First I’d like to point out I believe the ideas put forward here on a learning environment are universal and can be applied in different domains. I have tried them out as a teacher or language trainer.
More than you can see, hear
Learning is a process. That’s dead obvious. What makes it unique is that it never ends. To my mind, there’s more to learning than sheer gathering information from the outside world, commonly referred to as “knowledge”, “theoretical knowledge” or “theory”. However, that’s an essential prerequisite for learning to begin in the first place, as the mind needs “data” to process that we usually call thinking. According to Kolb’s Learning Cycle these are two learning phases. First you experience (see, feel etc.), and then you “think” about it to comprehend it.
Does learning equal knowledge + skills?
Taking into account what has been said above, knowledge is sensory input. In other words, it’s about what you know (and understand). Skills, on the other hand, refer to what you can do. Here comes the question: is learning more to do with knowledge or skills? Both. One might ask, though: “Do you need to know how a car brake works in order to actually use it correctly? Of course not. Expertise is not required in this context, as we know by experience that if we squeeze on the brakes, the car will slow down. That’s the environment that Dave Snowden calls the simple one. Through experience we figure out ready solutions to certain problems. You can read more about the Cynefin framework here.
<Experiencing>, <mental operations>, and <doing> as three ways of learning
There are therefore three levels of learning. The first receptive one, called empiricism, concerns gathering empirical data by the senses. The second one, called rationalism, embraces what our mind does about these data, and finally the third one relates to how we’re going to act upon the data or without access to them.
My story – how NOT to teach
Like all other Polish students, I was tested from the word go by teachers. Subconsciously, I was afraid of that because I was aware my work would be marked. Every time I would make a mistake, it was immediately pointed out to me. That got me down, as I paid too much attention to the mark I got. The problem is, however, I was given the feedback that actually would discourage me from doing anything at all. As a result, I kept a low profile in class. The teacher’s feedback would start with the “you should” followed by the “right” solution to the problem. That didn’t allow me to find my way to figure the issue out. I wasn’t given the chance to think for myself, to experiment, to increase my creativity, to think out of the box. This all resulted in me losing control of my own learning.
12 ways you can make people learn on their own
People are different individuals, so I’m not saying the ideas will work for them all.
1# Give a fishing rod, and not fish
Instead of providing a ready solution to the problem, why don’t you let others figure it out by their own? It might as well turn out you were actually wrong! ‘A fishing rod’ might be giving someone a hint, asking a powerful question, leaving room for them to act. When you give the people the solution every single time, they will be in trouble when you’ve gone.
2# Facilitate rather than doing sth for others
There are two types of facilitation I’m familiar with: the passive and the active one. The latter is chiefly about giving an example for someone to copy, running a meeting and so on. The passive facilitation is about creating an environment for people to act themselves. You’re in the background. The observer. This is really hard.
3# Let people experiment, test out their ideas
We learn best by doing. Doing goes hand in hand with making mistakes that we’re so scared of. A true leader will foster an environment in which we have the right to make mistakes! When you do the same over and over again, you get the same over and over again.
4# Instil the culture free of judging, blamethrowing
This idea ties in closely with 3#. We don’t take ownership of our work because if something goes wrong we might be blamed for that. It’s a sign we don’t form a real team!
5# Make sure people have a common, well-defined goal
It’s hard to progress if we don’t know what we want to achieve together.
6# Help people build bonds through good communication
Be as neutral as possible. Never be on either side. Be an advocate of respectful communication. We sometimes tend to diminish the importance of the atmosphere in the team.
7# Settle the rules of the game with the group
Don’t do it the way it looks like in many schools. Do let them themselves come up with the rules! Don’t impose anything on them.
8# Let’s not act like a know-it-all
The biggest paradox is the more you teach the more you learn. Don’t act as if you knew all the answers. It’s not about you, it’s about the team.
9# Ask powerful questions: “the why”
Any question that helps you reach a goal, anticipate problems, give valuable insight into something, set others thinking, figure out the outcome of a certain action is powerful.
10# Promote an open discussion on the team
Bruce Eckle says: “no matter what they tell you, it’s always a people problem.” No matter how technical a problem might seem, it’s people that solve it. In order for people to find a solution, they need to talk everything over and over again.
11# Empower people so that they can self-organize
Give people everything they need to get work done better. Control is a sign of lack towards the team. Empowering means team members decide how to do the work. If we treat them as experts, why not let them room for their creativity?
12# Everybody is equal on the team
A true leader shouldn’t advantage anybody just because they’re more experienced. Rather, they should make more experienced guys teach others how to do the work.
13# Change or else you’II die
Any kind of routine, like meetings taking place at the time time are to make people more comfortable. Nonetheless, improvement embraces change in how you work. From my experience I believe people prefer evolutional but continuous changes rather than rapid ones.
