learnification

English

Etymology

learn +‎ -ification. Coined by Dutch educational theorist Gert Biesta an article published in a 2009 journal volume.

Pronunciation

• enPR: 'lû(r)nəfəʹkāshən, IPA^(key): /ˌlɜː(ɹ)nəfəˈkeɪʃən/

Noun

learnification (uncountable)

1. (education, derogatory) The shift in discourses around and understandings of education to focus entirely or almost entirely on learning.
   • 2009, Gert Biesta, “Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education”, in Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, volume 21, number 1, →DOI, pages 33–46:

     In the next section I explore why we seem to have lost sight of questions about values, purpose and the goodness of education. I suggest that at least part of the explanation for this has to do with what I will refer to as the 'learnification' of education: the transformation of an educational vocabulary into a language of learning.

   • 2016 July 30, Osvaldo Muñiz Solari, Michael Solem, Richard Boehm, Learning Progressions in Geography Education: International Perspectives, Springer, →ISBN, page 48:

     'Learnification' appears to reduce teachers to facilitators of learning, competent practitioners or at worst 'deliverers' of the curriculum.

   • 2017 October 20, Elisabeth Hultqvist, Sverker Lindblad, Thomas S. Popkewitz, Critical Analyses of Educational Reforms in an Era of Transnational Governance, Springer, →ISBN, page 53:

     Pearson's business motto is 'Always Learning', which plays well with the contemporary moment of learnification.

   • 2021 December 15, Andy Hargreaves, Dennis Shirley, Well-Being in Schools: Three Forces That Will Uplift Your Students in a Volatile World, ASCD, →ISBN:

     The learnification in SEL is evident in its claimed benefits for cognitive outcomes and achievement gains rather than personal health or societal well-being.