Effective Learners/Teach Anywhere

Vs. Effective learning environments

Kurt Ewald Lindley
Jul 23, 2017 · 3 min read

In a recent client meeting I was asked about creating ‘effective learning environemnts’ to which I responded..

I’m not into that…

There was a look of dismay and a distinct quiet in the room. I quantified my statement with..

I believe in creating effective learners over effective learning environments..

You see where I often teach, work or help learning happen is often unlike any learning environment you would traditionally envisage and the distractions alone are enough to disturb the best of learners. Our spaces are often tight, cluttered, poorly lit and include the regular hello from the well meaning passerby. The temperature is changeable, the noise is undulating and the line of sight between learner, teacher/facilitator and any form of screen is often obscured…

Trying to rectify, change or adapt this space can sometime be impossible or so effortful that it would take all the creativity you can muster. And sometimes we cannot move supporting pillars or knock walls down or even hang doors…

So whats the solution….for me its about developing more effective learners with a ‘learn anywhere’ philosophy. We are not excusing the educator the responsibility to make every effort in creating ‘as effective learning space as possible’ – that goes without saying. But we are looking for learners to be ‘effortful’ in their role as ‘acquisition beasts’ of information/experiences shared. We want learners to…

Look for the learning….

Effective learners – What do they look like

  1. Autonomous – search for learning without prompting. Explore things from different perspectives (not just their own), judging the relevance and value of learning to known and yet to be know challenges. Adapt and organise themselves showing personal responsibility.
  2. Sensemakers – look to sense make within themselves and with others, generating personal relevance and meaning. Listen and take account of the views of others, connecting their ideas to the ideas of others.
  3. Thinkers – consider what they know and more importantly what they don’t know. Can conjure original thought. Review personal and/or group progress, inviting feedback and responding as required.
  4. Checkers – reflect on and within the moment. Ask good questions of themselves and other, feel comfortable questioning the question as much as considering the answer. Question their own assumptions.
  5. Collaborators – learn with others, creating new stuff together, recognising and valuing that others see the world with different lenses. See the power of difference in creating new good stuff or evolving existing stuff. Share own perspective in ways relevant to their audience.
  6. Active – participate in learning, never passive in the process. Actively try different ways to overcome/explore challenges. Embrace/anticipate change and persist when it doesn’t work at 1st, 2nd or 3rd attempt. Look for new opportunities/new ways to explore success.

Effective Learners – How do we create them

It’s to easy to simply list the above items and stop there, we need to consider how we create these wonderful people…some thoughts on this are below:

Autonomous – highlight the fact that ‘people learner more without us’ therefore they should play with learning without us. Celebrate personal learning and the off shoots that sprout from personal exploration.

Sensemakers – promote sensemaking through the sharing of thoughts on the ‘i don’t get that’ or ‘ah ha now I know’ moments with peers. We want people to share personal meaning, challenges and success in learning.

Thinkers – ask the question of learners, ‘what do you not know yet that you may need to know to resolve this challenge’ and ‘Have you settled on a thought, answer or outcome – how and why. Now think again'.

Checkers – ask ‘what assumptions have you made, what is the danger of this’. Remind learners that assumptions are fine as long as we acknowledge they may be wrong, prepare for the impact of assumptions.

Collaborators – get people together, leave space for chat. Force the uncomfortable progress through your silence. Promote the building of ideas through connecting and layering the thoughts of others.

Active – Get learners to explore ‘how they and others learn’ showing the value of active participation regardless of mode (e.g. active reflection, active theorising, active participation…). Do something over nothing.

Above all the trick is, in all that you do we must..

breed curiosity, promote sociability, build resilience, raise self awareness, praise resourcefulness and ignite creativity…

Doing that will make for better learners…

Kurt Ewald Lindley – progressing the concept of ‘Learn Anywhere'

Kurt Ewald Lindley

Written by

Father 1st everything else 2nd, Owner@ https://www.bemorelnd.co.uk, passionate about learning & People Dev #lazydyslexic Putting myself in places 2B found

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