Push vs. Pull Learning

PUSH.  PULL.  It seems like such a small difference.  Two letters.  That's all.  Just change the "SH" to a double "LL" and you have a different word.  It's no big deal, right?  Well, actually, it is a big deal.  When it comes to learning, the difference between Push and Pull is enormous.  Like... as-far-as-the-east-is-from-the-west enormous.  

We are all raised in a predominantly Push Learning culture, and most of the world's learning systems are based on Push Learning.  It got here first and set up camp.  So, it rules, right?  Well... maybe for now, but hopefully not for long.

Ever hear the saying, "everybody loves to buy, but nobody wants to be sold"?  Well, that's because we don't like having our freedom of choice influenced by someone else's idea of what they think we should do.  The same is true in learning.  Everybody loves to learn, but nobody likes being taught.

Push learning happens when an outside source or authority selects curriculum for a learner.  It comes with an implied understanding that "You need to learn this," or, "You have to learn this."  In a teacher-centric learning system, like most schools, the push learning methodology reigns supreme.  But, it also goes against the natural course of a mind's learning process.

The human mind is designed to learn on an opt-in basis.  The person controls motives and reasoning for learning.  When the person is genuinely interested in learning, they learn faster, retain the information longer, and are more likely to integrate the knowledge into their overall knowledge base, creating stronger "cognitive connection points" for future learning.  When the student is not actually interested, the information is pushed on them the same way a new food is forced on a child before they want to try it, the same way an in-law pops in for an unexpected visit and stays too long.  When pushed, the person naturally resists the experience and decides to minimize their interest, use of, and retention of the subject matter... creating minimal effectiveness.  Also, since the experience is a negative one the associative meaning given to it by the mind creates a built-in dysfunction working against any use of the information in the future.  Despite all of this, the enormity of such a flawed learning strategy is still marginally overcome by students trying to get ahead in life.

Pull Learning is based on the Adult Learning Theory.  It centers on the learners' decisions and preferences about learning, their relationship to the meaning of the content, and the ultimate value of the curricula.  In organizations that have evolved their learning strategies from "mandated training classes" toward becoming an actual "learning organization" the employees drive the choice of learning content based on what will best help their job performance.  They also indicate which delivery methods are most effective or preferred, and the company responds by "learning and changing" according to these inputs that come directly from the learners themselves.  These organizations realized that providing learning opportunities as a means to greater job success, and associate relationships that value the exchange of knowledge as a means of increasing overall company performance, gave them an increased ability to compete in the marketplace.  It also drove employee performance and retention numbers through the roof as people found greater esteem, respect, advancement, and satisfaction as added benefits of working there.

In academic environments the same principles apply and have a similarly positive effect on the learners' successes.  Students that have chosen a college major that fits their future interests and current apptitudes end up more highly motivated and willing to do the extra work that achieves better grades.  But, there's more.  Students who are truly interested in what they are studying extend their gaze into peripheral knowledge and associated applications of theories.  Instead of just doing the minimum, they end up doing much more.  They read the whole article instead of just the point they need to find.  They call experts in the field and ask pertinent questions.  And, they get excited about the way it all comes together.  They are reaching their thoughts out into the field of knowledge and pulling information into their minds. This way of learning greatly increases their "preferred knowledge base", which in turn increases their "associative knowledge base" and its enormous correlative relevance.  For example, we may be able to easily learn the stitching pattern on a baseball, but when we learn more about the game and the dynamics that occur between an experienced pitcher and an experienced batter, we then understand the use of the stitches for aerodynamics and competitively changing the ball's trajectory from pitcher to plate.   Associative knowledge and correlative relevance create fuller understanding and enhance the context to create huge opportunities to increase performance.

Using the pitching metaphor a little bit more... the kid who is throwing and throwing may eventually stumble upon the use of the stitching, but if he is the product of a deeply "Push Learning" environment he may end up waiting to be told what he needs to know. He may end up frustrated because no one is teaching him how to pitch; no one is pushing the needed knowledge his way.  In a "Pull Learning" environment he would already be aware that there is a huge ocean of knowledge out there and he might take it upon himself to research on YouTube for videos, and then articles, and then on the manufacturing process and the specs on thread thickness and air-grip tendencies.

Pull learning is learner-driven and therefore becomes an extension of the internal composition of the person.  Their identity becomes vested in "getting what it wants" and owning their destiny.  Being able to choose what path to follow gives students confidence they are able to go anywhere they want to in life.  The pitcher who doesn't even get a minor league contract out of high school may end up going to college to study aeronautics because of his interest in wind-drag, or if he was from a "Push Learning" school he might end up lost and confused after high school wondering what to do with his life since baseball didn't work out and no one is telling him what to do.

The push learner becomes resistant to the process and will actually shut down their own sense of interest.  The game of power and control (especially in young children) becomes about minimizing their submission to the imposition of authority.  There is no inner satisfaction without an inner decision to "want to" learn the material.  Without the "want to" as a source of empowerment, looking for the extra ways to apply the lessons and learn peripheral material don't even come up.  Without the interest that comes from a desire to learn the material, the learner's inner goal becomes "escape, excuse, avoid and when does summer vacation start.  Like a bad trip to the dentist, they just want to get it over with.

In order to lead the world into new and improving social conditions, better global economic balance, and a political community  of unity instead of warfare, we need explorers.  Children are natural explorers.  Just watch the ones who haven't gone to school yet.  They climb to see if they can.  They ask "Why" because they might get an answer.  They study a leaf and a caterpillar with fascination.  They want to know things... many things.  But, it is our dominant push-learning academic environments that soon teach them to stop looking beyond the edge of their desk; that learning is not about exploring. 

We need adults who believe learning is fascinating.  But, our system drives them into years and years of being conditioned to see learning as a sacrifice of their freedom to choose, a submission of their thinking to another's idea, and accepting the belief that what they find interesting doesn't lead anywhere valuable or useful.  We are teaching our children to hate learning.

You can see it in your own experiences. Figuring out an answer to your own question is satisfying, isn't it?   How often do you like being taught something you didn't decide to value?  When we push learning onto people we push learners away, and when we allow them to reach out and pull learning towards them, they end up excited about pulling new knowledge into their minds for the rest of their lives.