We are proud to be the first to apply Bonsai Philosophy, as it is called herein and hereinafter referred to as "Bonsai Thinking", to education for the purpose of highlighting the ultimate importance of context for learning, and enhance learning to promote innovation and create positive social change. The concept was presented at the University of Oxford, in 2021. And in January 2024, it was refined and presented at the University of Oxford for the second time, then the Workbook on Learning How to Learn was published in June 2024. The seminal paper was published in 2025.
Cognition
Cognition and Learning represent the thinking domain, where individuals transform general knowledge (schemata) into personal, contextual understanding (mathemata) through life-long learning. Drawing from educational neuroscience, this dimension emphasises metacognition and meta-motivation as essential cognitive tools—like watering and fertilising a bonsai tree—that sustain continuous growth within one's learning context. The cognitive approach recognises that learning is fundamentally embodied and context-dependent, shaped by both genetic makeup and environmental interactions.
Affection
Affection and Unlearning address the emotional domain, where feelings and values drive the deliberate process of discarding obsolete knowledge, habits, and practices. Through the lens of happiness studies and affective neuroscience, unlearning operates on two levels: hedonic wellbeing (happiness in learning) and eudaimonic wellbeing (happiness for learning). Like pruning a bonsai to maintain its desired aesthetic, unlearning requires critical self-examination to deepen understanding and align personal and organisational growth with evolving values and purposes. This affective dimension has been historically neglected in organisational learning despite its crucial role in adaptation.
Conation
Conation and Relearning engage the volitional domain of future intentions and actions. Informed by conative neuroscience: future studies, and systems thinking, relearning emphasises gaining fresh perspectives through interaction with meaningful, systemic environments. This dimension involves futures literacy—the ability to imagine and shape the future—and aesthetic intelligence, which enables individuals to decode and encode meaning from their surroundings. Like positioning and wiring a bonsai tree to optimise its environment for growth, relearning creates the conditions for innovation and self-reinvention in an era of rapid change.