학습과 앎에 관한 비서구적 관점(New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2007)

학습과 앎에 관한 비서구적 관점(New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2007)

Non-Western Perspectives on Learning and Knowing

Sharan B. Merriam, Young Sek Kim

웃어른의 의견은 옳다. 모든 권력과 모든 진실은 가족의 뿌리인 돌아가신 선조로부터 나온다. 이것은 줄기라 할 수 있는 웃어른을 거쳐서 가지와 잎과 꽃이라 할 수 있는 부모와 아이에게 전달된다.

The elder’s opinion is truth. All power, all truth comes up from the roots of the family tree, the dead ancestors, to the trunk, the elders, and passes up to parents and children, the branches, leaves and flowers.

—Hamminga, 2005, p. 61

이러한 이미지가 묘사하는 것과 같이 아프리카에서 지식과 진실에 있어서 중요한 것은 그것이 나이와 경험의 산물이라는 것이다. 이러한 관점은 "서구에서 주장을 확신시키는 전략과 상반되는데, 아프리카적 관점에서 '주장'이란 '취약함', '무력함', '활력'이 부재함을 의미한다. 좋은, 강력한 진실이란 굳이 주장하지 않아도 되는 것이다. 진실은 주장하는 것이 아니라 느껴지는 것이고, 말하는 자로부터 나오는 힘이다."

As the image conveys, what counts as knowledge and truth in an African context is deeply embedded in the community and is a product of age and experience. This view is in contrast to “the western strategy of convincing with arguments. From the African point of view, arguments are a sign of weakness, of lack of power and vitality. A good, forceful truth does not need arguments. . . . Truth is not argued for but felt . . . as a force coming from the speaking human” (Hamminga, 2005, p. 61; emphasis in original).

세계화와 비서구 세계

Globalization and the Non-Western World

지구의 한 부분에서 일어나는 일은 다른 편에도 영향을 준다.

There can be no doubt that what happens in one part of the world today affects the rest of the world.

"세계화가 가져온 변화의 소용돌이속에서 어떻게 나아가야 할지 그 방향을 찾아나가지 않는 교육 시스템이란 존재하지 않는다"

Indeed, “it would be difficult to find an educational system in the world that was not in the midst of a navigational solution in the turbulent waters of change that globalization has brought about” (Hilgendorf, 2003, p. 72).

소위 서구 지식이라는 것은 상대적으로 근래의 현상으로, 최초에는 식민지를 통해, 이후 세계화를 통해 퍼져나갔다. 고전적 그리스석 사고와 같이 서구의 지식은 다른 시스템/우주를 완전히 무시한 것은 아니더라도 여기에 관심을 두지 않은 것은 사실이다. 

So-called Western knowledge is a relatively recent phenomenon, first spread through colonization and then through globalization. Anchored in classical Greek thought, the dominance of Western knowledge has resulted in nonattention to, if not outright dismissal of, other systems, cosmologies, and understandings about learn- ing and knowing.

서구와 비서구라는 용어는 문제가 있는데, 무엇보다 이러한 이분법적인 방식이 매우 서구적이라는 것이다. 또한 수많은 토착민들이 서양 국가에 산다.

The terms Western and non-Western are of course problematic, begin- ning with the fact that setting up dichotomies in the first place is a very Western activity. Further, many indigenous peoples live in Western coun- tries.

우리가 비서구적 이라는 용어를 사용할 때 우리는 '토착(indigenous)'지식 시스템을 포함한다. 많은 도착 문화의 공통점은 "개인을 자연의 부분으로 본다. 웃어른의 지혜를 공경하고 되살린다. 삶과 죽음, 그리고 미래세대를 중히 여긴다. 책임과 부와 자원을 지역사회에서 공유한다. 영적 가치과 전통을 감싼다. 상위 위계, 문화, 지구와의 연결성 속에서 행동한다" 와 같다.

