My Learning Way – 3 Things That Matter Most

I recently went to a get some coffee and was presented with multiple choices on types of coffee, types of milk, sugar level, with or without cream, hot or cold....and so on. Over time, I learned what I liked most and went back to the choices I usually make.  That was easy.

I wondered - how did I learn that? I expanded on that question and asked - How do I want to learn? And wondered, why I was not asked this question till now.

I began thinking, if I were to be put in a learning situation again (like ordering coffee!), can I make the choices on what would make it the best learning experience? Do I know what drives my learning experience? I have had several learning opportunities till now (surely more than the times I ordered coffee!), that should be easy too. Well, here is my attempt to answer the question.

Learn with purpose - The first thing to understand and establish is the purpose of learning. I feel that most times, knowing why I am learning something makes the process more interesting and useful for me. It provides me the anchors that relate to my own observations and brings a desire to learn. Once the purpose and desire are established, the learning journey became more meaningful. There can be many purposes of learning like; helps understand how things work, fulfills curiosity, economically rewarding, expanding knowledge on the topic, etc. 

Identifying the purpose is essential without which the desire is never generated. I am sure each of us can think about our best learning experience and revisit the purpose we had during that process. The question is whether we can “order” the same learning purpose and desire in our learning opportunities going forward.

Have the right learning environment - I have been lucky to be exposed to several learning environments. I enjoyed many of them, disliked a few - but many times I did not choose the learning environment when I was going through the process. Most of my academic learning was in a very competitive environment. During school and college, the learning environment was very evaluative – grades and ranks mattered a lot. Most of the evaluation was done by others, not by me. I was exposed to other learning environments while I did my PhD and at work. I experienced the self-evaluative and experiential / experimental learning environments. I began to understand more about what I liked and what I didn’t.

More importantly, I began to match the purpose with the learning environment and realized that it’s important to think about learning approach in a holistic way. Some learning environments fulfill certain purposes better than others. And more importantly, some people learn better in certain environments than in others – hence matching the person, purpose and environment is key to have an enjoyable learning process. I enjoy working in teams, since I like to build on ideas with others and co-create. Some of my best times of learning have been working with others, particularly when we don’t evaluate each other and judge on which is a better idea. I believe we should be able to “order” the right learning environment that will enhance our experience, once we know the purpose. 

Teachers and Teaching Process Matters – Most of us will have our favorite teachers! They did something magical which made the learning process enjoyable - . They made us realize the purpose of learning more, if we did not have it well defined first or created a learning environment that was a better fit with our learning approach and the purpose. They gave us feedback that did not make us defensive, provided the fuel to fire our passion to learn more. I wish I could choose my teachers first and what I learned from them next, than the other way around. I did some work independently with some teachers if there were no courses offered, just because it was a great learning experience.

One of the key attributes of a great teacher is how they give you feedback. It is important to understand how a person takes feedback, before laying out the feedback. Teachers especially sow the early seeds of how someone takes feedback since there is much to be communicated (some said while others un-said) during a learning process. In an apprenticeship model, the teacher is sometimes your co-worker, who themselves would have learnt from others. The emphasis here is on the topic of learning and its purpose and hence the teacher should have the motivation to see the apprentice succeed.

In summary, I believe that finding the right interplay between the three elements makes an enjoyable learning process. In my case, I believe the best learning has been when I was able to clearly articulate why I wanted to learn something both to myself and the teacher effectively. I was also able to understand and define the learning environment – which was working in groups and co-creating. Finally, I have had the privilege of learning as an apprentice with some of the best, who were as passionate as I was and had the skills to impart the most effective learning.

I need a coffee now or should I learn to order other drinks? The question to you is – how do you want to learn?