learning occurs when the learners have significant and meaningful control over their learning. It is important to note that while the physical context is relatively important, the settings/institution are not significant factors:

there is no convincing evidence that  the fundamental processes of  learning differ solely as a function of the physical setting… there is no basis to assume that open-ended, optional, inquiry-based experiences within a school setting are somehow fundamentally different from open-ended, optional, inquiry-based experiences at a nature center. (p.271)

This implies that there is no real need for terms such as formal/informal/non-formal – learning is either free-choice or it is not and can occur in any setting or institution (p.271-2).

FCL challenges the top-down mass market curricula imposed by statutory educational institutions which will be of increasing importance as we transition to a knowledge-based socio-economic culture (p.272).

Infractructure for FCL

Mark St John: formal educational system & broader FCL as parts of the same larger educational infrastructure. ²

‘The educational institutions that help to provide citizens with current and accurate knowledge and information, whether it is about health, politics, economics or the environment, form the fundamental backbone of the knowledge economy. ‘ (p.274).

Interest on its own however does not have enough momentum to enculture an environmentally aware populace; you need both interest and an infrastructure in place because FCL is not a ‘once and for all’ thing you can pick up in early schooling and then never revisit (p.274-5).

Quality FCL opportunities not only need to be accessible to learners from all social demographics, but those learners need to be aware that said opportunities exist in the first place (p.276).

I am aware that this post has gone on for some time so I think I’ll end it here and post my thoughts on it when I’ve had chance to think about what Falk is saying.