Enhancing Intelligence and Learning

      Learning More Intelligently 

                                             and Learning to be More Intelligent

An Exploration of “Orders of Learning”

by Rev. Alia Aurami, Ph.D.

Head Minister, "Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church

Can we learn more or less intelligently? Can we learn to be more intelligent?

Philosopher-psychologist-social scientist Gregory Bateson identified different kinds of human learning which vary in complexity of what is learned.* They also vary in the results of the learning. He bestowed a great gift on the world with these distinctions, because many people have unfolded them and elaborated on them very usefully in a variety of contexts which you can explore by searching. (See some references below.) I plan to continue to study all this.

This blog article is my own exploration of some characteristics of “orders of learning,” and how they might be related to developmental Tiers a la my understanding of Spiral Dynamics and Integral Theory  – and how the two questions above might be answered “Yes.”

Very approximately, we might say that 1^st-order Learning is learning of knowledge; 2^nd-order learning is learning how to learn; 3^rd-order learning is learning how to learn how to learn. Or, to paraphrase the old saying, 1^st order learning is learning to fish; 2^nd order learning would be about how to be a better learner of how to fish; 3^rd-order learning would then be about how to learn how to be a better learner of how to fish.

In developing from Tier to Tier, the way a person habitually learns, probably changes as well. It could be very useful to know more about that, both for observation of others and for self-knowledge. 

 

The following article is a taste sample to whet your appetite for further checking out these notions. Most of us focus on WHAT we learn, and here let’s explore HOW we learn. The emphasis here is on conscious and subconscious strategies we employ when we are learning. 

 

As you will see in the chart below, this is all quite relevant to spiritual development, as "Third-order Learning" is, in my view, primarily accessible to people who are more spiritually open.

The list of references below suggests there are beginning to be investigations of the correspondence between developmental stages (any framework) and the various iterations of and elaborations on “Three Orders of Learning.” The following list is my own concoction and speculations. This article is a brainstorm. It is undoubtedly full of conflations, inconsistencies, lack of parallels, overgeneralizations, artificial or invalid distinctions, and untruths. It is loosely based on, but not limited by, sources listed at the end of this blog. These are my own characterizations and not an explanation of others’ definitions of the orders of learning or of the Tiers in Spiral Dynamics/Integral Theory. It’s highly likely many of them would not agree with much of what I say.

As with everything I write, the purpose of this list and blog entry is to offer food for thought, to spur motivation for further checking out of these concepts, and to stimulate further co-creativity and research of any kind. I am less interested in being right/truth and more interested that people adapt and use these ideas. 

 

Though assertions are made below, my level of certainty for any of them is relatively low, as this is all speculation. In particular, I am not satisfied with the descriptions in the first column because I feel they don’t do justice to the richness of infant learning. 

Please add comments with people and places where you are aware of research being done on these kinds of learning.  And add your own notions of best ways to consciously go about 2^nd and 3^rd order learning! I invite you to descend on this and start rewriting it! I want comments which say “No, I think what you said is incorrect and here’s why I think xyz is more accurate.”

Note that my framework is developmental, so “transcend and include” is crucial. We cannot function well in the world without access to each form of learning where it would be most appropriate for our purpose at hand, and all kinds of learning take place at all ages and stages, most likely.

I recognize this chart contains, for each order of learning, a mixture of descriptions of

• ·         observable characteristics of that order of learning,
• ·         subjective experiences of that order of learning, and
• ·         strategies for getting to or carrying out that order of learning.

The analysis could be further expanded in a variety of ways.

In my view, any individual’s movement through these orders of learning is maturational. It is not a value or moral matter, and it is contextual with their practical needs and general stage of consciousness-development. However, I believe 2^nd and 3^rd order learning can be encouraged and fostered by a good teacher, at any developmental level. In a way, this would involve undoing a lot of restrictiveness on natural learning processes, imposed by our educational systems. Most of what we learn in life, especially “before school,” is not “taught” to us. If it needed to be taught, humanity would be far less developed than it is!

General possibilities:

There are differences in approaches to learning. Knowing and being able to use them, makes a person more intelligent. They are useful for being more effective and efficient at anything one does (do more with less!)

