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 time and depth with the process.
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 a "learning organization" the employees drive the learning content and the delivery methods most commonly offered. 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. It also drove employee performance and retention numbers through the roof as people found greater esteem, respect, 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 aptitudes 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 and 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 context.
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 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, vacation, and just getting it over with.
We need explorers. Children are natural explorers, but our dominant push-learning academic environments soon teach them 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.
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