Mid Program Reflection

By Nathan Johnson

Where does learning begin and end? In our schools, a lot of effort is put into cramming all the learning we will need into the first one third of our lives. Then the next two thirds of our life we can coast right? Can education be done this way? We must think so or why else would we continue down this path. But the truth is that we need to prepare all students for a lifetime of learning not just the 5  22 year olds. This program is a good example of that.

To believe that life long learning is a necessity requires us to accept the fact that we are always in a self-reflection mode. Which, for some adults is hard do. Many feel no desire to understand what has made them change, grow, and adapt. Why do some develop this zest for learning and others stop?

In our role as educators, it is easy to tell the ones who have this real zest for learning. They show up at every educational event to listen, ask questions and ultimately learn. But where are the rest? Dont they have a need or is the motivation lacking to become engaged. Is what they know enough? Or have we as teachers left them behind because of how we have presented the material. Engaging and maintaining the interest of learners is fundamental to any effective educational meeting. Many adults have a short attention span. To hold the interest of participants, novelty, variety, and challenge must be deliberately employed by us as instructors. We must learn how to fit the materials to be presented to the learners needs not vice versa.

One of the points of the transformative learning class has been to help us question how people learn. From the discussion that has taken place in the group of cohorts I would have to say that we are indeed, quite varied. What stands out for me from these discussions is that we need to provide for these individual differences the best we can when presenting the information.

As I reflect back on my experiences of learning, the words enjoy, compete, and persevere come to mind. I enjoyed elementary school but maybe that was due in part to my looking at learning as a competition more than an education. I loved to compete and the teachers I had in school would have contests occasionally that fueled that need. It didnt matter if it was spelling bees, reading contests or math quizzes, if there was a prize you could count me in. Of course I didnt always win but the chance that I might was enough to get me studying the material.

While growing up I didnt give much thought to how competition affected other kids in my grade. Did it set them up for failure or instill a desire to try do more? I would hope that it pushed them to try harder but I know that isnt the way it always works. Failure, perceived or otherwise, is real for some and can have a lifetime effect. I dont remember experiencing that feeling of failure until I was in high school and then realized that there are things that I was just not as good at when compared to others. Experiencing failure at any age is tough, but I think it is especially difficult in those early stages. Youngsters who fail frequently often end up selling short their potential to succeed because of a bad experience with one teacher or class. Failing students may start to believe that they are incapable and will never be able to achieve like their classmates. I think it is the responsibility of the family foremost and then the teacher to realize the need to do something differently to meet the needs of this individual.

How students view learning is due in large part to how their parents value it. Mine expected me to be respectful of the teacher no matter what, get my work done, do the best job I could and be polite to others. One of my familys mottos was, if you didnt have something nice to say, keep your mouth closed. This philosophy enabled me to get through school relatively well. Were the expectations my parents had of my siblings and me oppressive? In my opinion, no way! But by todays standards I would say yes. Which would I prefer? No question I would take the way I was raised. Alot of children today are led to believe that all their wants are the most important. Which has led to a form of self-centeredness in a lot of situations. I think students with an attitude like this have a tougher time adjusting to the real world when they graduate from school. Realizing they may have to start on the bottom step of the working world ladder instead of the top step can be a rude awakening.

I found high school to be enjoyable for the most part. But I would also use the word persevere here to describe certain classes. Those classes always involved a certain teacher who taught science in our school. As I reflect back on those times, I think the problems were not just that he was a bad teacher but that I also didnt come ready to learn. At the time I failed to see how the material he was teaching us was relevant to what was happening in my life. As we have learned in the transformative learning class, the responsibility of learning falls on both the instructor and student. At that time in my life I wasnt ready to accept my half of the responsibility and frankly, now I look back on that time and see what an opportunity I missed.

High school was also where I became aware of my  learning style. I grasped things much better when I could visually see them. Reading the material wasnt enough for me, I needed what the teacher had to say and show as well. My favorite teachers always brought a passion for their subjects even when I didnt. Consequently, more wasted opportunities!

I am convinced that about 90% of students entering college have no idea what they want to study but feel they should be there because of someone elses expectations. That was my feeling at the time as well. I would go to school, get a degree, then come home and farm. But why not skip the first two parts and just start farming. If not for my parents pushing the value of that degree, I think that is probably what I would have done.

But remember, my training early on was to respect your teacher (in this case my parents) and do what they said because it must be right. So I did as encouraged and wouldnt you know it, they were right. I was still able to farm, but because of their insight in the importance of getting that degree was also able to get a job in extension. Now I realize learning was happening the whole time. Only it was in the form of life learning and not circling the right answer for a teacher on a test.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000