As you have probably realised from reading this far, there are also other aspects to the unit. We will have a look at these in a moment.
This unit is divided into five sections including this introduction. Each section encourages you to see how learning can underpin personal change.
Section 1 (this section) ? Introduction. This section introduces the unit. It gives you an idea of how the unit is structured and what approaches to learning and change it takes.
Section 2 ? You and your learning. This section is the first of the three steps that organise the unit?s approach to learning to change. In this section the most obvious focus is on the perspective that you have on your own learning. However, as you gather evidence about this perspective, we hope that you will begin to re-evaluate it and to think about the possibility of change.
Section 3 ? Exploring learning. This section encourages you to consider two additional perspectives that can illuminate your learning. The first is the perspective that other people you know can provide. The second is the perspective that can be provided by academic theories about learning. We think that these two perspectives can help you prepare for personal change.
Section 4 ? Where next? This section completes the discussion of academic theories. It also acts as a guide to help you establish where you want to go and what you want to achieve. In this part of the unit you are encouraged to develop a personal action plan. In this section the focus returns to your own viewpoint, while encouraging you to change or modify how you think about using Learning to change.
Section 5 ? Reflecting backwards, reflecting forwards. This section is an opportunity to review what you have learned while you have been studying Learning to change. We are sure that you will feel that you have had an enjoyable and important learning experience.
We hope that you will also be able to think about how you will take what you have learned from the unit forward, perhaps building and developing your action plan in order to support other aspects of change.
Throughout this unit there is video material, and we refer to them as our ‘case studies?. Many of the activities that you are asked to do on the unit focus on their experiences. We hope that you will find this an interesting way to see how ‘real? people have used learning. We also hope that you will see their experiences as a source of ideas and, perhaps, as a source of inspiration. Later you will also be introduced to two further case studies, which we hope will help you as you work on your own action plan. You will return to the video material as you move through Learning to change; for example, it contains ideas about how to use something called a Johari window which you will use in Section 3.
We would also like to point out that this unit is not just about reading this unit and watching the video. It is about what you put into it. This is what makes your responses to the activities so important. Adding your responses will make this unit much more relevant to you personally. Discussing your ideas and writing about them helps them to become ‘real? and better shaped ? in other words they will be more useful to you. You may like to use your Learning Journal and the unit forum to do this.
The next section aims to give you a better idea of what it will be like to study this unit.
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