Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Group Cognition as a Foundation for the New
Science of Learning
Gerry Stahl
College of Information Science & Technology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA,
e-mail: gerry@gerrystahl.net
“It takes a village to raise a child.” This ancient African proverb reflects the direct
bearing of social relations on learning. In pre-industrial society, the individual,
family-of-origin, extended family, clan, tribe, village and culture blended into one
another almost seamlessly. With the rise of capitalism, the individual was uprooted
from its social ground and celebrated as a free spirit—in order to compete unen-
cumbered on the labor market (Marx, 1867/1976). With globalization, the forces of
production require information-processing tasks that exceed the capabilities of indi-
vidual minds, necessitating the formation of well-coordinated knowledge-building
teams. Thus, Hillary Clinton's use of the proverb (Clinton, 1996) not only looks
back nostalgically to a romanticized past of homogeneous villages and neighborly
towns but also reflects the realities of our increasingly interconnected global village.
The nature of learning is transformed—along with other aspects of human social
existence—by societal upheavals. But our thinking about learning lags behind these
changes. Furthermore, the evolution of social institutions is uneven, and past forms
linger on in confusing mixtures. So our theories of learning, founded upon popu-
lar conceptions or “folk theories” (Bereiter, 2002), confuse individual, group and
community characteristics, while still exalting the individual learner.
It is time for a new science of learning because, as Bob Dylan already announced
to the youth social movement of the 1960s, “the times they are a-changin'.”
Foremost in our reconceptualization of learning must be a recognition not only of
the role of the (post-modern) village, but also of the often ephemeral small groups
that mediate between the tangible individual learner and the insubstantial com-
munities within which the learner comes to participate. Imagine the gatherings of
friends who listened to Dylan's lyrics together, forming cadre of the new age awak-
ening around the world a half century ago. The interactions in these peer groups
contributed to the new identities of the individuals involved as well as of their gen-
eration. Creative ways of thinking, making meaning and viewing the world emerged.
