I can't recall someone asking me how do you learn? And if they did it is so uncommon I've filed it away in my brain to not be relevant. The art of teaching yourself is called autodidacticism:
noun
the process or practice of learning a subject without a teacher or formal education; self-education:
What I find most interesting about this is, it requires you to create your own theory of learning and produce an internal framework of how you might learn a new subject or practice. For example, i’ve recently been doing some basic wood work in the garden, just to smarten up my bedding plant borders. Pinterest is great for garden projects, so i start looking at what else i can do. Now I've mastered some of the basic skills, my next project is to build a log store. I am building on the next level of my basic skills to take my work to the next level. In this day and age we have the ability to access so much information to teach ourselves new skills the possibilities are endless.
Personally, I'm a do’er. I like to have a go, I find this works best for me. This is called learning by doing. If you have ever completed an online course you may find that you have struggled with discipline or motivation to do the work. The eagerness to click next to see the green tick on a completed section often overrides the purpose of the learning. I am guilty of this also, but this has led me to the question: did I really have an eagerness to learn the content?
Online learning requires a large volume of doing, much the same as the conventional classroom space. Online learning allows you to find something that interests you, something you believe is worthy of learning much easier than ever before. Watching videos on youtube of how to build a log store has provided me with multiple designs and methods, feeding my own internal framework to complete the project. Unfortunately, much of the education we provide learners today they may deem as not worthy, or be unmotivated to engage with it as they are not interested. This presents a real problem or does it provide an opportunity?
I see my role as a teacher now in a different way to when I first began in the profession years ago. I see myself as the person to open learners eyes to the possible. It's about stretching boundaries, focusing on goals and seeing the bigger picture. Education should light the fire for people to want to learn more, not just teach them what's in the prospectus. Sadly, a lack of learner motivation or just not knowing what to do leads to low engagement and a lack of drive.
Metaskills in the digital age are more vital than ever. Skills such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence and imagination need to be harnessed and developed to provide today's young people with the skills needed for work in the future. We need to work with students on how they learn best, they might not know but it gets them thinking about their own internal learning theory and framework. Lifelong learning is here to stay, the opportunity to learn new skills is now so accessible, people can change careers with relative ease if they can be a champion of self education.
It's sad that on many occasions we get bogged down with teaching content, in the same old ways year after year. This is not helped by how we assess learning, for example a GCSE exam in maths does not allow for a creative project to be used to showcase learning. This means of assessment is not realistic to the future workplace and is not inspiring or motivating for the majority of people who sit this exam every year.
Learning needs to feed our desires, it needs to light the fire for a love of gaining new skills and knowledge for the long term and not just to pass a test. Technology can support us in helping learners find their path and their passions. Most importantly we need to support them in developing their own learning theory, the internal framework for success. We need to celebrate it and not forget learning is a marathon and not a sprint - there is no end to the possibilities, it just needs the motivation to start and the discipline to finish.
