Leveraging heutagogy and learner agency to navigate the post-truth era

In today's society, misinformation and disinformation is often taken as fact and science is swiftly sidelined in favour of belief manipulation and political expediency. This shift from the Age of Reason to a Post-Truth Era is being further abetted by rapid technological change and systems that can move disinformation and misinformation around at lightning speed, while algorithmically dispersing this information to millions of minds. To prepare learners for this onslaught, it is critical that both formal and informal education systems provide them with skills that promote and nurture their agency rather than suppress it, as well as skills that support development of critical thought. Thus, we need to ensure that people are able to evaluate what they read, see, and hear with a critical mind, to deeply reflect and problem solve through double-loop learning, and to apply effective research and analytical skills. We need learning processes that do not see learners as passive recipients of information, and, we need pedagogical frameworks that foster learner agency such as heutagogy (self-determined learning). This paper explores the threats confronting education—and indeed the global community—as we enter this new era of post reason, and how heutagogy can help turn the tide.