Learning How to Learn

 

Task 1 - Discussion Forum (Learning how to learn) What participants will learn from this unit: Share insights about their own approaches to learning •

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Consider the needs of 21st century learners Raise issues and questions concerning the approaches to learning of today’s students.

Approaches to learning

Start thinking about these questions. Your thoughts on these topics should help you with the exercise you will coplete a little later in this acti!ity. "ow do # learn best$ "ow do # know$ "ow do # counicate y understanding$

About this area

%eaching students how to learn effecti!ely should be the ultiate goal of all schools. &ll teachers in a school ha!e a responsibility to ensure that students acquire the skills and the confidence to take ownership of their own learning. %eachers cannot assue that students ha!e the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful learners and ust explicitly teach a range of learning skills and strategies. %his needs to be done in an agreed way that takes into account the context of the school and the specific needs of the students. #t is iportant that teachers ake explicit to students that the generic tools for learning are applicable to all areas of study' in addition to those that are sub(ect)specific skills. %hrough approaches to learning *&%+,' schools can pro!ide students with the tools to enable the to take responsibility for their own learning. %his in!ol!es planning' organi-ing and teaching the skills and practices that students require to becoe successful learners' while building on prior learning. hen engaging with units of work' students will be de!eloping and using their &%+ skills. %he purpose of &%+ is to support student achie!eent easured against the sub(ect) group ob(ecti!es. & well)de!eloped &%+ fraework will help de!elop the attitudes needed to ake learning effecti!e.

 

Learning how to learn

#n the odern inforation age' as the aount of inforation and knowledge increases exponentially' it is the process of learning' applying and e!aluating knowledge that atters ore than e!er before' not (ust the acquisition of knowledge. +earning how to learn needs to be infused naturally into the curriculu as part of the teaching and learning process that supports the de!elopent of learner profile attributes. Students can be asked to reflect on and to e!aluate the knowledge clais they encounter and the ethodologies they are learning. %his /etacogniti!e0 approach to learning helps students de!elop the higher)order thinking strategies needed to becoe lifelong independent learners. ach acadeic discipline presents students with different challenges and it cannot be assued that understanding gained in one discipline or context will be easily transferred to another. %eachers can assist students to ake eaningful connections between the experiences across all of the different acadeic disciplines. #n the process it is expected that students will de!elop a better appreciation of thesel!es as learners and the nature of huan knowledge. or this assignent' think about your own approaches to learning' and about the students you teach. 3ost your reflections and gi!e feedback to others if you notice connections between your experiences and ideas and theirs.

onsi!er the following "uestions: •

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 &s a learner learner yourself' yourself' what what skills ha!e you you de!eloped de!eloped that you you use regularly' across different learning situations$ hich of these do you rely upon the ost$ +ooking back to when you were the sae school age as the students that you currently teach' which general learning skills and attitudes did you rely upon then$ 4ow think about students at school now. hat learning skills and attitudes will they need' going into the future$ hat will be rele!ant to the in twenty or thirty years’ tie$ #s today’s education going to prepare the adequately for toorrow$

You ight discuss this with soe of your students' and see whether they see things the sae way as you do. #f you do' please share their !iews with the group.

 

56#45 7R%"R #f you are interested in exploring your personal way of learning further' why not try out one or two of the learning style sur!eys that can be found on line$ or exaple8 http899chat.carleton.ca9:tblouin9;olb<2=s<2>+eaning<2>Styles<2>?odel9kolbs <2>test.ht http899theinno!ati!eeducator.blogspot.co92>>@9>A9what)type)of)learner)are)you) =.htl http899www.ldpride.net9learning)style)test.htl %hese tests are based on learning stylesB in particular the learning styles in!entory of a!id ;olb. http899literacyworks.org9i9assessent9findyourstrengths.htl %his siple self)assessent is designed to help you find your strengths' based on "oward 5ardner’s theory of ultiple intelligences. http899www.personalitypathways.co9typeDin!entory.htl  &nd you you ight like to try one one of the any tests tests on the internet based based on ?yers) Eriggs’ theory of personality types. #f you do try any of these tests' and coe to any conclusions about your indi!idual type' style' or doinant Fintelligence’ you ight start thinking about your own teaching as well as your learning. Reflect on how understanding your own way of learning' and your preferences' styles or strengths' ight help you to be a good teacher$

The e#pectation for this task is that $ou !emonstrate: Reflecti!e thinking in the ideas that you post Counication skills in the way that express your ideas Collaboration in the way that you gi!e constructi!e and thoughtful feedback. • • •

For this e#ercise: •

Respond to one or ore of the questions' your response should be 1G>) 2>> words.

 

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Coent on the responses of at least two colleagues.

%ea! the prompt below an! repl$ with $our response& ome back later to respon! to $our colleagues' responses& As a student, I developed the ability to store information and the ability to use that information when needed. I had to „know that”, but also „know how”. But I developed the most the ability to question. Even today, I find my myself self haunted by the „why” of my childhood. oday, oday, we need to find other ways wa ys to teach, because youn! people seem to be unwillin! to learn. It seems to me that the new ways of learnin! promote the „know how” and for!et about the „know that”, or even worse, for!et about the „kno „know w why”. It seems to me that we are in dan!er of makin! little robots that will perform tasks without knowin! what they are really doin!. "et#s think a moment about a sur!eon. $ill you have faith in that sur!eon, knowin! that he has only a faint idea about the anatomy and the inner relations of the human body% bod y% I think not. I remember that my parents told me I had to learn in order for me to live an easier life. $ell, $e ll, maybe, but b ut not any more. $e are flooded with information and the students today need to have a very !ood „firewall” in place for their youn! minds to stay healthy. I often asked myself why they don#t learn any more, why they find it so hard and borin! to read a book. &aybe that#s why. 'ot knowin! what to block and what to let throu!h, they block the „„useless” useless” information they receive in school. I think that my first (ob in the class is to show them how the theoretical concepts apply directly to them. &y approach of a poem or a novel is „)ow do I find myself in this%” hat said, I think we solve, at a t least partially, the problem of learnin!. *e *es, s, in order to learn, we need to be or!anised, we need a !ood memory, we need to pay attention, we need to like what we are learnin!, but we also need to +E somehow what we are learnin! or, in better terms, we need to )A-E )A-E A +E for what we are learnin!. In my case, I teach litterature not as some dead !uy#s words, but as a deeply personal story about every student in the class.