Human Learning and Study Circles

Reflections on a Fascinating Enterprise for Personal and Social Development

Resumo

Collective progression requires well-functioning social communities with members promoting respectful interaction with each other. Communities such as social networks are characterized by sparse or dense communication, weak or strong intimacy, high or low hierarchy among its members.
Symmetric communication rests on a foundation of universal values, such as tolerance, reciprocity, and trust. These values assign importance (or value) to relationships. They constitute essential civic virtues for a viable social life, and are often used both as means and as ends in education. After all, education is emphatically considered to be a solution to all sorts of problems. However, the issue at stake is that people have conflicting perceptions of what a problem is, for whom it is a problem, and what the possible solutions should be. How could an educational programme be designed so that it recognizes the participants’ ability to think for themselves and values their life experiences, as well as empowering them to act in an informed and democratic way in order to improve their life chances and the society they live in? The purpose of this paper is to put forward pedagogical reasoning about adult learning, informed by the Swedish tradition of Public Adult Education (“folkbildning”). One of the characteristics of Swedish Popular Education is the “study circle”, a learning method for self-directed and participation- based learning. Study circles, as well as other educative activities, are organised by autonomous state-funded Study Associations and are open to all adults. Another attribute of Swedish popular education is the strong bonds between the Study Associations and civil society organisations concerning organisational and membership education. The pedagogical underpinnings of study circle participation as a means for emancipatory collective learning and creation of social capital will be elucidated and reflected upon. Additionally, an attempt will be made to investigate the challenging question of whether the experience of Swedish folkbildning can be a model for non-formal adult learning and community transformation in other countries.