A Philosophy of Learning and Education — Focusing on the Role and Importance of Conceptual Models

The foundational idea for this philosophy of learning and education is that all humans can learn. Humans organize sets of knowledge and skills into conceptual models; the conceptual models are both explanatory and predictive. Physical, motivational, and social factors affect the rate and depth of learning, though all humans are capable of learning a wide array of knowledge and skills. Education is the formal process of learning the conceptual models for sets of knowledge and skills; if this process works well, formal education produces humans with broad and deep conceptual models for knowledge and skills.

All humans can learn.

The foundational principle in my philosophy of education is the idea that all humans can learn. Although there are social, emotional, and physical factors that affect the rate and depth of learning, all humans are capable of learning a wide array of knowledge and skills. The ability to learn — and share our learning! — is a fundamental part of being human, allowing humans to change their internal and external states individually and coordinate with other humans on a larger scale.

Humans organize sets of knowledge and skills into schema, building schema into conceptual models.

Humans organize the information for sets of knowledge and skills by constructing their own…