{"id":394,"date":"2014-08-18T05:07:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T05:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tojoeapen.com\/blog\/?p=394"},"modified":"2016-12-24T07:03:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T07:03:25","slug":"learning-to-learn-differently-thoughts-for-students-teachers-as-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/learning-to-learn-differently-thoughts-for-students-teachers-as-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Learn Differently – Thoughts For Students (& Teachers as well)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a huge emphasis on education and learning in many parts of the world. \u00a0People recognize the importance,\u00a0tangible benefits and positive impact it could bring to one’s life, society and the future. \u00a0While the importance and acknowledgement\u00a0is visible, many aspects and approaches related to learning seem to require\u00a0a rethink.<\/p>\n

In India, the value of application of education to life seems to be less important than the rank or scores\u00a0in an examination. \u00a0Without doubt, exam scores do matter but\u00a0everyone needs to think seriously about the value of learning to\u00a0life beyond schools or university.<\/p>\n

Earlier this June, I had shared few\u00a0suggestions<\/a>\u00a0for primarily educators regarding\u00a0employability of their students. \u00a0This post is more focused on the individual learning perspective, mainly\u00a0for students but may help teachers as well. \u00a0Having been through multiple learning experiences in different levels, subjects and countries (including losing a year due to low marks in school), I thought it would be useful to share from multiple experiences.<\/p>\n

1. Build self awareness on\u00a0one’s own learning preferences and styles
\n<\/strong>Most people have different learning styles, preferences and paces. \u00a0It is important to identify one’s\u00a0own learning style<\/a>. \u00a0At least understanding your learning preference (visual, auditory, reading-writing, kinesthetic)\u00a0can\u00a0improve the experience and effectiveness.\u00a0\u00a0It is also important to build self discipline into any learning\u00a0process. \u00a0Similar to building physical muscles by exercising constantly, it is important to build mental muscles and focus through a disciplined process. \u00a0Without discipline and direction, it is easy to get lost in various distractions.<\/p>\n

2. Learn something that you’re passionate about and is aligned to your strengths
\n<\/strong>A starting point of any learning process is to answer for oneself, “Why I am learning this, why is this important for me?”. \u00a0If your answer is aligned to your own interests, values and priorities, the probability of a successful learning experience is high. The only time when I personally truly enjoyed learning and did really well was when I learned something I badly wanted to, and felt very interested about. \u00a0I went much beyond the requirements of the program to learn and absorb as much as possible. \u00a0It is very unfortunate and a huge waste of your and others’ \u00a0time, if you spend most of your life learning or doing something you don’t like or want to do. \u00a0Many students choose a profession because it seems glamorous from outside or due to external pressure. \u00a0I’ve heard from professors and teachers that it is very difficult for any worthwhile learning to happen if someone is unmotivated or uninterested. \u00a0If you don’t have your own specific answer, it is fine to experiment and listen to other’s (someone you respect) inputs. \u00a0Unfortunately, many parents in India force their children to streams that they absolutely don’t want to be in.<\/p>\n

3. Reap the benefits of social learning
\n<\/strong>Learning becomes deeper and much richer when one is\u00a0exposed to multiple perspectives. \u00a0Having a peer discussion group to discuss your learning topics can be valuable exposure. \u00a0Start with a common purpose\u00a0for the whole team – what are we trying to achieve?\u00a0 Being able to synthesize from various inputs is a highly appreciated\u00a0skill in today’s world. \u00a0It helps to have positive\u00a0peer pressure to keep moving forward, and work with one’s\u00a0negative emotions as they\u00a0creep in. \u00a0This is also a valuable way to learn to work with contradictory opinions. \u00a0Awareness of\u00a0the potential of one’s ego to disrupt and to work on\u00a0it early is\u00a0extremely important. \u00a0Extra curricular activities like sports or arts that involves teamwork serve as great learning experiences. \u00a0Working\u00a0effectively in teams, including those you disagree with or don’t like is a major requirement for any organization.<\/p>\n

4. Use multiple sources and media
\n<\/strong>It is a huge opportunity missed\u00a0in today’s world to not enrich one’s\u00a0learning\u00a0using multiple, available knowledge sources. \u00a0Please do not wait for the university or professors to give you content. \u00a0There so much of it available today, with a mobile device and internet connectivity. \u00a0In addition to using your faculty, laboratories, peer groups, and libraries that may be\u00a0accessible locally, there’s so much content, online courses and global resources accessible\u00a0through the internet today. \u00a0The opportunity to stay updated\u00a0on the latest developments in any area\u00a0and learn\u00a0from the best sitting in any part of the world\u00a0is tremendous. \u00a0Keeping industry interaction active also always gives you the employment perspective. \u00a0Try to find people in your own first or second degree network who can share their valuable first-hand\u00a0experiences\u00a0from workplaces – culture, ways of working, what it takes to be effective etc.<\/p>\n

5. Make the environment\u00a0attractive
\n<\/strong>Last but not least, it is important to feel good about learning. \u00a0Neuroscience studies show\u00a0that the brain functions\u00a0much better when it is in a ‘reward’ state, not a ‘threat’ state. \u00a0Even if learning may involve\u00a0difficult work, an enjoyable collegial, fun, open\u00a0physical and social environment, refreshing variety of methods used, great people around are factors that contribute to\u00a0an\u00a0enjoyable learning experience. \u00a0Each one of you can contribute to that\u00a0in the way\u00a0you turn up.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0teachers, they\u00a0key question to ask is how you can play a key role in facilitating the learning process, thinking, acting and guiding students to find answers for themselves through multiple knowledge sources. \u00a0In India, we \u00a0have long held the notion that a teacher should have the answer for almost everything. \u00a0As the popular Chinese proverb tells us, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. \u00a0Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” \u00a0A good practical start would be to spend time in your class just discussing about creating an\u00a0effective and impactful learning experience together.<\/p>\n

Success comes\u00a0when the students and teachers work together – with a common purpose or vision.<\/p>\n

Deep learning involves learning beyond the prescribed boundaries by a school or university. \u00a0One feels personal growth, a sense of achievement and confidence to take on the world.<\/p>\n

What has worked very well for you? Your input or shared experience could\u00a0influence a\u00a0life in a major way.<\/p>\n

Best wishes…<\/p>\n

I\u00a0dedicate this post to my father on his death anniversary today,\u00a0for allowing me to choose my own learning direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a huge emphasis on education and learning in many parts of the world. \u00a0People recognize the importance,\u00a0tangible benefits and positive impact it could bring to one’s life, society and the future. \u00a0While the importance and acknowledgement\u00a0is visible, many aspects and approaches related to learning seem to require\u00a0a rethink. In India, the value of application […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coaching","category-learning","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":648,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions\/648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojoeapen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}