Thoughts on Learning Webs

After reading Deschooling Society, particularly the chapter on Learning Webs, I thought about how to implement Illich's idea. He imagined a system of decentralized, democratized skill exchanges, where someone who knew a skill, regardless of formal credentials, would be able to share it with others.

Each citizen would be given a basic credit with which to acquire fundamental skills. Beyond that minimum, further credits would go to those who earned them by teaching, whether they served as models in organized skill centers or did so privately at home or on the playground. Only those who had taught others for an equivalent amount of time would have a claim on the time of more advanced teachers.

He envisioned centers where people could engage in informal teaching and learning, with access to tools and other resources. It might look like today's "maker spaces", only less like a private club, and certainly without any profit motive.

The next system would be a peer-to-peer service:

The operation of a peer-matching network would be simple. The user would identify himself by name and address and describe the activity for which he sought a peer. A computer would send him back the names and addresses of all those who had inserted the same description. It is amazing that such a simple utility has never been used on a broad scale for publicly valued activity.

In its most rudimentary form, communication between client and computer could be established by return mail. In big cities typewriter terminals could provide instantaneous responses. The only way to retrieve a name and address from the computer would be to list an activity for which a peer was sought. People using the system would become known only to their potential peers.

A complement to the computer could be a network of bulletin boards and classified newspaper ads, listing the activities for which the computer could not produce a match. No names would have to be given. Interested readers would then introduce their names into the system. A publicly supported peer-match network might be the only way to guarantee the right of free assembly and to train people in the exercise of this most fundamental civic activity.

Obviously, this system seems crude, technically, but you can imagine how easily it could be implemented with today's technology. A couple of years ago, I started the process of doing that, designing a simple site where anyone could register their interest in a topic and be matched with others who share that interest, with a geographical area. Similar sites already exist, like meetup.com or even dating sites and apps. But I'm not aware of any service designed to match learners. And I definitely doubt that there are non-commercial services like this.

As with other ideas I've had, I realized that the technical solution is just a small part of the equation. There are social/cultural factors to deal with.

First of all, any system like this depends on a certain critical mass. People won't register their interest if nobody else in their area knows about the site. That means there has to be some sort of campaign to advertise or educate people about the existence of this new system and new paradigm for learning. That's the other problem – people are so accustomed to schooling that it's difficult for them to understand how to behave differently. In Illich's ideal world, we would all feel empowered to seek out resources, mentors, and teachers who can help us to learn the things that we're curious about. Nothing would be force-fed to us. Unfortunately, I think most people expect every learning opportunity to look something like compulsory schooling, and they don't know how to take the initiative to teach themselves a skill.

I think people are also more skeptical of meeting strangers than we might've been in 1970. Does the idea of meeting a new person at a cafe to talk about a Borges book sound completely far-fetched? If so, you may be a victim of decades of Neoliberal propaganda.

And how do you address the problem of an acculturated lack of curiosity? Make "Deschooling Society" required reading in schools? I have no idea.

Can you imagine this part of Illich's vision?

Peer-matching facilities should be available for individuals who want to bring people together as easily as the village bell called the villagers to council. School buildings— of doubtful value for conversion to other uses— could often serve this purpose.

"As easily as the village bell called the villagers to council" – a quaint memory. Villagers barely get along, these days.

I still think the system is a good idea, though I wonder if the time when social conditions were ripe for it has passed. When most people are in a constant survival, fight-or-flight mode, they're not going to have the initiative to broaden their mental horizons. Even as the need for basic skills increases, it seems like people aren't able to pull themselves out of a rut and chart a different course.

I could be wrong though... I hope to be able to help to build such a network of learning, if the conditions ever allow for it to emerge.