This section will start with two examples of the sort of learning that occurs on an everyday basis. The aim here is to start you thinking about the ways in which learning goes on all the time. To illustrate this, read Jim?s story. As you read, you might like to begin to think about whether any aspects of Jim?s story might also be a part of your ‘story?. (In this context, we are using the word ‘story? to mean what has happened in your life so far. We are not using it to mean something that is ‘made up?.)
Jim has recently found out that his work as a plasterer is affecting his health. This has made him think that he might need to find other sorts of jobs, so he has decided to build on what he already knows about computers. He has enrolled in a class at his local college ? Introduction to word processing. Let Jim take up the story.
Figure 5The class I had enrolled for ? Introduction to word processing ? took place at my local college. It was years since I had been there and it had changed a lot. There were lots of new buildings I didn?t recognise from when I did my plastering unit.
Eventually I found the reception desk and they gave me directions. Just as I was about to set off, someone came up to me and said that he was the teacher (‘tutor?, he said) for Introduction to word processing. He said he would take me to the right classroom. He gave me his name, which I promptly forgot. I think I must have been nervous about starting the unit. (Although I thought that I had been fairly relaxed about it all.) I?m always forgetting names ? especially of people who are new to me.
When I got to the ‘classroom? I found that it was called something like the ‘Learning Resources Centre? and that it was filled with dozens of brightly lit computers. My tutor (I still could not remember his name) led me over to one corner. ‘Here?s your group,? he said. And he started to introduce me to a dozen people. ‘This is Avril, this is Jade, this is Zoë, this is Steve …? I was feeling worse and worse. I had forgotten the teacher?s name and now I had even more names to remember.
‘You can use this computer, Jim,? said the teacher. I was really pleased to be able to sit down in front of it so that I did not have to talk to any of the people whose names I had forgotten. The teacher gave me a sheet with a word processing exercise that looked like something I could manage. What a relief this was. It was so much easier than having to talk to these people I had never met before.
However, after a few minutes I realised that most of the other students in what was supposed to be my group were all talking to each other. Some had met on another unit last year and had decided to do this unit together. And they all knew each others? names!
I slid slightly further down in my chair and concentrated on the screen in front of me.
The ‘story? you have just read focuses on what happened when Jim went back to college. However, as he tells his story he is also revealing things about his past learning and showing us that he is learning as things happen to him when the class gets started. Jim?s story can be seen as a ‘snapshot? which tells us about why he wants to learn and what he thinks he may not be very good at. Later in this section we ask you to think about the qualities, knowledge and skills that you bring to your learning. However, for the time being, see if you can answer these questions:
It is likely that Jim has already learned a number of things. Some of these seem to affect the way he acts when he tries to bring about change in his life. He has done a plastering unit at the same college where the computer unit is running. We might assume that while he was at the college he learned where certain rooms were ? perhaps he became most familiar with the spaces used for plastering. Perhaps he was also clear where the canteen was.
He has also (at some point in the past) learned how to ask people for information (in this case, directions to a particular classroom). This might sound like something anyone can do. However, asking for information draws on a complex set of skills. You have to be able to speak the same language and it might help to use a tone of voice that is more likely to make the receptionist want to help you. You also have to have good listening skills to follow any directions given.
We thought that Jim did want to achieve personal change. For one thing, Jim wants to change his job. He also wants to know if knowing more about computers can be part of this change. Jim seems to have decided that to achieve change, he needs to develop new skills, in this case, computer skills.
Jim will have learned many things about himself ? some of which he will be very aware of. These would include the health problems he has as a result of working with wet plaster. He is probably less aware of other aspects of what he has learned. For example, he may not fully realise that he has ‘learned? that he finds it difficult to remember people?s names when he is in a new situation. He has, though, learned that this can make him feel uncomfortable or anxious. Do you think that he has learned that he feels far happier once he gets started on something he knows about?
If the situation stays the same, Jim is likely to have reinforced his feeling that he is not very good at learning names. This might result in him ‘learning? that he is not very good at communicating with other people. If his unit goes well, this contrast might encourage Jim to label himself as someone who is good at word processing but not with people.
