There was very little about school that I enjoyed. I was the geek, the one who was singled out and often targeted by the bullies. I found it very hard to pay attention in classes even though I tried. I would often realize I missed a whole lecture ...
There was very little about school that I enjoyed. I was the geek, the one who was singled out and often targeted by the bullies. I found it very hard to pay attention in classes even though I tried. I would often realize I missed a whole lecture and would read the textbook and pass my tests. I refused to do homework because I was too interested in doing my own thing after classes and my parents both worked and eventually separated so there was no demand placed on me to do my work. But having said that all I LOVE TO LEARN.
My biggest career was certifying yoga teachers, and in so doing I was constantly trying to figure out how to teach a subject. My favorite ideas came from Roger Schank.
I believe that true learning happens when interest is there. Very little is retained by an individual when there is little to no interest in the subject being taught. And by interest, I am not meaning having to love the subject, but at the very least perceiving a goal in the topic you are learning about. Without a goal learning is loose and attention is not likely to be involved. Retention is minimal.
The best form of learning, IMO, is through hands on. Maybe a story starts a person on a path to hands-on learning. That story compels the individual to see if they would have interest in a given subject. But I believe a ton of stuff is taught in conventional schools that is absolutely useless for the majority and only is a benefit for the few. When people are mentored they tend to do the best, especially when they see a goal and have interest in the moment.
For a system to function there needs to be a spread of education. But what compels us to go a certain path of learning? This usually starts because of a narrative, a story, some perceived goal that someone else has established, and someone becomes interested in that subject and then is mentored, usually because the person has been hired into a position. I think schooling should reflect more closely the truth of adult life and be trained in the expectations of adulthood.
Which include but are not limited to:
Being capable of making decisions, especially when presented with a problem or some obstacle on the path to the perceived goal.
Self-sufficiency and within teamwork. Meaning that we should have the ability to use our problem-solving skills to work with others and to be self-motivated so that we don't need to be told what to do unless hands-on learning from someone that has the knowledge to share.
Knowing how to navigate your environment and problem solve obstacles within it. Which includes where to find help for different issues, where to find information that can lead you to answers, where to find food, shelter, water, where to relieve yourself, etc
Understanding your rights as a sovereign citizen and what that means when entering a different political zone.
So how do we humans learn?
I believe learning a given subject of knowledge happens in four-parts;
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Gross incompetence - we have not been subjected to the data that will get us to our goal in learning, this stage is our first introduction to the data, and there is no capacity at being self-correcting concerning the data.
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Self-Correcting - Roughly after about 20 hours of interested exploration of data we start to be able to recognize our mistakes and are able to seek out the correction of the mistake.
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Proficiency - We have invested enough time getting to our goal(s) within a certain scope of knowledge and tend to have the recognition from our peers about the value of that knowledge. It is enough knowledge to make a living. Most people will be content getting to this level and won't move into the next.
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Mastery - We have put a substantial amount of time into our interest and achieved many goals within the scope of that knowledge. Those at this level are considered experts and have made a commitment to their interest. They contain the most knowledge about a given subject of knowledge.
In these four-parts, we must work through numerous
cognitive processes
. The fundamentals can mostly be attributed, but not limited, to the following; Evaluation, prediction, modeling, causality, judgment, teamwork, influence, negotiation, describing, planning, experimentation, diagnosis, etc, etc.
I don't think lectures are truly effective methods of teaching and or learning, at least not long drawn out lectures where one person is speaking to another and the other is attempting to be able to memorize the lecture. These need to be turned into discussions, where the other feels like they are a part of gaining the knowledge and understanding.
If a person is interested in making a rocket engine then they should be learning how to make a rocket engine and learning the processes as they go along. This compels us to further understanding and to engage in the community.
If peace is a huge part of our mandate then we have to learn how to be at peace, if you're forced to learn something that you perceive as useless you will not excel or be at peace. How many of us learned techniques to help maintain a sense of peace?
At young ages, we should be learning how to problem solve (not mathematics). That is to recognize what a problem or obstacle is and how to figure it out. If that means finding someone else that is interested in that part, this helps us establish a community. We will need to learn about healthy and peaceful communication. How to appropriately deal with conflict.
I would be loath to see the future of humanity being a depressed species that has little will to survive or is extremely nonpeaceful in our expansion into the universe.
I will leave this blog post at that for now and maybe come back to this and rework it, or just start another draft at some other time.
