Safe [?] LEARNING environments LO12533

Bill Harris (billh@lsid.hp.com)
Thu, 13 Feb 97 9:28:20 PST

Replying to LO12517 --

>>"just what does the word 'safe' mean in the context of learning?"

Several are beginning to discuss 'safe' as if it might _not_ be a
characteristic of a learning environment, but someone provided an anecdote
of people studying to become comedians in which 'safety' was apparently
positively linked to learning and success. So what gives?

I happened upon an article by Chris Argyris yesterday ("Initiating Change
That Perseveres", in American Behavioral Scientist, January, 1977, pp.
299-309) that seemed to help me differentiate. Argyris certainly doesn't
advocate what many might call 'safe' environments. However, I feel a lot
of personal support for idea that the attacks mentioned regarding training
a budding comedian were counterproductive.

The key from Argyris's work is perhaps, "The second, and very important,
step is that embarrassment and threat are not bypassed. Rather, they are
engaged and serve as the basis for productive reasoning and double-loop
learning." I don't see the attack on the budding comedian as being done
in that light, but I (from experience) do see that learning of the sort
Argyris describes is full of conflict and pain and embarrassment. A
difference is that Argyris is _not_ proposing coercion. People have the
right to break off when the intensity is too great. People are still
allowed free will.

Bill

--
Bill Harris                             Hewlett-Packard Co. 
R&D Engineering Processes               Lake Stevens Division 
domain: billh@lsid.hp.com               M/S 330
phone: (206) 335-2200                   8600 Soper Hill Road
fax: (206) 335-2828                     Everett, WA 98205-1298 
 

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