The Learning Center Learning Heritage
The Learning Center believes that theory and practice inform each other. For us, theory without practice is weak but practice without theory can be dangerous. The Learning Center learning programs are informed by theory and enriched through practice. Our learning content balance theory and practice so that learners may attain the optimal outcome. This balance enables us to offer an integrated learning model which facilitates learning, growth, performance, and success. To balance theory and practice, The Learning center finds inspiration in the Tree of Newkirk, a model of learning steeped in the heritage of philosophic thought and strengthened by the force of psychological insight.
Using the Tree as a guide to growth and performance, one begins at the bottom and works upward flowing from left to right. Thus, the Path of Human Experience flows to the Path of Human Growth which leads to higher experience which, in turn, leads to higher growth, and so on until a person achieves wisdom in action. To achieve this high state of performance, one must have mastered applied knowledge. Commitment empowers the entire process of growth. Without commitment, growth stagnates.
THE TREE OF NEWKIRK
The Epistemology of Learning -
The Road to an Architecture of Learning.
The Transphenomenality of Education and the Antithesis of Indoctrinated De-Education.
ENABLED BY APPLIED KNOWLEDGE EMPOWERED BY COMMITMENT
A secure personality leads to: Wisdom in action.
Intellectual maturity leads to: Secure personality.
Mature wisdom leads to: Intellectual maturity.
Critical judgment and not criticism leads to: Mature Wisdom
(critical judgment is participative - how to think).
Authentic self-esteem and not the Public Relations
Personality Syndrome leads to: Critical Judgment
Personal humility leads to: Authentic self-esteem.
Reflective self-awareness leads to: Personal humility
(You are no more or no less than what you really are.
The theologian would say that we are no less nor no
more than what God knows we are. Socrates urged:
"Gnothi Seauton," "Know Thyself").
Informed opinion leads to: Reflective self-awareness.
Educated opinion leads to: Informed opinion.
Simple opinion leads to: Educated opinion
(Simple opinion is reactive; it is derived from being
taught only what to think rather than how to think).
Personal opinion leads to either: Personal growth, intelligence, and the path to simple opinion or Invincible ignorance, the path to collective and personal prejudice.
PATH OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE PATH OF HUMAN GROWTH
Epistemology: From the Greek word "episteme" meaning knowledge. Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which studies the "Epistemological problem" - does humanity know anything, if so, what does it know, and how does it know it? This branch of Philosophy studies the pre-suppositions of human knowledge and attempts to validate the laws of logic and define their range of human reason.
Transphenomenality: From the two Greek words, trans and pheanoeumeanous, meaning across things. It is a term applied to the existential analysis of the world in view of people, things, and events. The concept of Transphenomenality describes that in which everything has its being, in which everything exists. We exist in something and this something is our total world limited only by subjective experience. Hence, the "transphenomenality of the self" is responsible for humanity’s ultimate, individual "weltanschuaang," meaning, "total world view."
"The role of V-Learning is to integrate the applications and solutions of self-directed learning with a competence-based, intuitive learning architecture as a foundation to build the core abilities of knowledge analysis, synthesis, application, judgment and valuation through intellectual and personal development to improve performance."