The Concept of Learning

Hi!

Today I would like to talk about the concept of learning. Many of us might think that learning takes place at school or in the classroom. However, learning is more complex than this. Indeed, it is believed that much of what we learn is informal. In other words, much of what learn occurs outside the boundaries of the classroom. Hence, as teachers, trainers, public speakers, parents, etc. we should not really be worried if the efforts that we make to teach our students, children, employees, etc. do not appear to impact upon their learning. We just need to do our part and we leave the rest to other factors that influence learning such as family and community.

Given that learning is complex, we should never assume that our teaching is ineffective. We never know the impact of our work. We only know one story about learning, which might not be the true story. In the classroom, for example, we might have 30 students, each of whom has his or her own story about learning. Therefore, we should give up the idea that the teacher is someone who knows it all. The teacher is a learner before he or she is a teacher. Teaching involves learning and it should always be viewed it in this way until we drop dead! Learning never ends.

Please post your comments. I look forward to reading them.