Things I Think I Think about Learning-Part One

On a flight to AZ, I had lots of time to think. I was stuck with a dead PC battery and a completed book. So, here is part of what I was thinking about learning. I am not really sure I know as much about learning as I thought I knew.

Learning is about action, activity and engagement. The learner needs to be practicing the task he or she undertakes, the learner needs to be engaged in the instruction and working in as authentic environment as possible. The learner needs to be “doing.” He or she needs to be interacting with the content, making decisions and seeing firsthand the consequences of those actions and activities. He or she needs to be actively engaged in practicing the task before them. The more they actively practice, the better their ultimate performance. Purposeful practice of tasks leads to learning.

Learning comes from quiet reflection. After an activity or experience is over and the learner sits back and reflects upon what happened, that’s when learning occurs. When a learner has a chance to view his or her actions through a detached and distant lens, he or she gains insights into behaviors and the proper way of performing a function. After Action Reviews (AAR) are an excellent method of gathering lessons learned based on dissecting previous actions and learning what worked well and what needed improvement. Quiet reflection leads to learning.

Learning is social. We learn from one another Bandura’s social learning theory clearly indicates that when we observe others, we learn from them. Talking to other people and learning what they do, having them point you in the right direction and gaining insights from their stories and experiences can build your own experience and leads to moment of learning. We learn from our peers, our teachers and even from our enemies. We observe, dissect and interact in a manner that increases our mind and allows us to see possibilities we never knew existed. Learning is driven by interacting socially.

Learning is a solitary endeavor. No one can make another person “learn.” We each, individually, make a choice in our own mind whether or not we want to learn. Sitting quietly with our thoughts we learn what is meaningful to us. We reflect on our activities of the day and we resolve to improve, to learn from our mistakes to do it differently next time. We read a book and reach in individual epiphany and learn what we need to do better, differently, more intensely. Learning is an individual activity.

We learning by listening. When we listen to others speak we learn from their words, stories and insights. When we are told how to do something we pick up the knowledge we need to conduct tasks, make decisions and do things more effectively. Listening leads to learning.

We learn by talking. Lots of times when we don’t “understand” something, we talk it out. In the course of talking it out we inform ourselves. We learn how the pieces fit together. We discover that we knew the answer, we just needed to “talk it out.” Talking leads to learning.