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Ben Gunn, social extension, and implications for learning

22 September 2013

I have recently read a very interesting article where a journalist has interviewed Ben Gunn. In a nutshell, when Ben was 14 years old he killed another boy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Hi behavior while in jail was all but good, and 10 years were extended to the point where he was only released when he was 42. What is interesting about this is that while he was in jail he not only graduated from college, but went on to a MSc and started a PhD. In his blog he raises a fascinating discussion by lively describing situations he faced while in prison, making us question whether our prison system is doing society a service or just simply educating people to be better criminals than they were before getting into that system. His text is simply superb, which attracted the attention of not only about 20 thousand followers but also of newspapers and tv channels that now have Ben serving as an expert consultant every time an issue about the prison system is brought up. Here is the full interview.

That whole story is already interesting in and of itself, but in the interview Ben raises a point that I find simply fascinating. He claims to be lost after having left prison, since he doesn't understand the rules by which people play. Rules while in prison were clear, but outside why do we do the things we do? In other words, if you are a blogger with 20 thousand followers and consults for major news channels, why does it matter? In other words, what is the rat wheel in which society places us all to make us believe that the goals set for ourselves are worth pursuing? The interesting thing is that by Ben being an outsider and already an adult, it will be hard for him to buy into these fictitious reasons we keep fabricating for ourselves to get us out of bed in the morning. Ideas of meaning in our careers, or an ultimate goal that we keep pursuing.

I believe that the rat wheel/meaning topic is relevant for learning in at least two ways:

  1. Social extension: No matter much we might believe that we are individually in charge of our own goals, we are not. What is perceived to be an individual goal of mine is almost certainly something that I inherited from society, society making me believe that my goal is worth pursuing. One interpretation then is that learning has to happen in a social context. It's not enough to learn a skill or simply absorb information. Learning has to happen in a context that will make that information or skill to have our so desired sense of meaning. This can be accomplished by reinforcing the skills and information with a social context that will provide a role model and help student set their individual goals that are in reality social goals
  2. Ability to get out of the rat wheel: A different goal is to provide students with the ability to perceive that what might seem as an individual goal is in reality something that society makes them perceive as individuals, but which in reality is imposed. Now, it would be naive to think that learning could provide students with the ability to be free from societal influences. After all, we're humans and our nature seems to be to follow the flock, but perhaps an education that would at least give us a hint of what it is to think outside of the rat wheel would be a good thing ... or lead to a huge anxiety level.

by Ricardo Pietrobon

About Me

My name is Ricardo Pietrobon and I am interested in big data and situated cognition applied to immersive distance education.