Creating a Culture of Learning

One of the concepts I’ve been building on lately is the idea of transformation and change.  If the idea of transformative learning is learning that supports change in deeply ingrained beliefs through reflection (Mezirow, 1991), then my role as an adult educator can shift to a facilitator or coach on that learning journey.  But what does that mean?

For me, it means a commitment to helping learners develop their learning skills to use a learner’s mindset. I would like to incorporate this into my teaching and facilitation practices in a thoughtful way.

My initial plan is to use four key areas to help engage learners in this shift and build their confidence and competency in considering learning in a way that may be new for them.

Image of girl with eyes closed in thought and light shining on her head.

Magic of Curiosity

Starting a lesson or course by encouraging questioning and wonder and supporting the idea that a curious approach can produce unique results. To support a learner’s mindset, I am working on framing my course design around unknowns and uncertainty.  I’d like people to approach the material with questions in mind and build comfort in not having an answer.  I’d like to share insights around the idea that learning can take place in multiple spheres.  Some of the questions that I’d like to incorporate into engagement activities are ‘what if?’; ‘what else?’, and ‘how come?’.  The goal is to encourage learners to exercise their minds by considering alternative approaches and building on a dream.  By preparing learners with a questioning structure in a supported way, we can explore the idea of what surprised them and what else they would like to know (Grocott, 2022).  This is creating a space for hope to emerge and transformative change to develop.

Activities include creating course descriptions and syllabus which start out with questions, using the language of curiosity and possibilities to present learning outcomes, structuring engagement and assessment activities to generate questions and encourage consideration of alternate perspectives.

Magic of Assets

One of the foundations for community development that I highly value is the asset-based development approach.  This means recognizing that every community has assets and if work focuses on those assets, rather than perceived deficits, positive outcomes occur (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993).   In building off this approach for learners, I like to support learners in recognizing what they are good at and how it can be applied.  Much of the work that is done in employment fields ties to understanding transferable employability skills and foundational skills that can be laddered. I see the assets of learners as incredibly important to recognize too and want to include opportunities for early and simple successes in their journey (Brookfield, 2015).

Activities include understanding the base skills beyond activities tied to learning outcomes and helping learners identify their starting point, using comparisons to relate proposed activities to past success, and setting up success as being development along the continuum of learning not necessarily master at a certain level.

Planet Earth with image of human floating on the surface.

Magic of Collaboration

Working together to build and create can support increased learning.  Using collaboration activities that support learners to explore a concept and then relate it back to their individual group and the larger class can help learners to start to think about things from a different perspective (Scager et al., 2016). In navigating the group dynamics, consideration must be given to the other members and how they see the topic. Thoughtful guiding questions that ask learners to evaluate and analyze options are important to building a learner’s mindset and the added element of collaboration means consideration happens more broadly.

Activities include group project where different roles are undertaken or assigned, a variety of learning options are provided, group development includes understanding individual styles and values, and assessment is tied to demonstrating how multiple perspectives have been considered.  

Image of planet Earth over mountains reflected in a lake.

Magic of Reflection

Spending time reflecting helps learners to embed ideas into their future approaches.  Considering what was read, seen, or how a project went encourages learners to consider what impact the learning activities had (Barkley & Major, 2020).  Asking them to reflect on what else could have been done, what they learned, and what they will do differently because of the activity helps them build their skills at bringing new information into their daily practices.

Activities to support this include a journaling component with open-ended questions to provoke thinking, reflection after activities such as collaborative projects, and formative discussions that have learners consider how they will use what they have learned.

Overall, I think this approach provides a good starting point to encourage people to deepen their thinking, consider other perspectives, and build on activities as stepping stones. For my own learning, I guess I better take my own advice! I'll spend time exploring these ideas with curiousity, remembering my own assets, seeking insights from colleagues, and reflecting on my learning.

Keep Shining!

References

Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2020). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty (Second edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Brookfield, S. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (Third edition). Jossey-Bass.

Grocott, L. (2022). Design for transformative learning: A practical approach to memory-making and perspective-shifting. Routledge.

Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. The Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Scager, K., Boonstra, J., Peeters, T., Vulperhorst, J., & Wiegant, F. (2016). Collaborative Learning in Higher Education: Evoking Positive Interdependence. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 15(4), ar69. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-07-0219