Encompassed within our use of the term non-Western are what are known as “indigenous” knowledge systems. Dei, Hall, and Rosenberg (2000) identify these characteristics as common to many indigenous cul- tures: “Seeing the individual as part of nature; respecting and reviving the wisdom of elders; giving consideration to the living, the dead, and future generations; sharing responsibility, wealth, and resources within the com- munity; and embracing spiritual values, traditions, and practices reflecting connections to a higher order, to the culture, and to the earth” (p. 6).

비서구적 관점에서의 배움과 앎.

Learning and Knowing from Non-Western Worldviews

여러 사람들이 비교했다. Burkhart는 서구적 패러다임을 "무엇이 그러한 것"이란 명제로 정의했다. '명제적 지식'은 진실이고 영구한 것으로 여겨진다. 토착 지식은 우리가 경험으로서 아는 것이다. "우리와 함께 하는 지식"이며 "지식에 세겨진 것"이다.

A number of writers have compared Western and non-Western or indige- nous knowledge systems. Burkhart (2004) points out that knowledge in a Western paradigm is defined by propositional statements, that is, “‘that something is so’” (p. 19). Propositional knowledge is usually written, con- sidered true, separate from the self, and permanent. Indigenous knowledge is that which we know in experience; it is “the kind of knowledge we carry with us.” It is “embodied knowledge” (p. 20).

서구와 비서구 사이에 지식이 근본적으로 다르다는 것은 지식이 어떻게 구성되는지, 사람들이 어떻게 배우며, 어떻게 하는 것이 가장 잘 가르치는 것인지, 즉 알아야 할 것을 잘 가르치는 방법이 무엇인가에 대한 차이를 가져온다.

The notion that knowledge itself is fundamentally different in Western and non-Western systems leads to a difference in how knowledge is con- structed, how people “learn” and the best way to instruct, that is, enable people to learn what they need to know.

학습은 공동체이다.

Learning Is Communal.

너 없이 나는 없다. 라는 책의 제목처럼 비서구 국가에서 이러한 생각은 공동체 행위 뿐 아니라 학습과 한 사람의 정체성에 대해서도 마찬가지이다. 이는 미국 원주민의 "우리가 있어 내가 있다"라는 생각과도 같다.

There Is No Me Without You. Indeed, not only is learning a communal activity in many non-Western countries, so too is construction of one’s identity. This same idea is echoed in Native American thought: “We are, therefore I am.” Burkhart (2004) explains:

In Western thought we might say that my experiences and thoughts count more than your experiences because I have them and you cannot. But if we are WE, then this constraint seems rather trivial. The hand may not have the same experiences as the foot, but this hardly matters if we understand them not as feet and hands but as this body. If it is through the body, or the people, that understanding arises, then no one part need shape this understanding [p. 26].

이러한 공동체적 관점에서 학습은 공동체의 모든 구성원의 책임이다. 이를 통해섬나 그 공동체가 발전할 수 있기 때문이다.

From this communal perspective, learning is the responsibility of all members of the community because it is through this learning that the com- munity itself can develop.

• This notion of community and interdependence plays out in a Buddhist worldview as a form of systems theory wherein in a work setting it is impor- tant “to look at the interrelationships between ourselves, our clients, and other members of the organization. Buddhism recognizes that nothing exists in isolation; everything and everyone is the product of the interactions between other things and people” (Johansen and Gopalakrishna, 2006, p. 343).
• The Hindu worldview extends this notion of community even further. In writing about the Hindu perspective on learning in the workplace, Ashok and Thimmappa (2006) point out that “individuals, organizations, society, the universe, and the cosmos are all interrelated and integrated. The devel- opment of human resources is thus viewed in terms of facilitating the individual to realize oneself and to understand the intricate relationship between the individual and his or her role in the organization, the role of the organization in the society, society in the universe, and the universe within the cosmos” (p. 329).
• The individual then, does not learn for his or her own development, but for what can be contributed to the whole. In some cultures, our Western notion of personal independence and empowerment is considered immature, self-centered, and detrimental to the group (Nah, 1999). So intertwined is the individual with the community that isolation or expulsion from some communities is considered to be “worse than dying” (Hamminga, 2005, p. 59). The goal of this lifelong learning society is the very Confucian ideal of creating a harmonious society.

