.png)
SuperTips for Self-Directed Lifelong Learning
“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures… I divide the world into learners and nonlearners.”
–Benjamin Barber, sociologist
Lifelong Learning is a Force of Life! Perhaps the Heartbeat of Life!
This is a dynamic process that is all-involving, dedicated, devoted, and disciplined, towards mastery … if our civilisations are to progress and prosper. Meeting, and defeating, this challenge will require seismic transformations in the way teachers teach and learners learn.
Teachers are morphing into facilitators, and are being groomed to guide learners into taking full responsibility for setting goals, identifying sources and resources for learning, and reflecting on and evaluating their experiences of learning.
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck poses the question: Is your capacity for learning fixed or fluid? and says most of us have either a “fixed” or “growth” mindset when it comes to learning. Whilst ‘memorisation’ can get most of us through school, rote can lead to rot! Change might be inevitable, but progress is not! Only a growth mindset can liberate us in our quest for success!
Lifelong learning is now recognised by educators, governing bodies, accreditation organisations, certification boards, employers, third-party payers, and the general public as one of the most important competencies a person can possess. But consensus on its value can still easily escape our grasp if we approach it the wrong way.
Dweck states: “In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.”
“Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn. Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just ordinary skills, but the most difficult tasks of a lifetime, like learning to walk and talk. They never decide it’s too hard or not worth the effort. Babies don’t worry about making mistakes or humiliating themselves. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward.”
“What could put an end to this exuberant learning? The fixed mindset. As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, some of them become afraid of challenges. They become afraid of not being smart. I have studied thousands of people from preschoolers on, and it’s breathtaking how many reject an opportunity to learn.”
~ Carol Dweck
To get back on track, we need to rediscover the driving force that impelled our curiosity when we were just a few years old. Lifelong learning requires recognising, creating, and embracing opportunities to learn. A person’s true potential is “unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil and training.” But we are all gifted with the raw materials of genius, if only we chose to see that.
In your quest for the best, choose to display an iron will and unwavering perseverance.
Here are some smart-guides to advance you towards peerless performance.
When you approach a new concept or subject, don’t think of it as an isolated learning experience. Think of it as a new territory you’ve begun to conquer. More than likely, you will find in the future that you’ll have many uses for it that weren’t obvious to you during your initial studies, so think of each learning experience as an investment rather than as a one-time transaction.
2. Assume responsibility for your own learning.
No matter how good or bad a teacher is, ultimately, we are responsible for our own learning outcomes. The knowledge you cultivate is directly related to the effort you put into gaining it.
3. View challenges as opportunities for growth.
Challenges excite lifelong learners. Why? Because lifelong learners see challenges as learning opportunities and, ultimately, a chance to enhance their own competence and intelligence. Relishing challenges is one of the most distinctive differences between people with growth versus fixed mindsets.
4. Be confident about your status as a competent, effective learner.
You may have had trouble performing well in school, or maybe you feel that you have a poor memory and can’t soak up all the facts that other people can. The first step towards correcting this is to combat it face-on! You can easily improve your memory once you have decided to do so, and learnt a few memory-boosting techniques.
5. Create your own learning toolbox, and a learning laboratory.
Identify the tools you use to promote your own learning, and create new ones to add to your collection. Being aware of how you learn is an important part of being an effective lifelong learner. Some simple tools include notebooks, pens, pencils, and highlighters (in a range of colours), and a book in your hand. 219
6. Use technology to your advantage.
Mobile learning has never been more possible. Take advantage of it! You are what you do, so make a habit of using technology to boost your skills and knowledge on a daily basis. Of course, you can indulge in mobile learning without technology, simply by keeping your senses tuned.
7. Teach/mentor others.
If you can’t explain what you’ve learned to others in a way they can understand, then you might not have understood it yourself. Sharing knowledge with others is an excellent way to reveal your own strengths and weaknesses and lock learning into place.
8. Play. Play Power trumps
Power Play! Play is serious business. Get good at it! The ancient Greeks used the word ‘paidia’ for the oncept of play,and ‘paideia’ for the concept of education. Only one letter (‘e’) different: Play infused into education catalyses learning!
