Learning to learn

2.1 Introduction

This unit is about using learning to bring about personal change. This assumes that learning can help achieve such change. Section 2 aims to be the first step in showing you how this is possible. This section has three separate but related aspects:

1. Section 2 looks at what the word ‘learning? includes. This turns out to be a very wide ranging idea that suggests that human beings learn all the time. What we learn has important consequences for the direction in which we develop and change.
2. The section moves on from these general points about learning and offers you a sequence of opportunities for you to see what qualities, skills and knowledge you have already. This part of the section includes a number of activities. It is important that you set time aside to do these activities for two reasons:
   1. On a practical level, the information you collect by doing these activities is useful throughout Learning to change.
   2. On a personal level, we hope that the outcome of the activities helps you to realise that you have a range of qualities, skills and knowledge which you can feel confident about.
3. Finally, the section looks at ways that can help make sense of what you know about your learning. You will come across these as you work through the activities in this section. They include the use of the mind mapping technique that you met in Section 1. The section also asks you to think about how other people have developed their qualities, knowledge and skills. It is for this reason that we have the case studies that you will find in this section.

These aspects underpin the aims of this section. By the time you have reached the end of Section 2 you should be able to:

• understand that valuable and important learning goes on all the time
• appreciate that learning can involve thinking, doing and feeling
• develop a clearer idea of what you have learned and what qualities, knowledge and skills you already have
• better understand the importance of everyday skills of communication, problem solving and organisation.

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