Teaching is old-fashioned; Collaborative learning is state-of-the-art

We have had developments in the art of teaching adults. We have new research and ideas. So then why are we teaching people the same way we have always done? The learning research of the last 50 years keeps repeating: adults are not to be taught as kids, interactivity and learner autonomy improves learning. Why on earth are we still in the Stone Age when it comes to teaching?

Let’s be honest here: today lecturing is still the prevalent way of having adults learn. The most we can get is “interactive” lectures, which are still one-way communication based on the assumptions of an old model. When will we throw this old-fashioned model away and start from scratch? Why do we prize the latest technology for computers but despise it for adult learning and human interactions?

I am often exposed to the old-fashioned ritual of training that is still prevalent today. It does not work, at least as well as it could. Collaborative learning uses the power of a group to bring about learning. It acknowledges the latest research on adult learning that favors handing over the stick of the learning process to the learners themselves. Revolutionary? Hardly since the ideas and its supporting research has been around fro half a century. Hard to implement? Evidently.

Asking "Are there any questions?” at the end of a lecture does not change the dynamics. Why do you think people hardly ask any questions after this tip of the hat to collaboration? They have been shown throughout the lecture that their input does not count, so they do not give it. Traditional teaching is about having answers for questions. Collaborative Learning is about questioning reality and the answers that you have. Together.