Why learning is not a cycle: 2 ‐ developing pattern

Continues from part 1, published in Issue number 2, its critique of learning styles. States the need to take seriously the concept of “pattern” ‐ the unvarying design or master plan underlying variation. Patterns consist of rules that link and sequence elements as a system. The order created is dynamic and complex, but not as apparently organized as the learning cycle/circle/wheel/spiral. The use of pattern helps reveal deep aspects of learning. Through pattern we also discover perspectives, sense and meaning; thinking is patterns of connected ideas. Both patterns and thinking are mental plans. Thinking approaches to learning are excellently suited to handling the uncertainty, ambiguity and contentious nature of “wild” problems before attempting “tame” solutions. Three methodologies meet basic criteria for understanding wild problems. They shed light on the puzzling and dangerous phenomenon of treating wild problems as if they were tame ones ‐ “reorganizing the deck chairs on the Titanic”.