One of the important competencies in life is to build learning scaffolds as change is an unavoidable reality. Whether you are 3 or 83; the teenager has to still discover himself, as the retired person reassesses ways to continue to live a fulfilling life after formal employment & everything in between.
I discovered a few theories to help me understand learning that assists conscious learning from everything.
Vygotsky introduced the concept of learning as a scaffold in the form of temporary frameworks, that are put up to support a child to make meaning of his world, and is taken when it is no longer needed. Children’s caretakers do this without even thinking about it.
The more conscious we become of learning, the more deliberate we become in the building of our learning scaffolds and that of those we care for.
How do we build learning scaffolds:
We build scaffolds through reflection journals, coaching and mentoring experiences, formal learning, experience, therapy etc.
David Kolb describes 4 stages or learning preferences for adult learning.
- Taking on abstract concepts, or new ideas,
- Experimenting with new ideas,
The learning practice that is probably most lacking for most of us is that we do not take time to reflect on what happened, what we heard and or what we read. It is when we reflect that learning takes place.
Suggestion to create your own learning scaffold:
- Create personal written journals, this a great way to take time to think and to learn from your new theories, experiments and experiences.
- Set up groups to discuss reflections on what you have learned around shared interests.