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Elissa Knopp
Lucia Elden
English 111
18 October 2016

Learning To Direct Our Attention To Learning

Biology is a class I absolutely dread, and it does not matter if it is lab or lecture. I
often find myself wanting to learn about the material but my mind is always in another
world. I would sit through lectures and respond to text messages, or check Twitter or
Facebook while still taking notes. Even though I was taking notes, I was not completely
focused in what my professor was talking about in class. In Matthew Crawfords article,
Attention as a Cultural Problem, he states that it is common for every human being,
especially college students, to focus. Crawford wrote a book called The World Beyond
Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction that introduces that
attention is a problem in which it runs deeply in our culture, down to the roots of our
expectation about what we think it means to be an individual. Furthermore, in Jack
Mezirows article Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice, he thought that an
education that encourages discourse, critical reflection, and autonomy would allow
adults to realize their potential and equip them with skills necessary for success and
liberation. Together these two articles can help us understand that there are different
ways we can learn, that everyone has different learning styles and that we have to
direct our attention to learning.
In the article "Attention as a Cultural Problem," Crawford argues that
conversations on attention is not just an individual problem, it is everyone's problem; a
cultural problem(Crawford 36). Crawford believes that college students really struggle to

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pay attention through difficult readings, class periods, and study sessions. Not only
does Crawford connect with college students in this article, he also connects with the
work life, family life, and social life. An example that Crawford uses is a corporate
manager who receives hundreds of emails a day and finds himself checking his email at
home or while he's interacting with his children or family(Crawford 38). Are those emails
worth looking at while spending time with the family, or can they wait until the next
business/work day? Crawford uses personal anecdotes all throughout his article to help
connect with his audience. One example of an anecdote is when Crawford talks about
swiping his card to pay for groceries and watching advertisements on the keypad while
waiting for the next step. I believe the reason why Crawford talks about this personal
anecdote is because many Americans also see these advertisements on a daily basis
while going shopping. He wants to be able to connect with his audience while they are
reading the article.
There is another author who writes similarly to Crawford by using bolded
headings in his articles but differently because he uses expert sources, though
Crawford did not. In Mezirows article Transformative Learning, he started off by
talking about the transformative theory. He explains that transformative learning is the
process of effecting change in a frame of reference. By explaining what transformative
learning is, Mezirow provides a little bit of background about this theory to give his
audience some information on what this topic is about. According to Mezirow, a frame of
reference encompasses cognitive, conative, and emotional components which are
composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and a point of view (Mezirow 87). Mezirow
explains that habits of mind are broad and abstract ways of thinking, feeling, and acting
influenced by assumptions that make up a set of codes which could be cultural, social,
educational, ect. Later on in the article, he states that children acquire a foundation of
the specific learning required to think autonomously. Mezirow then introduces the
process of learning to understand new subject content while building and strengthening

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this foundation. Mezirow, on the other hand, does not use anecdotes instead he
involves expert sources like philosopher and sociologist Jrgen Habermas. Mezirow
believes, Communicative learning involves at least two persons striving to reach an
understanding of the meaning of an interpretation or the justification for a belief. Ideally,
communicative learning involves reaching a consensus(Mezirow 88). He is stating that
in order for communicative learning to work, at least two people should want to
understand the meaning of a belief and that communicative learning involves reaching
an agreement.
Both Crawford and Mezirow have advanced degrees through colleges and
universities. Crawford has a PhD in political philosophy and is also an author to at least
three books. Throughout Crawfords life, he studied physics in college and then became
a high school Latin teacher. In addition to being a Latin teacher, he was also a
motorcycle mechanic who owned a repair shop giving himself credibility to the working
class. Crawfords PhD degree and knowledge in mechanics helped him argue from
personal experience that paying attention is required to become skilled at something,
especially when it involves sensorimotor engagement with tools or objects. On the other
hand, Mezirow is an emeritus professor of Adult and Continuing Education. He is an
author of at least four books and was a professor at Teachers College, Columbia
University. Mezirows experience of teaching helped him in educating the audience
about transformative learning and the theory. He states, The essence of adult
education becomes clear when the goal of adult education is implied by the nature of
adult learning and communication.(Mezirow 92). By this Mezirow means that the
absolute necessary qualities of adult education is understanding when the goal of
education is suggested by the nature of adult learning and communication.
Crawford and Mezirow both have advanced degrees which makes their articles
more credible. I believe both of these authors can easily relate to the audience which
seem to be the authors goal. My personal understanding is the intended audience for

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Crawfords article are people who are young adults and possibly college students.
Crawfords word choice is easy to understand, for example, he argues, There are some
resources that we hold in common, such as the air we breathe and the water we drink.
We often take them for granted, but their widespread availability makes everything else
we do possible(Crawford 42). Whereas Mezirows word choice is more academic and
harder to understand without explanation. The intended audience is more toward
parents or adult educators. Mezirow also uses a vast amount of italicized words; leaving
a definition after these academic words to help the audience understand the vocabulary.
An example of Mezirows academic vocabulary is when he states, There is an
egregious assumption that the acquisition of knowledge or attainment of competencies
will somehow automatically generate the understandings, skills, and dispositions
involved in learning to think autonomously(Mezirow 90). This means that there is an
outstandingly bad assumption that the learning or developing of a skill and achieving
that skill/goal will in one way or another generate the understandings, skills, and
dispositions in learning to think in such way.
To summarize I would recommend Crawfords article to young adults or college
students. His article is easy to read and the language is easy to understand. Crawford
added personal anecdotes that made a young reader like me want to keep reading. On
the other hand, I would recommend Mezirows article to only parents, professors, and
older adults educators. He has a bulk amount of academic knowledge and uses
academic vocabulary throughout his article. Mezirows article is full of concepts that can
teach the older generations many helpful hints about learning.

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Work Cited

Crawford, Matthew. Attention as a Cultural Problem. Exploring Connections: Learning

in the
21st Century, edited by MMCC English Department, Pearson Learning Solutions,
2016,
pg. 36-48.

Mezirow, Jack. Transformative Learning. Exploring Connections: Learning in the

21st Century, edited by MMCC English Department, Pearson Learning Solutions,
2016,

pg. 86-93