Public school teachers’ experiences of profound learning

• Main Authors: Davin Jules Carr-Chellman, Michael Kroth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts) 2019-10-01
• Series: AS: Andragoška Spoznanja
• Subjects: Profound learning, profound learner, profound living, profundity, teachers as lifelong learners
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/AndragoskaSpoznanja/article/view/8216

Teachers play a fundamental role in the democratic process by forming an educated populace. Of our many different expectations of teachers, teacher-as-lifelong-learner is among the most neglected. Our basic research questions are: what are teachers’ perceptions of profound learners and profound learning experiences. Through an in-depth focus group with public school teachers, the purpose of this study was to build our understanding of teachers-as-learners by exploring these two questions. Based on this research, the qualities of a profound learning experience include: growing, emotive, disruptive, real, irreversible, either positive or negative, social, opening, and surprising. Profound learners, according to themes which emerged: have depth of thought, are emotionally wise, take life seriously, are adventurous in thought and deed, are unbounded, and are humble. Through a constructivist lens, these qualities direct us to the following findings: profound learning is non-dualistic and holistic, is a cumulative process, and is integral to the complex role of structural identity.