People who've been talking about feral learning - Pam Hook (Artichoke)

Learning communities as cryptoforests   
posted by Pam Hook on  March 23rd, 2011 at  Artichoke

Wilfried Houjebek’s Cryptoforestry blog looks for “forests in cities” and for “cities in forests” – a purpose I want to adopt as I travel around different places working with schools in New Zealand.
He describes cryptoforests as a “cultural and not a biological way to classify nature”.
And claims that “the recognition of a cryptoforest is a visionary act, not a mechanical operation: there is no machine vision here.”

1) Feral forests (Planted tree zones, for instance along motorways, that have been allowed to become wild to the point that their wildness is outgrowing their manmadeness.)
2) In limbo forests (Tree-covered plots that feel like forests but technically probably aren't; states of vegetation for which lay-language has no name.)
3) Incognito Forests (Forests that have gone cryptic and are almost invisible, forests in camouflage, forests with a talent for being ignored.)
4) Precognitive forests (Lands that are on the brink of becoming forested, a future forest fata morgana.)
5) Unappreciated forests (Forests regarded as zones of waste and weed, forests shaming planners, developers, and the neighbourhood. NIMBY forestry.)  

It is a lovely way of looking at forests – one that allows us to more widely imagine what the connection between human systems and natural ecosystems might be.
And it makes me want to look at "learning" and “learning communities/networks” in a similarly "visionary" way.

1) Feral learning communities (Learning communities, for instance associated with a prior event or a conference, that have been allowed to become wild to the point that their wildness is outgrowing their manmadeness.)
2) In limbo learning communities (Imposed or artificially populated teacher learning communities that feel like learning communities/networks but technically probably aren't; communities formed to meet a contract outcome; states of networking for which lay-language has no name.)
3) Incognito learning communities (Learning communities that have gone cryptic and are almost invisible, communities in camouflage, communities with a talent for being ignored.)
4) Precognitive learning communities (Communities that are on the brink of becoming learning communities, a future learning community fata morgana.)
5) Unappreciated learning communities (Learning communities regarded as zones of extremism, immaturity, irresponsibility, belligerence, anecdote, and romanticism; communities embarrassing those with institutional authority, policy writers, politicians and curriculum developers, and the neighbourhood. NIMBY learning communities.)

I can identify examples of each but it is likely I will not understand these learning communities fully until I find a way to join them.

One of the comments posted in response on

 March 29, 2011 botts says...

I love the idea that a learning community could be feral. That it could become so wild and entangled that it no longer resembles whatever it was that it originally resembled.

In Australia, the biggest danger of the feral forest is that it might catch alight and as the tangled, heavy, uncontrolled underbrush burns, the canopy above explodes with a violence not unlike a war zone. As the canopy explodes, the burning embers that are thrown into the air get blown forward ahead of the fire, sometimes for many kilometres, and when these embers touch down new fires are created. When this happens we start describing them as wildfires and wildfires are extremely dangerous and unpredictable, fast moving and incredibly hard to stop.

Imagine working with students who’s learning is dangerous, unpredictable, fast moving and incredibly hard to stop.

I want to see my classes go feral. I want to feed them with the passion and energy that comes from knowing that everywhere around us is the chance to learn, that all knowledge should be grabbed and grappled with and turned into usefulness, that everyone around us has knowledge that could be gleaned, that everyone of us has knowledge that should be shared, that not knowing is simply an excuse for finding out.

I’ve spent years reading and studying the “right” way to teach and learn. I have regurgitated countless thousands of words on proper controlled educational environments. I have university degrees that declare that I have mastered the understanding of how to appropriately disseminate knowledge to those who would come to listen to my outpourings of know-it-all told-you-so lock-step lessoning. But I’m not convinced.

The more I explore the fringes of learning, the more disinclined I become to believe that we have it right. I want to deconstruct and tear down and grant freedom. I want to lose control and give back power. I want to give permission to go feral.