Am I ready to learn?
This article will help you to assess your own readiness to learn. At the end of the article, you will be able to describe yourself as a learner. You will be ready to complete the following sentence: “Right now I am a learner who needs___________________ , therefore I would______________________________________________________.”
Why did I choose this tool?
A true awareness of one’s own learning is a core quality of a professional facilitator of learning environments. Very often, as trainers, we assume that we need to learn constantly, always with the same passion and love. This pressure very often is so big that we are unconsciously blocking our natural learning experience. This tool invites trainers to connect with their inner learner and it supports the realistic and updated image of the learning condition/state.
How does this apply to being a trainer?
It is advised to use this set of questions minimum twice a year in order to monitor your own development as well as to redesign the learning journey as a trainer and as an individual.
Content
Before you immerse yourself in being a trainer, reflect your own readiness to learn.
Most often trainers who create an exciting learning environment are enthusiastic about their own learning and development. We are all life-long learners, however not always equally fascinated and open to learning. Our openness and willingness to learn often depends on many factors: health condition, life energy, self-beliefs, present occupation, etc. It is important to be aware of your own condition as a learner so as to adjust better tools and improve your own learning strategies.
Excercise 1
“Check your actual profile as a learner”
Connect with yourself truly and honestly.
LEARNING AS A PROCESS
Finish the sentence.
When I am thinking about my own learning I feel_________________________________
My openness towards my own learning – rate it on a scale from 10 to 1 (when 10 is-I am fully devoted to my learning, and 1 – I have no more space, no need, no energy and motivation to learn anything more)
I rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10 by________, because ____________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
To increase my openness to learning for one point, or to maintain the current state, I would need
_________________________________________________________________________
SELF CONCEPT AS A LEARNER
Finish the sentence:
I see myself as a learner who__________________________________________________
The metaphor which describes me as a learner. I am like _________________________________________________________________________
because__________________________________________________________________
If I would ask my mentors and teachers to describe me as a learner they would say I am _____
_________________________________________________________________________
If I would compare myself as a learner from an early age to the learner I am today, I would say:
I am more________________________________________________________________
I am less_________________________________________________________________
I am still__________________________________________________________________
The new aspect of me is_____________________________________________________.
If I looked into a magic mirror of the future, I would see myself in the reflection as a learner who
_________________________________________________________________________.
INDEPENDENCE IN LEARNING AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
Analyze your present preferences as a learner.
Multiple choice possible:
A.
I want to learn by myself
I need to be guided by a master
I need peers, a community of learners
B.
I want to follow particular rules
I want to improvise
I want to take part in an organized activity
C.
I want to decide in terms of my own learning
I prefer to be part of the group decision
I prefer to follow guidance in terms of learning
D.
I would like to choose the resources which I need for my own learning
I am open to using resources which I will be offered by teachers or other learners
I want to be the one to choose my own time for learning.
I prefer to adapt to a particular timetable
I want to organize my own learning place myself
I don’t care about which conditions I learn in
E.
I would prefer to discuss outcomes with another person
I would like to take part in an organized reflection process
I prefer to reflect on my own
I don’t want to reflect at all, just to go on
I would like to be assessed by a test, to verify my competences
LOVE OF LEARNING
Recall the moment of your life that you could call “love towards learning”.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Which factors had a special impact on this?____________________________________________________________________________
How could you provoke this state “love towards learning” now? What would you need to arrange, provoke, initiate?
____________________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF THE LEARNER:
Right now I am a learner who needs_________________________________ ,
therefore I would _________________________________________________
Excercise 2
According to Social Learning Theory, adapted in the Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 27, 2000 3 LEARNING READINESS DIMENSIONS AND 12 VARIABLES were presented.
Look at them and assess yourself how much you fulfill these criteria on a scale from 1-10 (1 – not at all, 10 – totally).
Emotive-Attitudinal Readiness:
How much are you?
- Emotionally ready to assume responsibility for your learning?
1________________________________________________10
- Enthusiastic about learning?
1________________________________________________10
- Willing to adapt to the sometimes ambiguous and open-ended nature of experiential
learning?
1________________________________________________10
- Comfortable with self-direction and autonomy in learning?
1________________________________________________10
- Appreciate the intrinsic value of learning?
1________________________________________________10
Cognitive Readiness:
How much do you/are you?
- Possess the cognitive and critical thinking skills necessary to succeed as a learner?
1________________________________________________10
- Aware of own strengths and limitations?
1________________________________________________10
- Ready to make connections between formal learning and “real world” applications?
1________________________________________________10
- Aware of your personal values and willing to disclose them in the learning process?
1________________________________________________10
- Able to integrate concepts and tools from various academic disciplines?
1________________________________________________10
Behavioral Readiness:
How much do you/are you?
- Willing to function in a partnership with your learning peers and facilitators?
1________________________________________________10
- Adept at organizing time demands to achieve learning goals?
1________________________________________________10
Reflection questions:
- How do you recognize your level of readiness to learn?
- How do you empower your learning?
- What else as a trainer would you like to discover in this topic?
- Which other tools do you use to monitor your readiness for learning?
- How would you adjust learning strategies and environment to your actual state of learning readiness?
