Enhancing creativity and

innovation in adult education

to make lifelong learning a

reality.

Bram Bruggeman

World Teachers’ Day

EPALE_Be

Brussels, 5th October 2017

teacher secondary education ~ teacher adult education

~ teacher trainer ~ innovation/ICT

~ burnout ~ school adviser provincial schools Flandres

Context of current society and adult education

Clarity in

concepts

Paradox as

pedagogical

design

open vs closed

individual vs group

with or without tech

silent vs dialogue

Brain

& thinking

Best of

both worlds

~ professional

awareness

A priest was driving. He saw a nun on the side of the road.

He stopped and offered her a lift. She got in and crossed

her legs, forcing her gown to open and reveal a lovely leg.

The priest could not resist and he carefully placed his

hand on her leg.

The nun looked at him and immediately said, "Father,

remember psalm 129?“

The priest was flustered and apologized. He forced himself

to remove his hand and continue the ride. However, after a

while, he again let his hand slide up again. The nun once

again said, "Father, remember psalm 129?" Once again the

priest apologized. "Sorry sorry sister, but the flesh is

weak.“

Arriving at the convent, the nun got out, gave him a

meaningful glance, and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to retrieve

a bible and looked up psalm 129.

It said:

"Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.

Always be well informed & keep sharpening your knowledge

or you’ll miss great opportunities …

Context of our current

society

5

UNESCO:

Today over 6 billion people have access to a connected

mobile device and for every one person who accesses

the internet from a computer two do so from a

mobile device.

6

Huh??

New laws on adult education

Merging of centres for adult education

Less amount of adult students

Structural changes

School culture …

We live in highly exponential

and uncertain times.

Volatile – Uncertain –

Complex and Ambigue

Is this good or bad?

It’s neither good, nor bad, it

just is what it is ...

Both sides have possible

advantages.

But it tires our brain and

our-selves!

World Health Organization estimates that by 2020,depression is the most common disease in Western countries.

Creativity

NOT:

creativity with

the small c …

BUT:

A capacity to change

the fundamental way

we see, understand,

appreciate the world

or do things.

Where do you get

creative ideas?

Our nervous system can only process about

110 bits of information per second.

Listening to someone speak takes up about

60 bits of neurological ‘bandwidth’ …

Innovation?

Looking differently ~ mindshift

The only way ‘out’

is the way ‘in’

Structural or creative tension

The paradox in a

learning space

open versus closed

individual versus group

silent versus dialogue

technology versus old-skool

DM

Learning environments

Integration of technological objects

IN

The problem with most current learning environments is not the technology but the mindset of those who develop it …

Dichotomous thinking

Brain stem – Little brain and cortex

Our brain is not made

for ‘thinking’…

Thinking is slow,

effortful and uncertain

“People are naturally

curious, but we’re not

naturally good thinkers.

Unless the cognitive

conditions are right,

we will avoid thinking.”

Daniel Willingham

Learning environments should focus on:

Adequate information of the environment.

Room in working memory.

The required facts and procedures in

long term memory.

21st Century19th Century

Best of both worlds:

Mind-wandering &

Connectedness

Knowing what you do, why you

do it, in dialogue with others.

(Professional awareness)

“If we want to grow as teachers –

we must do something alien to academic

culture: we must talk to each other

about our inner lives –

risky stuff in a profession that fears

the personal and seeks safety in the

technical, the distant, the abstract.”

Parker Palmer

Literature-references

Bommerez, J. (2007). Minder moeten, meer flow.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Flow: psychology of the optimal experience.

Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man's search for meaning.

Geraerts, E. (2015). Mentaal kapitaal.

Palmer, P. J. (2017). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life.

Palmgren, C., & Hagan, S. S. (1999, April). Chicken Conspiracy: Breaking the Cycle of Personal Stress and Organizational Mediocrity.

Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why don't students like school?

Slides available on https://www.slideshare.net/brambruggeman/