학습이 공동체의 책임인 것이라는 것에 더하여 일부 비서구 시스템에는 배운 것을 공유하는 것을 의무로 여기기도 한다.

• In addition to learning itself being embedded in the community and for the enhancement of the community rather than the individual, in some non-Western systems one has an obligation to share what has been learned. In Islam, for example, “if there is no medical doctor to serve a community, then it is obligatory upon the community to send one or more of its mem- bers for medical training, and failure to do so will result in each member sharing the community sin” (Kamis and Muhammad, 2007, p. 28).

학습은 평생에 걸친 것이며 형식이 없다.

Learning Is Lifelong and Informal.

무슬림

“Muslims believe that God’s knowledge is infinitely vast . . . like a drop of water in the sea; one can never complete acquiring it” (Kamis and Muhammad, 2007, pp. 34–35). This belief translates into Muslims’ emphasis on learning both sacred and secular knowledge throughout their lives.

일부 서구 학자들도 평생학습의 비전을 제시하긴 했지만, 서구에서 평생학습이란 직무교육의 이상과 관련된 것이다.

It is important to note that even though some Western scholars do pro- mote a seamless vision of lifelong learning, one that spans the whole of a person’s life, it is more commonly thought of as something for adults to engage in. Boshier (2005) has observed that in general, in the West “lifelong learning is nested in an ideology of vocationalism.

이것은 보다 시장-유도의 평생학습이며, 비 서구의 평생학습과는 다르다.

This more formal, market-driven version of lifelong learning is quite different from what non-Western traditions refer to when speaking of learn- ing as lifelong. 

• For example, from a Buddhist worldview one is consciously mindful, attending to everything in daily life throughout life, and the learn- ing that accrues from this mindfulness is its own reward.
• Likewise, Hindus see themselves on a continuous journey of learning that leads to being liberated from the cycle of rebirth and death (Thaker, 2007). 
• Yet another perspective, Confucianism, views learning as a never-ending process toward becoming fully human (Kee, 2007).

평생학습은 공동체와 연결되어 있으며, 학습의 상호의존적 특징이 비서구의 토착 문화에 좀더 잘 드러난다.

Lifelong learning and its connection to the communal, interdependent nature of learning is particularly visible in non-Western indigenous cultures. Avoseh (2001) speaks to the interaction between being an active citizen in the community and lifelong education in traditional African society.

비서구적 관점의 평생학습에서 또 뚜렷한 것은 공식적 교육기관의 역할을 적게 본다는 것이다. 비서구에서 평생학습은 지역사회 기반의, 비공식적 행위이다. 반면 많은 서양인들은 학습을 일상생활에 담겨있는 것이라기보다는 교수자 지도의 교실에서 예정된 교육과정에 따라 공식적으로 이루어져야 한다고 본다.

What is also clear about non-Western understandings of lifelong learn- ing is that very little of it is lodged in formal institutional settings. Lifelong learning in non-Western settings is community-based and informal. Though certainly the majority of lifelong learning is informal even in the West, the difference is that most Westerners neither recognize nor value learning that is embedded in everyday life. Most Westerners think of learning as that which occurs in a formal teacher-directed classroom with a prescribed curriculum.

반면 비서구 사회에서 학습은 지역사회의 문제로서 구조화된다. 함께 인적 물적 자원을 동원하여 해결책을 찾는다. 이러한 학습은 그 전략이 얼마나 효과적이었는가에 따라 '평가'받는다.

By contrast, lifelong learning in non-Western societies is structured by a community problem or issue. Resources in the form of people and materials are brought together to assess the problem and try out solutions. Such learning is “evaluated” by how effective the strategy is in addressing the problem.

