| This qualitative study revolves around practice that is informed by theory, and theory that is tested out in practice. The principal belief behind this study is that a learning group is a dynamic, sociocultural entity. When examined through this author's lens, this dynamic energy and social-cultural mix of people necessitates a vision of learning that accommodates the learners. The focus of the study concerns a concept named "a practice of co-learning". This practice has been developing throughout the author's teaching/learning career.;The purpose of this study is to probe what happens when a "teacher" consciously declares herself to be a "learner" amongst learners and determines to co-establish a learning environment based on relationships that have traditionally held families and communities together: trust, respect, hope, love, caring, acceptance, self-responsibility, humour, compassion, critical awareness and the sharing of decision-making, power, control and authority. The study involves an investigation into the researcher's practice, where adults, who live in a rural community, are returning to school (a division of a college of applied arts and technology) in order to achieve the necessary academic requirements for either work or further academic studies.;Both the practice and the methodology of co-learning have become templates for one another: they collide, interweave and challenge each other. The collection of insights uses three streams of qualitative methodology: action research (Carr & Kemmis, 1986), life-history (Plummer, 1983) and participatory research (Brown & Tandon, 1983). The insights are presented in lengthy transcripts in order to allow the potential for the reader to become involved in the daily life of a classroom, to appreciate the moment to moment challenges that a practitioner moves through in her daily decision-making processes, and to keep research into learning within an on-going social framework.;The final chapter both investigates how research can inform practice and vice versa and further probes the practice of co-learning from within the interactions of co-participants. |
