One of the topics we explore in ED 130: Human Development and Learning is the cultural, situated, and contextual nature of learning. While many students conceptualize “learning” as a school task coming into the course, we work to expand our sense of what learning is and where it happens throughout the semester. One of the ways we do this is through considering our own histories as learners in spaces that are different from classrooms. I ask students to remember and share “something they learned how to cook from someone they loved.” The idea is that in the loving relationship there are also learning practices being demonstrated and fostered. I share a story of learning to cookragout from my grandmother, Mémère. More than learning to cook this dish was learning about care, attention, resourcefulness, and communication through means other than words. Students shared stories of learning to cook with parents, grandparents, family members, and friends. And how in those moments they are learning how to learnwithin a very specific context. While we shared, we also listened to and explored the lyrics of Bill Withers’ Grandma’s Hands to illustrate that our families are places where we develop many practices for learning in and about the world, and those travel with us in and out of different spaces, including school.

Introduction

Na’ilah Nasir Ed-Talk

Bárbara Brizuela on Language and Culture