비공식적 학습이 널리 퍼져있다는 것은 공식적 교육이 전혀 의미없는 것으로 여겨진다고 말하고자 함이 아니다. 국제화는 특히 공식교육과정을 강화할 것을 요구해왔다. 비록 서구적 방식으로 공식적 교육과 학교를 확대할지라도 (역량 그 자체보다 공식적 증명서와 학위를 중시함) 이러한 관점이 비서구적 전통에서는 매우 덜 흔한 것이라는 점이다.

The prevalence of informal learning is not to say that formal (often Western) education is not valued at all. Globalization especially has stimu- lated more demand for formal educational training throughout the world. However, although the West tends to conflate learning with education and formal schooling (“a tendency reflected in our concern with formal certifi- cation and degrees rather than with competence per se”), such a perspective is “far less common in non-Western traditions” (Reagan, 2005, p. 248).

학습은 전인적인 것이다.

Learning Is Holistic.

데카르트의 나는 생각한다, 고로 존재한다는 서구에서 인지적 과정을 강조하는 대표적 문장이다. 17세기이후 'mind'는 배움과 앎의 핵심 장소였다.

“I think, therefore I am.” Descartes’s famous maxim captures the West’s emphasis on learning as a cognitive process, one that takes place in the brain. Since the seventeenth century, the mind has been privileged as the site of learning and knowing.

서구와 비서구 사이에 배움과 앎에 차이가 있다면, 학습이 mind뿐만 아니라 body와 emotion을 포함한다는 것이다.

If there’s anything that non-Western systems of learning and knowing have in common, it’s the notion that learning involves not only the mind but the body, the spirit, and the emotions.

마오리 교육과정

In a discussion of the place of spirituality in Maori curriculum, for example, Fraser (2004) recounts how their holistic perspective is pictured by the Maori as their traditional meeting house. “The four walls of the house are a metaphor for the dimensions of each person. In this model, well-being (or hauora) comprises four components: the physical, the mental and emotional (taken as one), the social and the spiritual. . . . All four dimensions are necessary for strength and symmetry and . . . there are reciprocal influences between each one” (p. 89).

비서구적 전통에서 학습과 교육은 mind의 발달 그 이상이다. 더 중요한 것은 도덕적 인간, 선한 인간, 영적 인간을 길러내서 지역사회 전체를 발전시킬 수 있는 사람이다.

In non-Western traditions, learning and education are in the service of developing more than just the mind. Equally important is developing a moral person, a good person, a spiritual person, who by being part of the community uplifts the whole. In the Navajo tradition, “knowledge, learning, and life itself are sacred, inseparable, and interwoven parts of a whole. The quality of each determines the quality of the other” (Benally, 1997, p. 84; italics in original).

추상과 이론적 지식을 중시하는 서양과 달리 비서구적 전통은 일상의 경험을 중시한다. 경험에서 우러나는 학습은 전인적인 것이다. 인지적/신체적/정서적/영적 영역을 포함하며, 균형을 이뤄야 한다.

Unlike the West, which privileges abstract and theoretical knowledge, non-Western traditions privilege experience in the everyday world. Learning that occurs in the experience is holistic; it has not just cognitive but physical, emotional, and sometimes spiritual dimensions, all of which are kept in balance. 

• The Hindu tradition of Yoga, for example, employs the mind, body, and spirit in concert to work toward enlightenment. Buddhists seek a “middle way,” or balance between body and mind in pursuing enlightenment. 
• Native Americans use the medicine wheel to capture the idea of balancing the four components of a whole person (spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental): “When each aspect is developed equally, an individual is considered well-balanced and in harmony” (Hart, 1996, p. 66).

학습이 일상의 경험에 담긴 것이기에, 공동체적 의식과 의례와 같은 일상의 활동에 적극적으로 참여하는 것이 배움으로 가는 길이다. 배움은 다른 사람을 관찰하고 배운 것을 연습해서 일어난다. 어른은 어린이의 롤모델이 된다.

