Why so difficult (part two)

Why haven't we cracked the code of what makes for a great classroom for learning?

The fads come and go, but the real formula for success seems to be partly magic.  Recently I've been thinking a lot about the idea of holding two ideas simultaneously.  As in the idea of a great artistic accomplishment - it's appealing at some simple level but it is also speaking to you profoundly at a metaphorical level at the same time (you may not even be aware of other level of appeal; it just feels moving or profound).

So, I'm thinking about education and thinking about this duality of great art and it occurs to me that two of my favorite ideas about education are needed at the same time:

(1) Learning happens inside the learner's head - no where else.
(2) Learning is primarily a social event.

Somehow the classroom must feel like a noteworthy social event while simultaneously encouraging the individual to construct their own schemas.  Engagement, modeling, communication, and individualized construction must all be happening.

The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. Niels Bohr