Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

Chapter 2: Adaptive Collaborative Management: A Conceptual Model • 35
and their relevance for research and rural development, Van der Veen
(2000) and Loevinsohn et al. (2000), however, usefully distinguish this
as ‘reproductive learning’ and note the differences between it and two
other types (‘experiences’) of learning—constructivist and transformative
learning (Box 2-5).
Box 2-5. Reproductive, constructive and transformative learning
Reproductive learning ‘assumes that there is a body of objectively verifiable
knowledge and that this can be taught by breaking down content into its essential
elements’ (Vernooy and McDougall 2003: 115). As noted by McDougall et al.
(2002:30), reproductive learning in many situations ‘plays an important role in
capacity building and shortening the time required to put … plans into action’,
but it alone is not sufficient for either individuals or groups in complex settings.
Constructivist learning, on the other hand, is rooted in the constructivist notion
of reality, explored above in this chapter. Drawing on Van der Veen (2000) and
Loevinsohn et al. (2000), Vernooy and McDougall (2003:115) note that this
approach is built on the assumption that ‘important features of the external
world are uncertain and disputed, and that people actively construct their
understanding of it. (Re)discovery and innovation, not repetition, are essential
parts of this construction process’. In practice, this approach manifests itself more
in the form of facilitated (rather than instructor-led) group work and shared
planning and action, such as might be seen in some collaborative management
projects.
The third learning approach we highlight here is transformative learning. Typically
characterised by an ‘ah-ha’ moment, this type of learning is
often stimulated by communicative (or constructivist) learning, but goes
beyond it, in terms of internalization and transformation of understanding
… In this approach, ‘learners’ together build a more integrated or inclusive
perspective of the world. Through the learning process, they jointly
transform some part of their worldview, for example their understanding
of social relations in their own community forest … Manifestations of
transformative learning in resource management include, for example, new
values or patterns of decision-making that farmers generate and apply
outside the immediate arena of a learning intervention … It intentionally
activates the ‘praxis’ (i.e., the theory and practice linkage that constructivism
highlights) as a means of (self-)empowerment for marginalised people and
improvements in human systems. (Vernooy and McDougall 2003:116)
This type of learning, which can be observed in some participatory action research
initiatives in natural resource management, can trace its roots back to the
conscientisation and ‘popular education’ movements for social change associated
with Paulo Freire in Latin America (Freire 1972; DFID 1998; Brandt 1989).