We can begin to explore possible relationship between orders of learning, and developmental stages/tiers.

I suspect that the higher the order of learning, the more intelligence that is required to engage in it, and the more intelligence it creates in return, in a positive-feedback loop. And yet, when one looks at infant learning, there is a natural intelligence operating which too often gets “unlearned” in our formal learning situations.

This graph might be expanded to 3-dimensional if we were to try to include the sequence of kinds of learning which Piaget teased out in his stages of cognitive development in children.

The “aspects” explored below are a random choice from among all the existing aspects. They are not presented in any particular order.

Aspects of Learning/ Learner i	1st Order Learning/     First Tier Learning	2nd Order Learning/ Second Tier Learning	3rd Order Learning/ Third Tier Learning
Scope of Awareness Involved	Direct and subconscious without any meta-awareness, completely “subject” and no “observer or witness” of the process of learning	Meta-awareness via “witness consciousness”	Meta-awareness of meta-awareness; consciousness of being conscious, and can work with that as an “object.” Learning becomes a multi-layered recursive process which can be consciously or “super-consciously” engaged in.
Effect of Scope of Awareness Involved	Act “instinctively” to mimic, memorize (actually the result of complex interaction of nature and nurture)	Witness/observe one’s own learning process itself, to improve it and tailor it to situation. Whom to model is selected more consciously, and what to mimic is selected more consciously. “Learning styles” are identified and incorporated as important.	Seeks and is open to new learnings/knowings brought in as hunches, inspirations, intuitions. Less emphasis on formal or deliberate “learning” and more on spontaneous speaking and acting based on access to Kosmic** Intelligence.
Concept-Formation, Learning Differences and Similarities	Learn to see differences and similarities which leads to formation of concepts Learning to see and understand the significance of various similarities and differences for the purpose at hand.	Learning what distinctions to look for in which kinds of situations for which purposes of the learning. Learning THAT similarities and differences are what to learn to see, and learning which ones are likely to be most relevant to particular kinds of situations. Can select heuristic frameworks for purpose in context.	Aware of multiple feedback loops, recursion patterns, etc. and can prioritize and use these for purpose. Selection of similarities and differences includes those of dynamic patterns. Selection is intuitive, spontaneous and adjusted to needs of the moment.
Search strategies	Search is constrained by what is already known. Little knowing of what one doesn’t know; no importance given to that.	Formulating different search parameters/algorithms for contexts. Knows what one doesn’t know.	Is aware of the category of things we don’t know we don’t know, and constantly moving things from there into the category of things known as not known. Searching is a constant mode of operating in openness and contemporary inquiry.
Motivation to learn	For the youngest, learning and life are synonymous, as described in column 3. For those older, what is learned can be internally or externally motivated Often, there is learning in order to do something in particular, or because one is expected to learn.	Motivated to learn what is of practical use, and partly for the enjoyment of knowing more.	Learning and life are again synonymous. Particular motivations sometimes operate. There is joy in all learnings. Learns whatever arises unpredictably which could be learned. No “in order to” – learns because learning happens.
Trial and Error Learning	Trial and error: relatively random/subconsciously-generated choice of trial and shallow analysis of implications of error	Trial and error informed by a sense of which trial is more likely to succeed, based on generalizations from past. Diversity in trial behaviors is consciously generated. Implications of errors are consciously studied.	Open to “just knowing” the how or what of something without history of prior learning it in this lifetime. Even, expecting that knowing will emerge into awareness or action, as evoked by the purpose and situation.
Relation to Definitions	Definitions come from dictionary or authorities or social sources, often subconsciously held. Learning is both verbal and nonverbal.	Recognizes and uses “differential definitions.” Definitions are contextualized for purpose and heuristic.	High tolerance for ambiguity. Paradoxes, inconsistencies, opposites are held as resolved or resolvable, especially when the simplicity beyond complexity becomes clear, and that is sought. More learning is less verbal. Definitions are seen as valid for the moment and purpose, and as flowing and highly integrated with other factors.
What changes after learning	Behavior, ideas, tactics, beliefs, abilities, skills, competencies	Specific strategies, approaches, principles, frameworks are learned. More perspectives are accessible and can be selected among for relevance to purpose. Can work with groups which use multiple perspectives.	Learning how to do 2nd Order Learning, which includes being able to prioritize the relevance of frameworks, etc. Letting a Larger Intelligence of the group and/or Kosmos operate to select content and strategy of learning at a given moment.
Social contexts of learning	Mostly individual; mob “contagion;” directed by teacher; play alone or with others	Interactive with others. Aggregate collective intelligence seen as possible and useful, and can be developed and worked within. Group play. Role-play.	Mostly individual yet emergent collective intelligence seen as possible and useful, and can be developed and worked with. Works with groups via influence on worldviews, paradigms, gestalts, felt-senses, and perspectives on perspectives. Emergent collective intelligence, and effects of “field of consciousness” outside of space-time limitations. Cf “Trial and Error” above.
Learning of Principles	Sequence and organizing principles followed unconsciously.	Sequence and organizing principles are settable by purpose and context; they are learned consciously and generalized.	Works with wholes and interrelated fields of energy, nonlinear, multi-dimensional patterns and flows.
Generalizing	Generalizes subconsciously.	Learns how, what, and when to generalize; learns the principles and variables which guide good generalization-making; uses conscious strategies of generalization.	Generalizes based on seen and unseen variables, but intuitively rather than subconsciously; still learning principles of generalizing; does not need to consciously know strategies or basis of generalizations being made.
Relation to Creating	Different from creating. Learning is intake; creating is expressive.	Felt and experienced as related to creating, but hard to articulate how. Can learn practices for being more creative.	Hard to even distinguish learning from creating. Can creatively learn how to be more creative.
Importance of Group to the Learning Process	Directly important most of the time, but individual learning takes place too, perhaps especially at younger ages.	Group is relationally important, but not essential	Group is indirect. In fact, the whole notion of “learning” blurs because whatever is needed, is available in consciousness.
What Is Learned is Determined by:	Necessity; happenstance; social and cultural pressure or expectations; job requirements; family pressure; human drive to play-to-learn, and novelty-seeking for “random” trial and error, undirected learning	More choice of what to learn. More likely to be following interests and creative impulses.	“Choiceless choice:” the Larger Intelligence of Life and the situation influence what is learned. Often, learning is spontaneously done ahead of when it turns out to be needed or relevant.

