Robert asks where we are going. Jo values opening up a new layer
of possibility. Steve reassures us that if a de-constructive
position is entered then no destructive scene emerges because one
or another sense of freedom and creativity emerges.

So it seems we have shifted from an old dialogue of A vs. B
(process vs. outcome) to a win-win position in which As and Bs
get together and celebrate C - the new layer of possibility,
freedom and creativity.

James suggests we chuck black and white (A and B, process and
outcome) in the trash can in our struggle to understand the
phenomenon of learning.

To answer Robert, I think we happen (just now) to be exploring
what C might be - which might conveniently stand for Creative
approaches to doing research in this field. Maybe there are good
examples we can already refer to? Maybe there are good examples
in other fields of research where enquiry has moved out of A vs.
B?

I like what C promises, but it seems very much like leaving your
troubles behind while heading off on an escapist adventure. I
think C might be more fulfilling and rewarding if we keep A and B
in the frame. Understanding history can help us move on. Without
such understanding we will simply have As and Bs all dressing up
as Cs with little change except the clothes.

I enjoyed the C-thinking in your message James:
''Process evaporates at every instant into outcome - but what is
outcome?  It is dead unless it lives on into the next instant as
part of new process.  Process and outcome are married partners,
snakes on the head of Medusa, push-me-pull-mes from Dr. DoLittle,
a defining tension, or a simplistic human construction as we
struggle to understand the phenomenon of learning.''

But if we are trying to ''understand the phenomenon of learning''
this seems to call for phenomenological enquiry which I have
(until now, at least) associated with qualitative research about
processes. I admit that I have a lot of unsticking to do before I
can enter the inviting world of C that promises to be creative
and constructive.

James, you ask: ''We go on an OE trip, plug ourselves into some
experience, and come back.  What has happened?'' 'Plug' is not a
metaphor I would choose. I don't see experience as something 'out
there' that comes in through a plug and a wire. Human minds are
NOT small and simple. Our minds are active players in what we
experience. I associate the plug metaphor with the traditional
didactic education image of the jug filling the mug with facts.
The plug metaphor seems to be about filling the mug with
experience.

But we do all seem to be heading in a new and interesting
direction, even if we are leaving a bit of a mess in our wake.

Roger Greenaway
Reviewing Skills Training
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http://reviewing.co.uk