In EnvironMental, we start preparing each of our training courses and retreats with the same question: How do people learn?
Say, you move to the Netherlands and suddenly riding a bike becomes very important for your daily life. You call us to support your learning. How do we do it?
Shall we show you our best tips and tricks for biking? Shall we share with you the story of the bikes and why they matter? Is it about holding you until you start biking alone? Or giving you a bike with a third wheel?
Shall we celebrate your learnings every day or you will be more supported if we remain critical?
Do you have an individual learning style? Is it about modeling or coaching? And who are we for you on this journey?
Your loyal friends? Teachers? A business? A community…?
Is a drop of “trainers’ love” needed for your empowerment? Or should we step into the critical parent role to push you through the stuckness?
Today we are so privileged to know so much about the curious ways of how people actually learn! In the next articles, you will get to know amazing contexts that educators are creating for the learners to reach the most of their potential. From learning through movement and play, gamification, nature-based learning, art-based learning methods, community education… Abundance of shapes and forms that support the individuals to develop their specific talents.
However, that was not always the case.
Education in the West has undergone a remarkable transformation, moving from industrial-era, standardized teaching methods to learner-centered approaches that focus on individual growth, creativity, and collaboration. This shift wasn’t just a natural evolution; it was shaped by historical events, cultural changes, and the bold ideas of visionary thinkers.
The Industrial Model of Learning
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, education was modeled after the industrial economy. Schools operated like factories, emphasizing efficiency, uniformity, and control. Students were treated as passive recipients of knowledge, learning facts by rote to prepare for predictable roles in a growing industrial workforce. This system mirrored the societal values of discipline and productivity, with classrooms resembling assembly lines and teachers acting as foremen.
Cultural Shifts in Europe: A Fertile Ground for Change
However, the cracks in this system began to show. Two world wars, the civil rights movements, and rapid technological advances made it clear that rigid systems, based solely on the value of productivity, were ill-suited to a rapidly changing world. The human aspects of learning and growth started to get more priority and we re-thought the place of community, nature, and creativity in the learning process.
All those movements started somewhere in the late 18th century with the Romantic Movement that emphasized values such as emotion, imagination, and individuality. Writers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (The Sorrows of Young Werther) underlined the human spirit’s connection to nature and the importance of personal experience.
Art movements, such as the Arts and Crafts movement, led by figures like William Morris, challenged industrialization’s dehumanizing effects. Advocating for craftsmanship, beauty, and creativity, this movement influenced educational reforms that integrated art and hands-on learning into curricula, inspiring students to think and create rather than conform.
By the mid-20th century, existentialist philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir encouraged individuals to define their own essence through choices and actions. This emphasis on personal agency resonated with humanist educators, who saw education as a path to self-actualization. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, influenced by these ideas, promoted learner-centered methods that focused on the whole person—intellectual, emotional, and social.
Rooted in the work of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, constructivism posited that knowledge is constructed through interaction with the world, not passively received. This idea, reinforced by European intellectuals like the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, revolutionized how educators viewed learning, emphasizing collaboration and inquiry over memorization.
Progressive philosophies like those of Italian educator Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia approach, advocated for schools as community hubs that nurture children’s curiosity, creativity, and relationships. Similarly, Scandinavian countries pioneered democratic schools, focusing on equality and student participation.
Pioneers of Learner-Centered Education
Several figures were instrumental in rethinking education:
John Dewey (1859–1952)
Known as the father of progressive education, Dewey argued that learning should be experiential and rooted in real-life contexts. He championed the idea of schools as communities where students develop critical thinking and social skills through active participation.
Maria Montessori (1870–1952)
Montessori’s child-centered approach emphasized autonomy, exploration, and hands-on learning. Her methods showed that when children are given freedom within structure, they thrive academically and emotionally.
Paulo Freire (1921–1997)
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire critiqued the “banking model” of education, where teachers deposit information into passive students. He called for education as a dialogue that empowers learners to question and transform their world.
Education nowadays is shaped by the work of many great scientists and thinkers. We now mix Expressive Art Therapy practices, critical reflection, outdoor education, nonviolent communication, problem-solving, and other methods to craft the best learning environments.
Models such as the Accelerated Learning Model, originally popularized in the 1970s by Bulgarian psychologist Georgi Lozanov, encourage us to understand that every detail of the context is part of the learning. From the colors of our training rooms and if there are flowers and crayons in the space to how we engage emotional processes in learning and how we stimulate different senses.
Now, more than ever, we are invited, as educators, mentors, and leaders, to educate ourselves on how people really learn.
If you are curios to get to know some great models of learning and creative forms that will bring inclusion to your work, keep reading our next articles.
