I love learning. I can say that with absolutely no doubt in my mind. If I could live forever I would try and learn everything. Maths, Physics, Biology, Drawing, Painting, Cooking, Archery, Synchronised Swimming, you name it. I have never come across something and thought "Learning more about that seems like a really bad idea...". It just doesn't happen.
The focal point of this post however is my beliefs and opinions on learning itself. Not everybody agrees with my views and I'll leave it to you to decide and possibly debate (if you wish to leave a comment) whether you agree with these views or not.
"A healthy brain can learn anything."
Woooaaaaahhhh! Say what? A "healthy brain"? What the hell does that mean!?
By 'Healthy' I mean does not suffer from a disorder or disability. I'm not saying people with disability's can't learn whatever they want, but at least for the purposes of this post "disability" covers a whole lot of unknowns that I can't account for.
The general crux of this idea stems from the fact that there are no logical or physical reasons why a healthy brain cannot learn something. On the face of it, that can sound like a pretty bold thing to say but ultimately it all boils down to perspective. If I phrased it differently and said "Given adequate time, anyone can learn anything". Suddenly the idea of learning changes...
What would happen if I tried to teach A level maths to a child just starting primary school? Would this person be able to learn what I am trying to teach them? Any normal person would say "No, they do not yet have a good enough foundation of mathematical knowledge to understand or learn that level of maths". Of course they would be right...But I didn't ask if they could learn it in time for next weeks SATS, or even in time for their A level exam. So many people feel that learning has a time limit attached to it and that if they do not understand it by a certain day, then they have crossed a line and there is no going back. They will never be able to understand it.
When someone claims that they "don't get it" or "don't understand" this can sometimes trigger something to snap inside that persons head. Suddenly "I don't understand" becomes "I never will understand".
We've all felt it. Even me and I'm the one who is claiming that I should be able to learn anything! So what changed? Why is it that nowadays when I come across something I don't understand I merely think "oh well, I'll try again tomorrow". For me personally it was coming out of education. Once I could learn the things I wanted to learn in my own time, the whole process became embarrassingly easy. Better still, my time at university made me aware of how I learn best.
Things aren't as simple as feeding information into our brains and hoping it sinks in. Everybody is different and everybody learns things differently. It's not just a case of 'having more time to learn something'. This only works if you spend that time trying different approaches to trying to understand the thing you are learning. Read a book, do some exercises from it. Didn't work? Try youtube and see if there are any visual representations. Not helping? Try iTunes U (in fact just try it out anyway, it's brilliant) and see if an audio approach helps. Get a friend to explain. Get a friend to study with you.
People often think that once they have tried to learn something and failed then that is it. What people tend to forget is that the same things can be taught in hundreds of ways. The key is finding the one that is right for you. Even if it takes you 10 years, you've still learnt it...
Sound extreme?
What if I said I was learning the violin. Suddenly that seems acceptable...but why? It's no different to anything else. Foundation, fundamentals, technicalities and then practice practice practice until you are happy you have "learnt" it. After all there is a difference between practising until you get it right and practising until you don't get it wrong.
I still proclaim to this day that I can learn anything and have yet to come across anything that has proved me wrong. Believing you can learn anything is the first step of actually being able to do it.
Don't you think?
Well said Sparky, totally agree with you. Learning with a "I'll come back to it later" attitude rather than a "I can't do this" attitude is a lot more productive. Plus the more someone takes the first approach the sooner they start to know how long it takes for them to take something in, it becomes natural to be learning in this way over this period of time. Plus what is to say that a person with a "less than healthy" brain can't learn whatever they want? Maybe they can, but unfortunately their abilities to display this understand are what limits them, rather than an inability to learn.
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea. That is certainly a possibility. I think for the most part this applies to disabled people as well. The only reason I separated the two was because I knew if I didn't, some smart arse would come here and leave a comment saying something like "My uncle is paralysed from the waste down. He can't learn to dance". Thanks for reading =)
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if a synchronised swimmer drowns? Do they all drown?
ReplyDeleteYou're totally right except I think you could learn all the fundamental theory for playing a Violin but physically still not be able to play it. You should really start to learn the violin at a young age in order to play some of the advanced pieces... That might be a fallacy but that's the general consensus that I've always been told about the Violin.
I like how you covered your ass with the healthy part ;).
ReplyDelete