Fides,
You wrote, "That's why I would rather talk about learning than unlearning...
Does this make sense?"
It makes sense to me. When I work with clients, I use the principle of
addition. I don't try to take away anything they do or know. I try to add new
behaviors that they can choose to use instead of what they used to do.
I assume that whatever people are doing, they're doing it because it worked (or
they believe it worked) at some time in some context. If I were to ask them to
"unlearn" that behavior (if unlearning is even possible), they wouldn't have it
available if the original context occurred again, and they wouldn't have it as a
choice if what I'm "teaching" them fails.
So I offer additions. I can add:
* A deeper understanding of their intentions. (Obviously, I can't tell
people what their intentions are. I ask questions that encourage them to become
more deeply aware of their intentions.)
* Feedback about the results of their behavior in the current context.
* Information the client can use to distinguish the here and now from the
context in which they originally learned their behavoir.
* Other possible behaviors. (I usually do this as a last resort. People
usually come up with new possibilities on their own as we talk about their
intentions, the results, and the context.)
People always make the best choice available to them. If I add a new choice and
the believe it's better, they'll do it. I don't need to take away their old
behaviors.
Dale
--Dale Emery <72704.1550@CompuServe.COM>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>