If you have finished reading Post #93 you realize the irony of the above question.  Learning… education?  Ha! (LOL)  From the competition between liberal and conservative positions in Jefferson County, Colorado Schools Board it is evident that no learning is taking place in Education, at the level of the School Board election.  That seems typical of most of American education, pre-K through 12.  

What is double- loop learning?  Let’s begin by trying to understand single-loop learning.  Simply learning that a mistake had been made is single-loop learning.  Usually those involved say, “Oooops!  Looks like we made a mistake!  We won’t do that again!”  And that is the end of the discussion.  

Double loop learning also acknowledges the mistake, and then goes further.  “Looks like we made a mistake.  Let’s us the mistake as a learning lesson to discover what caused the mistake.”  Double-loop-learning uses the mistake as a signal to explore the reasons that caused the mistake; and then learns how to repair the causes of the mistake, so that it does not occur again.  This simple process is not taught as a formal subject in primary or secondary education, nor is it enculturated by the family.  Yet, developmental engineers and exploratory scientist in all fields of human activities and research use this process continually.  

For education to become truly effective in a democratic nation, it must begin to teach students the fundamentals of double-loop learning.  As for the obvious social dysfunction of political competition in school board elections, we should acknowledge that it is a mistake to make education political.  Education, to become an effective social institution in a democratic society, must become a-political and valued as the primary social institution for developing social stability and eventually social sustainability in cities and communities.  Party politics has no place in sustainable education.  

What is missing from school board elections are candidates who are capable of taking a neutral, yet universal, position for the development of public education as the eminent social institution that supports the survival, stability and sustainability of its host society… without a political agenda.  Public education requires, and the very survival of societies into the centuries ahead requires, the implementation of election processes in education that are not politically motivated, but are opportunities for discussion of the common good that education has the potential to provide to everyone.