Learning is inevitable

LEARNING IS INEVITABLE

Learners are never disengaged in learning...they may be disengaged in what they are expected to do
but not disengaged in learning!

I ask myself, have the grown ups forgotten that learning is instinctive? That it is inevitable?

We learned to walk and to talk because we were inspired to do so. There was no curriculum,
There was no teacher. It just happened. And, even though learning a new language and how to use it
is one of the most sophisticated skills to master, it was easy.
Babies have a huge sense of self. They instinctively know what they need, to get along in the world.

The wisdom and knowing being within, is nothing new, Socrates beat us to it, education, educe...
educe to draw out...So, even though this knowledge has been available to us since at least when
Socrates was around, the teaching process seems to still be stuck in the "motivating, manipulating,
moulding, teacher knows best, pour the information in" model.

The ISMIT model.

Information, skills based teaching, it's a huge part of the learning process, Google and YouTube are
making traditional teachers redundant! 

Motivational learning, where you get hold of an idea and take it to its logical conclusion, it's the carrot
we attach to the task or the project where at best, upon its completion it is popped up on top of a
cupboard along with the learning... As educators we are finding it more and more difficult to find the
carrot that will buy the learner, as if learning has a currency. We are out of touch with what engages
students because we are too busy teaching to find out. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, it seems we
are teaching more and more challenging children, maybe more and more children are challenging the
way we teach. 

At six years old, my son, who at best could be described as a disengaged learner,  NEEDED to know
how much his Minecraft sword was worth, no-one set this up, it wasn’t a task, he wasn’t going to get a
prize at the end of it and he certainly didn’t get anything wrong throughout the process... so he learnt
how much 1000 divided by 400 was. He needed to know, so he made sure he found out. At eight years
old he needed to make his own server, so he did, at ten he made his Youtube Channel. He googles and
you tubes, he blogs, vlogs and skypes and much more. Again, There was no curriculum, there was no
teacher, it just happened - because he NEEDED it.

I was fortunate to have worked with a wonderful NZ artist, Emily Karaka as she supported students to
“learn about” or rather, “go through” the creative process during art classes. Rather than showing the
students how to….she allowed the learners to express themselves without influence as they collaborated
on a beautiful mural. Teaching less is more. More student agency is more.

This is what we might call inspired learning, unlike motivational learning where the learner gets hold of
the idea, Inspirational learning is the exact opposite. It Is where an idea gets hold of a learner and takes
him or her to where they were intended to go, inspired in spirit.

As teachers, are our programmes and timetables and Pinterest activities distracting learners from
connecting to where they were intending to go? Interrupting their inspiration. Distracting them from
connecting to something greater than themselves. 

Which brings me to Transformational learning: Where an idea gets hold of the learner and takes him or
her to beyond their imagining. Connecting to something that is greater than yourself.

INCLUSIVE TEACHING

Teaching and learning is about people, it's about inclusivity...at the moment we are still creating the
cans and the can nots, the wills and the will nots, instead.  We should be HONOURING and valuing all
learners as having knowing and wisdom within, who have the potential to inform, motivate, inspire and
transform themselves and each other. They are the teachers, along with the home, community, library,
church, museums, sports clubs, Internet and never underestimate the power of the peer. 

So if everyone and everything else is the teacher, what is our job? Our role as teachers is to see the
learning for the first time AGAIN AND AGAIN. To see the learning in what the learners are choosing to
do, giving the space, freedom and permission for the learners to follow their inspiration, to trust the
wisdom of the learner. 

At the same time, we need to be learners ourselves, being inspired and transformed by those people
and stories that help us to have greater knowing about what we value because the more we know the
values of patience, joy, respect, relationship etc, the more informative, motivational, inspirational and
transformative our teaching will be...WE can LET GO, and HAVE FAITH THAT ALL CHILDREN WILL
INSTINCTIVELY LEARN, because LEARNING IS INEVITABLE.