Learning is a Banquet, not a Soup Kitchen
Teaching used to be about knowledge distribution. “I’ll show you this knowledge today. Tomorrow, I’ll build on that and share some more knowledge…” The teacher was the source of knowledge. Teachers controlled the flow, quality and timing of knowledge. The student was the grateful recipient.
There were many structures in place to support this idea: publishers, ivory towers, intellectual property protections. Knowledge was power. Knowledge should be protected. 
Today, students and teachers come together to learn. They each bring something to the table. Teachers and students are together being redefined as Learners.
Where knowledge was expensive it is now free. Where it was slow it is now fast.
Today, Learning is a Banquet. Students bring their curiosity, energy and perspective. Teachers bring experience, wisdom, and credentials.
So if Learning is a Banquet, what is The Table?
The Table is the platform that learning sits on. It’s a set of tools that support this new Learning Banquet. Collaboration Tools, Research Tools, Presentation Tools.
Profession Learning for teachers needs to focus on great learning outcomes for students.
Talking about tools is like eating a great meal and raving about the cutlery.
The only issue I have with banquets is the vast variety of food and drink on offer means that there is an inevitable overindulgence and hangover to go with it. We all need to learn banquet feasting etiquette to ensure we do not suffer from gout and other such afflictions. So that our digestion is given time to process all of that food before we just load up with more. So – the question is, do you want to be a person with a fast metabolism of actual food or brain food?
What does overindulgence look like in the classroom?
I know for myself in learning it feels like being out of control of my own thoughts. I need time to process them (for me it’s diary entries, discussion time, poetry and occasionally painting). I think for our students it when we move them on too quickly without time to process and assimilate new information – all of this due to time constraints and timetabling usually, but a good thing to be mindful of. Planning to include “digestion” time.
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