Why does so much literature on unlearning ignore the people who do the unlearning? What would we understand differently if we focused on those people? Much of the existing literature argues that unlearning can only be achieved, and new knowledge acquired, if old knowledge is discarded: the clean slate approach. This might be a reasonable way of organising stock in a warehouse, where room needs to be created for new deliveries, but it is not an accurate description of a human system. This article draws on a detailed qualitative study of learning in the UK Fire and Rescue Services to challenge the clean slate approach and demonstrate that, not only did firefighters retain their old knowledge, they used it as a benchmark to assess new routines and practices. This meant that firefighters’ trust in, and consent to, innovation was key to successful implementation. In order to understand the social aspects of unlearning, this research focuses on the people involved as active agents, rather than passive recipients or discarders of knowledge.

为什么这么多关于忘却学习的文献忽略了那些忘却学习的人？如果我们关注这些人，我们会有什么不同的理解？许多现有文献认为，只有抛弃旧知识，才能实现忘却并获得新知识：白板方法。这可能是在仓库中组织库存的合理方式，需要为新的交付创造空间，但这并不是对人类系统的准确描述。本文借鉴了对英国消防和救援服务学习的详细定性研究，以挑战全新的方法，并证明消防员不仅保留了他们的旧知识，而且将其用作评估新例程和实践的基准。这意味着消防员信任并同意，创新是成功实施的关键。为了理解忘却的社会方面，本研究侧重于作为主动代理人而不是被动接受者或知识放弃者的人。