We believe:
- The learner is not only a consumer of third-person knowledge. Learning from a first- and second- person perspective in real-world contexts puts the “learner into the driver’s seat of profound societal change” (Sharmer, 2018). Deepening self-knowledge can occur through the inquiry-based process of wonder, explore, design, apply.
- Embodied, experiential learning allows for the ‘movement of the inner place of learning from the head to the heart, and from the heart to the hand”. Building on that we see the cultivation of profound learning relationships to nature and to social fields as gateways to the deeper sources of knowing (”the fourth teacher”). (Sharmer, 2018b, p. 5)
- Systems literacy is central to Generating Collective Wisdom; learners must learn methods to make the system see and sense itself. This is the core capacity to unlock collective creativity (Sharmer 2018) ; “all societal sectors go through similar institutional changes: from perpetuating systemic silos to cultivating generative social field in the context of their eco-systems. Learners need to be literate in facilitating this shift.”
- Mentors and co-learners can support “Tend the Fire: To patiently elicit and draw out the unique qualities and expression of each person with perseverance and in support of his or her highest possible future. (Sharmer 2018)