Given that learning is embedded in the context of everyday experience, active participation in everyday activities and the rites and rituals of a community are seen as conduits to learning. Learning occurs through observation of others and through practicing what is being learned. Adults are role models for younger people. 

• In Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and Confucian traditions, the learner is expected to emulate teachers, sages, or more accomplished practitioners of the tradition.

이 모든 것이 배움의 원천이다.

Many other sources ar readily recognized as mechanisms for learning in non-Western traditions. Stories, myths, and folklore define one group from another and one’s place in the larger society. Rituals, sy mbols, music, art, theater, and even dreams and visions are also considered sources of knowledge.

성인학습에 있어서 비서구적 관점

Non-Western Perspectives and Our Practice of Adult Learning

• 배움과 앎에 관한 비서구적 모델은 학습에 대한 전인적 접근법을 강조한다. 
  First, non-Western perspectives of learning and knowing model a holistic approach to learning, one that recognizes the interrelationship among an adult learner’s body, cognition, emotion, and spirituality.

• 비서구적 관점에 익숙해진다면, 성인교육자는 일상생활에 담긴 배움에 보다 가치를 둘 것이다.
  Second, familiarity with non-Western perspectives of learning and knowing suggests that adult educators in Western society might place more value on learning embedded in everyday life.

미국 인디언에게 있어서 'general knowledge'란 없다. 각 개인은 자신의 지식을 스스로 구성해나가며, 배움은 끈질긴 관찰과 고뇌에 따르는 것이지 질문을 하고 가설을 검증해서 되는 것이 아니다'

In American Indian society, for example, there is no general knowledge; each individual constructs his or her own knowledge “through patient observation and contemplation and not by question-formulation and hypothesis-testing” (Burkhart, 2004, p. 23).

서구사회는 지식이 추상적 형태로 존재한다고 믿으며, 개개인이 구체적 지식을 일상생활에서 어떻게 만들어나가는가에 대한 가치를 무시하고, 성인이 일상생활의 문제를 해결하기 위해서 어떻게 서로 가르치고 배우는지에 관심을 두지 않는다.

Western societies, which assume knowledge exists in the form of abstraction, often neglect how each indi- vidual’s construction of specific knowledge in real life is valuable and how adults can teach and learn from each other to solve real-life problems outside the classroom.

• 성인교육자들이 비서구적 사회에서 행동하고 사고하는 방식을 더 잘이해하게 해준다.
  Third, being familiar with non-Western perspectives of learning and knowing helps adult educators better understand how adult learners from non-Western societies act and think.

많은 아시아 학습자들은 유교적 관점에서 인간의 관계를 위계적으로 본다. 이러한 구조는 사회의 조화를 이루는데 필요하다. 선생은 권위와 힘을 갖는다. 공자는 학생들은 선생으로부터 지식을 비판 없이 전달받고 암기해야 한다고 전제한다. 또한 선생님의 의견을 반박하거나 고전에서 제시하는 의견과 다른 의견을 갖는 것은 사회의 조화를 깨는 것으로 여겨진다. 따라서 유교 문화권의 학생은 비판적으로 사고하거나 창의적 표현을 하는데 더 많은 가이드가 필요하다.

Many Asian learn- ers, for example, adhere to a Confucian worldview that positions learning within the hierarchical structures of human relationships; such structures are designed to achieve a harmonious social order (Kee, 2007). Teachers thus have authority and power over students in this hierarchy. Confucianism assumes that students need to receive knowledge from teachers, without critique, and then memorize it. In Confucianism, criticizing a teacher’s opinion or having opinions different from those of classical works was seen as breaking the harmonious social order; therefore, students from Confucian cultures need more guidance to think critically or engage in creative expression, both of which are valued in Western society (Yang, Zheng, and Li, 2006).

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Non-Western perspectives on learning and knowing

1. Sharan B. Merriam and
2. Young Sek Kim

Article first published online: 15 SEP 2008

DOI: 10.1002/ace.307