This article describes a notion of learning as adaptive semiotic-growth . In line with the theme of this special issue, learning will be approached on a broad ecological and evolutionary continuum – most generally expressed as a form of adaptation to the environment. Viewing learning through the criterion of signification (semiosis) means that learning is continuous across the entire biological realm. Both the life process and the learning process are expressed through forms of semiotic-engagement and involve continual adaptation and meaning-making. Thus, learning cannot be seen as unique to humans. Learning is more broadly ecological before it is “cultural”. From here we can imagine educational institutions as forms of exaptation , that evolved naturally to channel learning more effectively. Thinking of learning on an ecological continuum means that learning cannot be “located” or pinned down easily in educational research or practice. Rather, learning has a sporadic identity; it is emergent in the specificity of events and must be discerned within the practices that enact it. Realizing learning as something emergently enacted in the educative encounter, and not something that can be determined and implemented, allows us to resist turning learning into an accountability tool that can easily be used towards ideological ends.

中文翻译：

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让“学习”回归教育：走向学与教的生态观

本文将学习的概念描述为自适应符号增长。根据本期特刊的主题，将在广泛的生态和进化连续性上进行学习-最普遍地表示为适应环境的形式。通过指征（符号化）标准来查看学习意味着学习在整个生物领域都是连续的。生活过程和学习过程都是通过符号学互动的形式表达的，涉及不断的适应和意义的产生。因此，学习不能被视为人类独有。在成为“文化”之前，学习从广义上讲是生态学的。从这里我们可以将教育机构想象为一种适应形式，自然而然地发展以更有效地引导学习。在生态连续体上进行学习的思考意味着，在教育研究或实践中不能轻易地“定位”或固定学习。相反，学习具有零星的身份。它出现在事件的特殊性中，必须在制定事件的实践中加以区分。将学习作为一种在教育中遇到的新出现的事情，而不是可以确定和实施的事情，使我们能够抵制将学习变成一种可以轻松用于意识形态目的的问责工具。