LEARNING TO LEARN: "... A culture of learning is... about what [children] expect of others, and themselves, within any situation in which they have an opportunity to learn knowledge or skills. That includes learning in school."(EDUCATION)

• Author: Grove, Cornelius N.

NOTHING even comes close to the human brain's capacity for handling information, maintaining relationships, solving complex problems, devising new ideas, and all the other tasks it does for us.

On the day you were born, was your brain able to accomplish all of that?--no. Was it able to learn how to accomplish each of those tasks?--well, sort of. Was it able to learn how to learn?--yes. Our foundational skill is how to identify, acquire, retain, and apply the skills and information we need to survive and thrive. How we learn is basic.

It is no surprise that what infants learn depends on where they live. Do adults rely on labor-saving machines made by others, or on their own wits, cooperation, and toil? What must be learned will differ, but here is the thing: Where an infant lives also directly impacts how he or she learns to learn.

Every society, today and in the past, has unique qualities. Nonetheless, sociologists have lumped them together into a variety of broad types. Two of those are individualized societies and communitarian societies.

An individualized society is the type with which we are familiar. Other names for this type include technological and industrialized. Beginning with the Renaissance, these societies became increasingly more complex. To thrive within them, individuals needed to acquire ever more specialized skills and knowledge. Schools came into being, in part, to teach the various specializations.

From a sociological perspective, a hallmark of these societies came to be the assumption that children would become ever more independent-minded as they grew up, eventually leaving their family of birth and--relying on specialized skills and knowledge--make their own way in the world. Another hallmark is the characteristic ways in which parents raise their children, expecting that they would and should gradually become self-reliant in thought and deed.

Communitarian societies, however, remained subsistence-based longer than the societies that became individualized; a few remain subsistence-based to this day. Through hunting-gathering and small-scale agriculture, families obtained food, clothing, and shelter for their own needs, with little left for trade. To survive, people had to be engaged with their environment directly, adapting to its changing impact.

From a sociological perspective, a hallmark of communitarian societies is the assumption that children would remain in or near their birth communities, or at least would maintain tight social and emotional ties with their families. Another hallmark is the characteristic ways in which parents raise their...