Jimmy Wales lanzó en el blog de Lawrence Lessig la predicción de que en unos años el curriculum será libre desde las escuelas infantiles hasta la universidad. La predicción de Wales no era sólo un deseo, la presentaba como una previsión basada en hechos objetivos. A raíz de la predicción de Wales se abrió un debate entre Stephen Downes, Rob Reynolds y James Farmer, algunas de las personas que más están trabajando para que esa predicción sea una realidad. El propio Rob Reynolds, en XplanaZine, resume la discusión y formula una propuesta de Manifesto for a Free Curriculum.
Para seguir el debate en orden cronológico podemos utilizar estos enlaces: Wales > Reynolds > Downes > Reynolds > Downes > Farmer.
Es importante entender que al hablar de curriculum se están refiriendo tanto a los contenidos de los programas de formación como a los soportes que utilizan los estudiantes (tradicionalmente los libros de texto, a los que se están uniendo otras posibilidades accesibles principalmente a través de Internet).
En general, todos están de acuerdo con esta afirmación de James Farmer:
Here's my take -- in 95% of cases curriculum is artificial, unhelpful and obstructive.
Rob Reynolds amplia la idea:
Learning is not about technology. It is not about institutions and administration. It is not about legislation and it is not about standards or practices. It is ultimately about the accrual of wisdom, about people helping other people grow up and grow out. In that sense, the only hope we have is the "free" curriculum because, as James points out, the rest is about something else.
Aquí reproduzco la que podríamos denominar la beta del manifiesto:
Manifesto on a Free Curriculum
Learning
1. Learning is a communal activity. Wisdom and valuable content are produced by groups of people and it is only with reference to those communities and their wisdom that we think, respond, and learn.
2. Learning is about content. The conduit for passing along the content that embodies our wisdom is irrelevant. A classroom is a conduit. Teachers are conduits. Technology is a conduit. No conduit is necessarily better than another. In fact, these conduits are inherent distractions from the real wisdom, the content. All conduits can be optimized to conduct the wisdom in the best way possible.
3. Learning occurs in open environments that foster organic growth. Learning is never a closed proposition. The Learning Curriculum cannot consist of courses in which all learners proceed, lock-step, towards a common destination. Learners must have open access to the Learning Curriculum at all times and be allowed to work through as much of the Curriculum as possible.
4. Learning can occur without teachers but not without community.
5. Learning is never "send only." It is a two-way proposition. It is not about one person talking and another listening. it is dialogue, dissonance, and growth.
The Learning Curriculum
1. The Learning Curriculum is the content every society needs to pass along its important knowledge and wisdom from generation to generation. Its primary purpose is to help young people learn and actually accrue wisdom over their lifetimes.
2. Access to the Learning Curriculum is a fundamental human right. Therefore, the Learning Curriculum must be free. A Free Curriculum that is community-driven is the only way to ensure consistent evolution of societies and our only hope for world peace. Only if we focus on learning and open inquiry -- as opposed to knowing and imposing our knowledge -- can we solve problems such as world hunger, violence, injustice, and racial prejudice.
3. The Learning Curriculum is dynamic and, as such, must be constantly informed by the community it serves and must change as their needs change.
4. The Learning Curriculum is necessarily a community responsibility. It is not something individuals, governing bodies, or commercial entities can prescribe or create. The real Learning Curriculum will be the product of people of many roles in a society -- student learners, teachers. mentors, parents, leaders -- cooperating with a common vision for passing along that society's important wisdom and the skills necessary to acquire and accrue that wisdom.
5. The Learning Curriculum is flexible. There is no fixed Learning Curriculum for the world, for a given country, or for a particular society. There may be agreed-on wisdom and content that these communities use as a baseline of important knowledge and inderstanding at any point of their evolution. The application of that content and wisdom, however, always allows for individual application and flexible extension.
Estoy básicamente de acuerdo con todos los puntos del manifiesto, excepto con parte de los puntos 2 y 4 del "learning curriculum". En mi opinión estos dos puntos contienen posturas ideológicas discutibles y que no son necesarias para la defensa de la propuesta. Mis críticas las situaría en dos aspectos: 1) plantea como deberían (obligatoriamente) ser las cosas, no como podrían ser sin eliminar otras alternativas; 2) supone que este modelo va a solucionar muchos problemas (hasta el hambre en el mundo); no tengo tan claro que esto sea así y tampoco creo que sea preciso que un curriculum libre sea la solución a todos los males para que sea beneficioso y deseable. Aún así, el manifiesto globalmente constituye un buen punto de partida para la reflexión.