9. Look at the art and science of being a perpetual learning organism.
Do not ambush yourself by believing you can’t learn new things. Neuroscience and psychology have shown that whilst false beliefs can hold us back, our brain is wired for learning till the moment we die. Our brains remain plastic and malleable well into old age, and it’s possible to create new connections among neurons and learn new things even if you’re 80 years old. It’s not ‘age’ but ‘usage’ that keeps our brains illuminated.
10. Try new things on a frequent basis.
Trying new things not only keeps our brains sharp but also nurtures and nourishes the growth mindset. When you broaden your perspective, you start to realise there’s far more left to learn about the world than you ever imagined. Aim to maintain a sky-high ‘curiosity quotient’!
11. Learn from people who are positively positive about learning!
Surround yourself with people who are constantly learning, reading, sharing, discovering. It will inspire you to do the same for yourself. Our brains are wired to be inspired!
12. Design personal learning goals.
Goal-setting leads to goal-getting, if your path to mastery is imbued with vision, discipline, and a passion to perform at peak levels of excellence. Stay free to explore a range of topics, any time you want. Aim for mastery! With perfect persistence and indefatigable determination, success shall ensue. 2
13. Talk about what you’ve learned.
Bring your learning to life; enliven what you know by engaging in stimulating conversations … so you can learn more!
14. Always have a positive answer to the question,
“What are you reading?” Readers make leaders! Learn to read, read to learn! Whether reading from paper or from pixels, be ready to have your learning leap up from your consciousness. Reading, writing, and speaking, form a self-reinforcing loop of eloquence in motion.
15. Keep a “to-learn” list.
Learning never ends! Stay alive to new learning. Note-taking and note-making of fresh learning themes encode and embed vast dimensions of knowledge … and wisdom … into your consciousness. Then translate your insights into action … for learning is never complete until it transforms behaviour.
16. Ask questions when you’re confused.
Questions peel away layers of fog. Learn to question, and to question the questions. The cost of confusion is unaffordable; we need to grasp the value of clarity, and this comes from daring to ask questions. Look at the shape of a question mark symbol; turn it upside down and it becomes a hook for answers!
17. Practise thinking for yourself.
Albert Einstein once said, “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” The wisdom of sages must inspire and impel you to think through ideas for yourself. You have within you sources and resources to turn contemplation and concentration into consummation of your aspirations.
18. Put your learning into practice.
Translate skills into drills! Use your learning to create something that never existed before, one that has a purpose for evincing the greatest good. Skillsbased learning is useless if it isn’t applied. Application leads to accomplishment.
19. Filter your information stream.
From the vast expanse of cyberspace, the invisible membrane that girdles our planet, we have available the raw materials of learning. But much of it is junk! Lifelong learners know how to extract treasure from trash, what and when to use knowledge, and why and how to convert information into usable intelligence.
20. Learn in groups.
The energy of synergy! Whilst individual learning can be fulfilling, learning with others can often be more rewarding. The multiple perspectives and proficiencies available from other minds can lead to your brain bubbling with ideas!
21. Unlearn assumptions.
Assumptions and presumptions can suppress our senses, thwart our creativity, and shut down our opportunities for learning. Stay open to possibilities and what seems impossible, might become improbable, but eventually, inevitable!
22. Choose a career that encourages learning.
Follow a career path that encourages continual learning. If you are in a vocation that doesn’t have much creative freedom, consider switching to one that does. Stay open and alive to the challenge space: the zone of competitive creativity involving a tournament of minds! By challenging yourself to excel, you will!
23. Have projects and hobbies.
Play power trumps power play! We tend to fall into patterns of low scale and scope, and thus get trapped in a web of ‘inconsequentials’. Indulge and engage in projects, hobbies, crafts, games, diversions that stimulate, not just stipulate.
24. Learn something new every day.
You can’t shrink your way to success. Devote at least an hour a day to learning something new. The rule: It can’t be related to schoolwork, office work, or general administrivia! No matter what else you have to do, squeeze in this hour. The magic of compound interest will soon kick in: you will find the more you learn, the more you can learn. And the more you will learn! You will culminate your efforts by becoming a world expert in your area of passion.
25. Improve your memory.
There is no learning without memory! If you can’t remember what you’ve learned, learning can be frustrating. Build a powerful memory, not jst to ‘memorise’ but to create, for what you have remembered and can recall, can be used as the alphabet (the raw materials) for lifelong creation, invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship!
Posts
