Pedagogies of Connected Learning: Adapting Education into the Twenty-First Century
The development of connectedness between the school, community, and learners’ lives has occupied several educational reform efforts and progressive pedagogies at least since the early twentieth century (e.g., Dewey, 1998). It is, however, recently that th
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Pedagogies of Connected Learning: Adapting Education into the Twenty-First Century Kristiina Kumpulainen
The Importance of Connected Learning in Twenty-First Century Education The importance of connecting school learning with learners’ lives and communities has received increased attention among Finnish education researchers, policymakers and practitioners. National statistics show that there are more and more disengaged students who do not find school meaningful and relevant to their lives (Finnish National Board of Education, 2011). The disconnection between students’ lives in and out of school contexts is becoming dangerously wide (Kumpulainen et al., 2011). At the same time, social, economic, and technological developments have increased inequalities in students’ social and cultural capital (Andersen & Hansen, 2011). The Nordic school model based on equality and inclusion is being increasingly challenged (Telhaug, Mediås, & Aasen, 2006). In order to minimise practices of exclusion and disengagement, and to promote every learner to develop their strengths and potential, it is argued that formal education needs to better adapt to acknowledging experiences and forms of agency that learners bring to school from out-of-school contexts, such as, from their homes, after-school clubs, museums, libraries and science centers (Hubbard, Mehan, & Stein, 2006; Kumpulainen & Lipponen, 2010; Resnick, 1987). Further, it is seen as necessary that formal education starts to exploit more fully and systematically cultural resources, that is, funds of knowledge (Gonzáles, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) of communities surrounding schools (Bransford et al., 2006). Semi-formal and informal learning sites and their related practices, not least in terms of digital practices, are seen as key resources to develop learners’ twenty-first century skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009).
K. Kumpulainen (*) CICERO Learning, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland e-mail: [email protected] D. Hung et al. (eds.), Adaptivity as a Transformative Disposition: For Learning in the 21st Century, Springer Education Innovation Book Series, DOI 10.1007/978-981-4560-17-7_3, © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2014
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K. Kumpulainen
In addition to the importance of acknowledging learners’ out-of-school experiences in relation to formal education, we need to understand better what learners take with them from the school to other settings. Are our schools successful in providing students with opportunities to construct experiences, attitudes and knowledge(s) that are usable, relevant and productive outside the school? There is clearly a need for the development of pedagogical models, solutions and activities that can support learners’ meaningful and productive transitions and participation across formal, semi-formal and informal settings. The funds of knowledge developed in one setting should become resources in the other in order to increase learners’ inclusion, equity, and active engagement (Kumpulainen et al., 2011).
Developing Pedagogi
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