In this unit, we are arguing that learning is involved in everything that happens to people and in everything that they do. Arguably, it is impossible to find an example where learning is not involved. If you have had experience of a classroom, you will have learned a great deal about what happens in classrooms and how they are different from, for example, a bus queue ? assuming that you know about bus queues. Experience of a classroom is likely to include learning about the different sorts of people who are involved, such as teachers and pupils.
Sometimes this learning can be helpful. For example, your previous experience of a particular classroom might make it possible to have a better idea of what goes on in other classrooms. At other times, this learning can be unhelpful. In Jim?s story, his learning about where classrooms were is now outdated as the college has knocked down many of the buildings Jim remembered and replaced them with new ones. Sometimes learning can have even more negative consequences. For some people, their experience of classrooms has taught them that they are no good at learning or that classrooms are unpleasant or intimidating places.
This raises important points about learning. First, learning is always related to, and shaped by, our experiences and what we make of these experiences. Our experiences and what we make of them are different for everyone and thus form a unique combination for each individual. Different people will think about experiences in different ways and have different feelings about them. This suggests that what we learn will be unique too ? even if some of our experiences can be compared with those of other people.
Jim?s story focused on learning on a unit set up and run in a college. However, even in this story, it was clear that learning was occurring in other aspects of Jim?s life. Angela?s story shows how learning is going on when units or college do not form part of the picture.
Read through Angela?s story. As you read you might like to reflect on whether you can see features that you can identify with from your own experience.
What time is it? Three o?clock? Surely not! Where has the day gone? I did promise Grace her favourite meal today to cheer her up after her least favourite day at school. I don?t think she will ever be an Olympic athlete even if she does get used to games afternoon in her new secondary school. I?m really not too fussy about what she eats. I think if you are then children can get really picky about their food. What is her favourite at the moment? I suppose it?s pizza and chips. I?m not totally happy about this. It doesn?t seem much like a balanced meal to me ? there?s no fruit or vegetables for one thing and it?s a bit high in fatty foods. Perhaps I could add a salad to it ? that would add a bit of goodness and I could reduce the number of chips to help cut down on the fatty stuff.
Figure 6“Mum, have you done my favourite? I?ve been looking forward to it all day. They made us run round the sports field ? in this weather! I?ve been freezing ever since.”
“Yes, Grace, I?ve done your favourite ? pizza and chips. I?ve added a bit of salad ? it?s good for you.”
“Oh, Mum. I told you ? that was my old favourite. My friend, Shona, says it?s much healthier to be a vegetarian, so the salad is OK but I can?t have that pizza ? it?s got meat on the top, hasn?t it? I told you last week I wanted to try those veggie sausages. Shona says they?re brilliant.”
“Well I haven?t got any of those, but you are in luck! The pizza is cheese and tomato.”
“I suppose that will have to do.”
“Is that all the thanks I get?”
Angela?s story is about an everyday encounter. But it involves all sorts of learning ? most of these do not involve formal learning on an organised unit. (Although Grace, as a school student, is involved in such learning.)
Before going on to the next section, take some time to note down the different sorts of learning that Angela?s story suggests to you. For example, you might like to think about what Angela has learned about feeding her teenage daughter.
Angela?s story is about preparing a meal for her daughter. Yet for this one task she draws on a very wide range of knowledge. Angela knows about what constitutes a healthy diet. For example, she seems to know something about the importance of fruit and vegetables and that eating too much fat can be bad for us. But it went further than this. Angela has knowledge about Grace?s likes and dislikes and about what she dislikes at school (sports). She also has wider knowledge about things like the Olympic Games.
Angela?s story also shows that she has learned how to do certain things. The clearest example in the story is that she seems to have developed some cooking skills. But did you notice that when Grace returned home, Angela also used other skills to communicate with her daughter? Angela also showed some of her personal qualities as a concerned parent. She obviously cares for Grace so it was important for her to make Grace happy. She showed a concern for her daughter by trying to keep up with her likes and dislikes. Do you think that she has learned how to act in this way?
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