Table Of ContentSELF MANAGED LEARNING AND THE
NEW EDUCATIONAL PARADIGM
Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm proposes revolutionary
change to the educational system. The overwhelming research evidence is that the
sum total of educational and training input accounts typically for only 10–20% of
what makes a person an effective human being.
Balancing theory, evidence and practice, this ground-breaking book demon
strates that current structures in education are ill-equipped to support a learning-
based approach. It establishes the case that learning, as a core human activity, is too
important to be left to schools and other educational institutions. The book goes
beyond just a critique of current practice in showing how a New Educational
Paradigm can work. Self Managed Learning College (for 9–17 year olds) has no
classrooms, no lessons, no imposed timetable and no imposed curriculum. This is a
place where students can learn whatever they want, in any way they want and
whenever they want. And it works – as evidenced by the lives of former students
and from academic research. Dr Ian Cunningham, its founder, draws also on his
extensive work in using Self Managed Learning in many of the world’s largest
organisations to show how this new paradigm can be put into practice.
The book blends the unequivocal research evidence that we need a New Edu
cational Paradigm with a real live demonstration of what it could look like. It
should be essential reading for anyone wanting to see how a new approach to
education can be achieved.
Dr Ian Cunningham is a former Chief Executive of a business school and head of
an international learning and development consultancy. He is the founder of Self
Managed Learning College, Sussex, UK.
SELF MANAGED
LEARNING AND THE
NEW EDUCATIONAL
PARADIGM
Ian Cunningham
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Ian Cunningham
The right of Ian Cunningham to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cunningham, Ian, 1943-author.
Title: Self managed learning and the new educational paradigm / Ian
Cunningham.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020015124 (print) |
LCCN 2020015125 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367219659 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367219666 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429269066 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Self-culture. | Independent study. | Continuing education.
| Adult training. | Organizational learning.
Classification: LCC LC32 .C86 2021 (print) | LCC LC32 (ebook) | DDC
371.39/43–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015124
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015125
ISBN: 978-0-367-21965-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-21966-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-26906-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Taylor & Francis Books
CONTENTS
List of illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Preface ix
1 An introduction to the basics of Self Managed Learning 1
2 An introduction to Self Managed Learning College 12
3 The centrality of learning 30
4 History and background 49
5 An evidence basis for action 67
6 Some evidence and a response to this evidence – with a focus
on schooling 80
7 The wider evidence about learning and education – and its
implications 105
8 The experience of Self Managed Learning 128
9 The roles of adults 144
10 Some conclusions and some directions 158
Index 168
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
9.1 Model of roles 146
9.2 Designing a space 150
Tables
1.1 Traditional schooling paradigm versus New Educational
Paradigm 9
10.1 Traditional schooling paradigm versus New Educational
Paradigm – a reprise 166
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In mentioning some people here, I am particularly keen to recognise and give thanks
to those who have supported our work at Self Managed Learning College. Getting
the College going and keeping it going has been a real collaborative effort and that
needs recognising. I have learned a great deal from so many people that it’s impos
sible for me to acknowledge all of them here. Much of what I have learned has
come from other people’swritings – some of that is reflected in the references in this
book, and I hope that other authors who read this will recognise my debts to them.
Other learning and support has come from direct contact with people and I will
mention some names here. I want to start with special thanks to Anne Gimson and
Graham Dawes, who are long-standing friends, and in this context have been
brilliant readers and commentators on this book. They have read it all and given
me great feedback.
The people who I have worked with in Self Managed Learning College and our
parent charity the Centre for Self Managed Learning have been important to me.
The students I have learned from are too numerous to mention. As to the adults,
current staff of the College includes David Lilly, Lars Schuy, Joe Allen, Jason Pegg,
Julie Eren-Wilson, Charlie Dunkerton, Eleanor Mayne and Claire Parkman. They
have been important in believing in this work and making it happen. They have
developed work initiated by their predecessors in our College, including Gillian
Trott, Alison McDonagh, Barbara Benson, Nicky Sankey, Jan Jemson, Paloma
Hanlon, Bec Garland, Tanya Bartlett and Dan Benson. The latter people made
certain that we progressed Self Managed Learning, even in difficult times.
The College is supported by dedicated trustees and governors, without whom
we could not function. Specifically Sam Story, Liz Barlow, Ben Bennett, Vikki
Mathews, Avis Carter, Moira Nangle, Emma Dean and Gavin Emsden have pro
vided me with great support. A special mention is due to our president, Rose
Luckin, for many valuable conversations about learning.
viii Acknowledgements
Outside our College and charity, I have had many stimulating dialogues with
lots of people over the years. Yaacov Hecht deserves thanks for persuading me to
work with the schools attached to the Institute for Democratic Education in
Hadera, Israel, and allowing me to show, for the first time, that Self Managed
Learning works in schools. Michael Fielding was similarly crucial in letting me set
up Self Managed Learning programmes in English schools and for his enthusiastic
energy in supporting these. Of the senior leaders in schools who have shown par
ticular interest and help with developing Self Managed Learning have been Andrea
Hazeldine and Gayle Adams. They took real risks to trust me and my colleagues to
work in their schools, and for that I am extremely grateful.
Nationally there have been valuable allies from two specific organisations.
Firstly, Peter Humphreys of the Centre for Personalised Education has led the fight
for real change in education and his help with our College has been invaluable.
Secondly, Danny Whitehouse and Sally Hall and their team at Phoenix Trust –
and also through the Freedom to Learn network – are carrying forward what I am
calling a New Educational Paradigm, and have been great allies of the College.
Two other national figures also deserve a thank you. Harry Gray and John
Burgoyne are based in the Lancaster area and are pushing forward with ideas and
activities. Harry is a long-standing friend and colleague from the early 1970s and
has always offered a clear vision of what education should be like. John provided
me with great help while I was doing my PhD at Lancaster University and has
remained a friend since.
Internationally, Jerry Mintz has been an amazing stalwart figure who undoubt
edly has more knowledge of radical educational activity than anyone on the planet.
His organisation, the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO), is a
crucial node in a global network. He has been personally supportive of me and my
work in England from his office in New York.
Lastly, I need to thank my family. My son, David, and my daughter, Lucy, have
taught me more about learning and education than they probably realise. Jane, my
wife, has been with me all along with this current book and it could not have been
done without her.
PREFACE
This book is about Self Managed Learning and its part in what I am labelling a
New Educational Paradigm. In this preface I want to try to indicate my choice
of particular concepts and ideas, and a language that goes with that. I hope that
this will help the reader in recognising that there is a reason for my choice
of language, even if the fuller rationale for these terms lies in the main body of
the book.
Self Managed Learning
My late wife, Caroline, and I invented the term ‘Self Managed Learning’ in 1979
as we searched for an appropriate label for the approach to learning that we were
developing. I use SML (Self Managed Learning) in capitals to distinguish the pro
cesses we developed from the use that has grown of ‘self managed learning’ as a
generic label for a range of vaguely learner-centred approaches that are not specific
about the kind of processes that will be described in this book. We were careful to
pick the label and did extensive searches to see if anyone had used the term already
and there were no published sources that had used Self Managed Learning by
1979.
New Educational Paradigm
A paradigm is a tricky concept in that many have used the term since Thomas
Kuhn popularised its use in 1962.1 His book was about scientific revolutions. The
idea is that in ‘normal science’ there are agreed ways of working, an agreed lan
guage, agreed problems that researchers work on, how experiments should be
conducted and what should be observed and measured and what predictions would
