So we keep getting asked to think about our experience of learning, so during a long train journey today I have pondered just that.
As a young kid I loved to read, draw and make things. I remember making lots of different clothes for peg dolls from a young age. I also loved nature programmes and had loads of animal and picture books. I read fast – I liked to read and jumped ahead in my class. I wasn’t a popular kid though. This may be partly because by the time I was 8, I had been to about 4 different schools because we moved around with dad’s job. So I had to adapt quickly to different experiences and new people quickly. I was always a ‘thinking’ child apparently, but also had lots of friends.
Come secondary school I don’t really remember much – except for the teachers who were cool or who helped me out. We didn’t have computers, but we went on lots of trips, used videos from the bbc – and even watched blackadder in history, which at that point was quite avant garde! I remember that I picked up concepts quickly, but also infuriated my teachers by doing things a quicker way. The phrase ‘I need to see you do the workings out the proper way’ was heard often. I liked exams, and learnt by rote key dates or sentences, so that when I got into an exam, I would write them down immediately, and then go on and formulate my answers. I remember distinctly my calculator breaking in my maths exam – and me not knowing that there was a reset button and doing everything by long division. I got an A by the way, so it was ok! I also changed my focus from sciences to humanities at the last minute when I decided on what A levels I would do. I decided that I was bored with science, even though I was good at it, and I didn’t want to be a vet anymore as I would have to studied for like…a million years!
At Uni I only remember the good bits. Probably like most people I didn’t take full advantage of the study around me. I chose a subject that I was really interested in, and being that there was still grants then, and that I was the first in the family to go to uni, I felt that was OK. I preferred the metaphorical stuff to the historical. I liked giving things meaning and knowing why people thought certain things. I mean, it’s not often you talk about Einstein’s theory of relativity and how it fits with the concept of gaia (I studied Theology at Durham). However I was also engaged in lots of other things at university. I was active in my JCR, working locally and running a theatre company. These experiences probably taught me more about me as a person than academia did. Thus my experiential learning continued.
In work, most ‘learning’ was either a practical skill or a social skill. I was a pub manager for ten years, so it was about mastering practical skills as well as people. I continued to find people fascinating and in a pub you see the best and worst of people. I am not sure I had a lot of ‘training’, but when I trained others it was through mentorship and showing and coaching people. Most of my managers became managers because they got to do a little more, then a little more…and oh look, you can do it all now. Learning by stealth I like to call it!
When I started my masters last year, it took some time to kick start my brain, and get used to being immersed in academia. After all, I had come from non-formal world in speech and language.
But has my learning changed? I still work, both in work, and in my study, by gather information, possibly exploring other sources, making notes and summarising. Then I like to share that with others, and give it meaning for me in my personal situation and experience. What does that mean for me, and how can I use it?
I do this a lot in training too. I like to deliver personal anecdotes or experiences – concrete examples of whatever I am talking about. What do I like? I need time to explore and discover (I love rock pooling). I need to get my head around things, and often to do that I need to explore. Technology has greatly enabled me to do this, although I used to do this in the library too when at Uni – it’s just easier on the internet! I get impatient when individuals dominate because they want to prove how knowledgeable they are. I like lectures – provided they are not too long and the presenters are interesting. For several years we used to go to lectures at the natural history museum and they were great. I don’t seem to get on so well with audio only without concentrating really hard, but when I attend a webinar I find this easier, although I also have some visual stimulus as well. I like there to be some fun and frivolity. One of the lasting memories I will have of the tutor group in H807 is the fun we had in forums, while also discussing some serious topics. I also like to debate to increase my understanding.
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