What does it mean to learn?
I loved posing this question to Undergraduate and Graduate students at the start of nearly each semester. The Undergraduates were Pre-Service Teachers, the Graduates were often teachers, principals and other education staff and their responses were always diverse.
As the tireless William & Mary School of Education Professor, Dr. Christopher Gareis oft stated, “Learning occurs when there is a change in behavior.” This definition has always intrigued me because of its underlying assumption that learning is active.
The past year and a half have been an amazing learning experience as I have been observing, meeting people, formally and informally, having countless conversations, asking infinite questions and being told by lots of people that they would follow up.
It’s difficult to describe feeling like a foreigner in one’s own country, but I very much feel that way. I have been the ‘other’ for the decade previous. I have lived and experienced places completely opposite of where I am now. And yet I feel just as ‘othered’. Countless times, I have been advised that ‘That’s not the way we do things here’ implying that any other way is anathema to our daily practice and is to be eschewed.
Where is the opportunity for growth in being closed to a different approach, a different way? Where is the learning?
And motivation. Why do you want to learn, now? Is it intrinsic need or external forces?
As adults, especially those of us who are educators, we should acknowledge more openly that we are ALWAYS learning and be honest and transparent about that and our motivation to learn, with our teachers, students…everyone.