Learning Together
LEARNING HOW TO LEARN
Change is occurring much more quickly than in previous generations, which means that the future our students are facing is rapidly evolving. As the future for today’s students unfolds, it will appear very different from what we are experiencing today. As educators of these young people, we are preparing them for a future that lacks the clarity of past generations. What is clear though is that learning how to learn will be vitally important, more so than ever before.
In the 90’s the trend in education was of Learning Styles – Visual, Audio and Kinaesthetic. The idea was that we all had a particular learning style and, taken further, that teachers were supposed to teach every lesson to every different learning style in the classroom. What the theory behind this concept actually said was, we all have a preferred learning style, be aware of it; it is a strength, but make sure that you practice other ways of learning so you have the ability to learn in a variety of ways. Then, when presented with a problem or concept, students have a number of different strategies to tackle it in order to find a solution.
Regardless of whether we agree with the concept of learning styles or not, what I hope we all agree on is that we want our young people to have a range of ways and strategies to help them with their learning. In educating our students for their future we must all be nurturing their ability in ‘Learning How to Learn’. If a student struggles to spell a word, solve a problem or understand a concept, they need to be able to employ other ways to do so. Finding information has never been easier, but the ability of a person to move their learning forward, to be a valuable team member and contribute in various situations helps to build confidence, courage, tenacity, sense of responsibility and self-awareness.
If we think about people of past generations who were visionary, creative and definitely before their time, like Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, we can see people who were able to adapt to anything required by the circumstances at the time. We must make sure that our students don’t put themselves, or allow themselves to be put in a box and categorised by the notion of a predisposed, inflexible thinking style.
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching