Comprehensive Learning

Synonyms

Competence development; Everyday learning; Qualification

Definition

All normal learning includes the three dimensions of content, incentive, and interaction (or the cognitive, the emotional, and the social) (Illeris 2002, 2007). However, as the immediate understanding of learning is very often narrowly focused on the acquisition of knowledge and skills and the emotional and social dimensions are more or less neglected, it becomes important to emphasize that even when these dimensions are not considered they are always involved and influence both the learning process and the learning result. Basically, this is due to the way the human brain is working (Damasio 1994; Goldberg 2001) and to the fact that people are social beings – and all this is what the concept of comprehensive learning is referring to.

Theoretical Background

The most fundamental understanding of how human learning takes place is that all learning involves two very different processes. The one process is the interaction...