Thinking in Complexity about Learning and Education（关于学习和教育的复杂性的省思）

　　Ton Jorg Ph.D.

　　(IVLOS Institute of Education, Utrecht University, Netherland)

　　The presentation poses the question if the Newtonian Paradigm isoutdated in the field of learning and education. History has shown that reality can be taken differently from a scientific point of view. To put his question differently: How far are we from a shift of paradigm in the field of learning and education? The speaker will start his presentation with some recent developments about this shift of paradigm in this field. Present paradigms are based on physicalism and linear thinking and linear causality. They neglect theinherent complexity and nonlinearity of educational reality. They are therefore not able to develop an in-depth understanding of this complex reality. To formulate an adequate theory of learning and education we should take the complexity of reality into account, to be able to grasp the inherent complex processes of learning in education. To do so, we may need a new language and lexicon. The essential turning point is to break away from nonlinear learning that may happen by chance, to making nonlinear learning happen in and over time.

　　Affiliated as educational scientist and evaluation researcher at the University of Utrecht since 1982, Dr. Ton Jorg has worked for different departments. In 1970 he did his B.Sc. in Physics and Math. In 1970 he started to study Psychology. He did his Master in 1977. Since 1982 Dr. Ton Jorg is affiliated as educational scientist and evaluation researcher at the University of Utrecht for different departments. In 1994 he did his Ph. D. As an educational researcher, he was involved in different international and national educational projects. More recently, he has developed a new perspective of thinking in complexity about the reality of learning and education, for the development of a new culture of education. Together with Prof. Brent Davis and Dr. Goele Nickmans, he wrote a Position Paper about this topic in the international journal Educational Research Review, which led to a continued discussion in this journal. This year, a special issue is devoted to this topic in the online journal "Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education", with a discussion around his contribution "Thinking in Complexity about Learning and Education: A Programmatic View". Next year his book will be issued by Springer Publishers, in the series "Springer: Complexity" with the title "Thinking in Complexity for the Social Sciences: A Transdisciplinary Approach".

　　Ton Jorg博士，荷兰乌得勒支大学IVLOS教育研究所教育研究科学家。主要研究方向为复杂性理论、复杂性理论在教育中的应用、教育研究方法论。

　　时间：2008年5月27日（周二）下午2：00－4：00

　　地点：北京大学电教楼207