* From Wikipedia article on Bateson: Deuterolearning. A term he coined in the 1940s referring to the organization of learning, or learning to learn:^[22]  ^ Visser, Max (2002). Managing knowledge and action in organizations; towards a behavioral theory of organizational learning. EURAM Conference, Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Stockholm, Sweden.

** “Kosmos” is Ken Wilber’s term for the cosmos which includes not just physical phenomena but also all phenomena of consciousness

The following are related references you might want to explore:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_learning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_organization 

contains reference to to triple loop learning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_psychology#First-order_and_second-order_change

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Starbuck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

Search results page within Wikipedia for “Second order learning:”

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Second+order+learning&title=Special%3ASearch

Search results page within Wikipedia for “Triple loop learning” http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Triple+loop+learning&button=&title=Special%3ASearch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocracy

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1411045&show

Search results page on Internet for “Triple loop learning”

https://www.google.com/search?q=triple+loop+learning&aq=f&oq=triple+loop+learning&aqs=chrome.0.57j60j0l3j61.6761j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

http://managementhelp.org/misc/learning-types-loops.pdf really good

http://www.thorsten.org/wiki/index.php?title=Triple_Loop_Learning really good analysis and exploration

http://mlq.sagepub.com/content/43/3/291.abstract 

meta to the whole concept, and critique of the concept

http://cogprints.org/6161/  excellent and broad

http://www.breakoutofthebox.com/transchange.htm  Concepts of orders of learning, combined with Enneagram typology, by Dr. Mary Bast

 by Rev. Alia Aurami, Ph.D., Head Minister, Amplifying Divine Light in All Church

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" is a completely independent church fostering empowerment of people to co-create loving, thriving God-realized lives, and wellbeing for everyone, on a clean, peaceful Earth.

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission. 

This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore a central and essential part of our exercise and practice of our religion. 

None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.

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