Editor's Note


Learning, unlearning. The two go so well together. Like coffee and cream. Rice and curry. Or broken teeth on blood curdle. The last image is a way of invoking the ?violence? of learning/ unlearning, which is all too often either overlooked or covered over by sunshiny images we attach to learning/unlearning. No doubt, learning/unlearning is good for us in the same way that vitamins are good for us too. What is missing in the former scenario, however, is the ?violence? dimension of what it really means to learn/unlearn.

We tend to forget that learning/unlearning is never a detached activity. Real learning/unlearning is always inextricably tied to our sense of ourselves and the world around us. We repeatedly create, destroy and recreate who we are inside as we learn/ unlearn, so much so that we are in a sense what we learn/unlearn in emotionally, cognitively and spiritually complex ways.

This issue is all about learning/unlearning ? the challenges, the rewards, the resistance, the difficulties, the blood, sweat and tears. All these apply not only to our learners but also, perhaps more so, to us as educators. The Editorial Team has certainly benefited from revisiting learning/unlearning while preparing this issue and we hope you will too.



Dr David C.L. Lim

Chief Editor

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In my opinion, tutors should regard our learners as:

Experienced in learning techniques and capable of studying on their own
 
Experienced in learning techniques but still need to be guided in some areas
 
Adults who need to relearn some concepts
 
New to learning techniques and need to be guided
 
 
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