Module 2 Topic 5: Encouraging the Individual to Follow a Lifetime Of

Module 2 Topic 5: Encouraging the Individual to follow a Lifetime of

Learning:

Topic Description:

This topic provides a blueprint to encourage lifelong learning through the development of a lifelong learning action plan. Theplan itself encourages the development of self- analysis and self–awareness through a series of exercises leading up to the development of the planitself. Suchmethods are used widely in industry to foster and formalise the habit of learning in employees, but this plan has been adapted to suit a more general audience. It expands the potentiallearner’s horizons into community, home, leisure and personal life.Before using it however the individual should have gone through theLearning Audit processdescribed in Topic 2 lesson 2 of this module and expanded in Topic 8 lesson 3. It should be noted that this is not a panacea for all potential learners. Its effect will vary widely depending on learner motivation, learner awareness,learner maturity and the skill ofthe learning adviser, even where or whether such a person exists.

Topic Objective:

To presenta method by which learners can identify their own learning needs through a series of learner-focussed exercisesand then draw up a learning actionplan whichwill enable them to act uponhose new personal insights’

Target Audience

There are a variety of target audiences for this module. Initially there are the local governmentprofessionals, elected representatives and decision-makers who will need to see the importance of learning as agenerator of wealth and stability andimplement plans to bring learning to the whole community. Secondly there are thosemembers of the community, workers, educators and volunteers, who exist to activate and enlarge the educationalprocess in ways that re not always in the book - Parents, Guardians, Doctors, Lawyers, Counsellors, Councillors, Scout and Guide leaders, Political and Religious Leaders and many others in the community. These are the people who will need to apply the tools and techniques described and movethe wheel of education in a forward direction.

Lesson 2.5.1 Constructing a personal learning action plan

Lesson focus:

This lessonfocuses upon the construction of a personal learning actionplan through personal awareness exercises. These should becarried out by a trained Learning Counsellor,but the methodologies described below are shown for information sake and can be administered by a sympathetic educator.For certainpeople eg those who are coming from a strongly non-learningbackground, they should also be preceded by a Learning Requirements Audit described in Topic 2, lesson 2of this module. Please note that the processes described below cannot be rushed for many learners. Although these sequential exercise are given as examples, the process of putting together a successful personal learning plan for a learner can take anything from one week to several months. The learnershould be ready to commit to learning by the end of the process.

Lesson Objective:

To show one model of how a Personal LearningAction Plan is put together.

Suggestions for Learning Leaders

NB the completion of these exerciseswill takewell beyond the timeframe of one lesson. If all the exercises are completed one after the other, withdiscussion time there are between 4 and 5 lessons.

1. Ask the class who has a personal learning action plan. If some say yes explore what they mean by that. Does it give precisely what, where, when, who from and how theywill learn specific things? Does it contain provision for non-career matters, home, life,

leisure, personal development, family? Point out that the model about tobe studied is a very comprehensive process aimedat reluctant learners.

2. Distribute item 1 of the toolkit and discuss in terms of where such a poster might be posted andhow effective it might be.

3. Divide the classinto pairs. Distribute item 2 of the toolkit. They are the preliminary instructions for the plan.Get one of them to read it and explain to the other what thisis all about asif the otherwere the client. Tell them what it is and why it’s important. Complete the process with exercise1 at the end– here you are looking for such things as talking, walking, communicating,listening, making love, crossing the road and many others……

4. Let both of them read item 2 and discuss how effective it isand what better approach might be adopted. Theother person now does exercise 2.Here you are looking for a list of the things that they have done as a result of taught lessons or readingup in books– writing, cooking, gardening, riding abike, building, woodwork etc aim for 10 skills which the personmay not have recognised as skills.

5. Bring the group into plenary and discuss whatis happening here and why these questions are being asked – bring out that the way they areasked is more important than the questions itself.This is the skill of the counsellor.

6. (Lesson 2?) Distribute toolbox item 3 and divided into pairs. Thiscontains an introductionwhich everyone should read. However when you come to the first who are you question stop. One person asks the other those questions. If the answer is short ask them again pointing outthat we are all much more than a name. Some examples of a full answer are given in the text. They incorporate ideas and thoughts as well as simple information. See if eachperson in the pairs canget a full answer out of the other. Discuss this exercise and its value in plenary.

7. By nowyou have the hang of theplan – carry out the exercises as described above with the rest of the plan,but occasionally mix the pairs and sometimes try it in three’s where one person acts as the observer commenting on the counsellingstyle. The plan has been divided off into toolbox items to reflect the different exercises,many of which involve completing boxes. This is where both can complete the exercise and take it in turms to act as learningcounsellor.Stop frequently to discuss in plenary.

Toolboxitem1

DO YOU HAVE A PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN?

A PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN WILL HELP YOU:

MEET THE FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE

UNDERSTAND YOUR LEARNING NEEDS

DEVELOP YOUR OWN POTENTIAL

GIVE A FOCUS TO YOUR LIFE

SWITCH YOUR BRAIN ON

IMPROVE YOUR CREATIVITY

ENRICH YOUR SELF-RESPECT

RELEASE YOUR EARNING POWER

INSPIRE YOUR FAMILY

WHY NOT DEVELOP ONE THIS WEEK? - WE HAVE TRAINED COUNSELLORS TO HELP

Toolbox item 2 (2 sheets)

Your Personal Learning Plan

It’s your life

To take Control of it

‘Learning is the most natural human condition’

Written on the wall of every Ford car plant

By By the Year 2000, everyone will need tobe educated to the level of semi- literacy of the average university graduate

This is the minimum survival level of the human race

(Arthur C Clarke (1963)

ThisPersonalLearningPlanhas been developed to help people, whoever and wherever they are, to create their own better future through learning,

Toolbox Item 2 (contd)

Introduction - some questions andanswers

Whatis yourPersonal LearningPlan?

Your plan is away for you toset yourown personal targetsand record your achievements. It is a practical tool to help yourealise yourdreams and achieve your ambitions in life, in leisure and in work.

There are Four parts to thisguide

 Getting Started -understanding your inner desires

 Assembling your Learning Needs and Desires -Putting yourpersonal learning goals into words

 MakingYour PersonalLearningPlan

 Making itWork - ideas to keep thingsgoing

What do I have to do?

You can complete a PersonalLearning Plan with aLearning Counsellor (preferred) or on your own. As you work through thisguide you will be encouraged to reflectupon your life, yourwork and your leisure, and consider any changes you may like to make.Wehave left spacesforyou tojotdown ideas or thoughtsas they occur to you.You may decide to let these incubatein your mind ordeal with them straight away.You might want to re-write what you havewritten several times.

How long thistakes isup to you.You may complete part 1in aday or so,and you may want to take longer with the otherpartsso that you get it right.For part 3 this can be as long as you likebut it’s better to have checkpoints-for example every birthdayofa member of yourfamily - to see how you are doing.You can share thiswith other members of your family or usethe helpof someone whocanstimulateyouto keep up with your schedule(a mentoror Learning Counsellor) - perhaps even several people.

But remember, yourpersonallearning plan is not written in concrete to beslavishly adhered to.Other learning pathways may interveneor you may change your mind.But theonlyperson who canmake the decision to learn in the first place is yourself.

Learning can,and should,beenjoyable. So enjoy it!It can certainlybeprofitable,whether you measure

that in terms of financeor in the enrichment ofyoupersonally. It doesn’tmatter what age you are. Learning is something we can alldo and something we can allbenefit from.

Don’trush-thereareno prizesfor finishingyour plan quickly. But therearegreatprizesfor making a commitment to carry itout, this year,next year, in the yearsto come.

Whydo Ineed a PersonalLearning Plan?

Think aboutit- mostthings of importancethatyouhave achieved inyourlife are because youlearned something.-for example learning to talk, learning to walk,learningto make a meal, learningfor earning, learning to drive a car, learning to pray - a hundred little things which make the big picture that is you. Often these werenot as aresult of goingona courseor in formal instruction- you have learned a lot through trial and error,orbyexperience,orby watching and listening to others.What you didwas to take personal controlof your ownlearning,usually without realisingit.

Exercise 1

As astart, to getthe mental juicesgoing, Justjot down here afewof the thingswhich you personallyhave learned informally during your lifetime.

Exercise2 From time to time youhavehadto builduponthatlearning to changedirectionorto achieve a new skillor to make something elsehappen.Can you think of a few examplesof that?

Toolboxitem3

Sometimes the manythings that happeninabusylife crowd inuponus andbecome a confused blur. Every now and then wehaveto take stockof where we are,whatwe are, whowe are andhowwe intendto meet the future.

The PersonalLearning Plan helps us to do that - to get some things intofocus, to re-skill ourselves, to prepareforthenext phaseofourlives-orsimplyto developpersonal confidence and giveus a few ideas onhow tospendour time profitably andwith pleasure.

Thisplanwill remindyouof

 What you have learned and achieved

 What you have enjoyed learning

 Whatyou havetaken apride in achieving

 What you candonow that you couldn’tdobefore

By completing it you will beputting more into your life to get moreoutof it.

Startingthe Process

OK -so let’sget startedby answering afewsimple questions.You may want to answer thesequestions withaLearningCounsellor, with a friend, orby yourself.

Who are you?.

Whereareyou?

How are you?

You may haveanswered thosequestionsbygivingyour name, address andstate ofhealth. Butthereis a much larger meaningbehindthe questions.You arenot for example just aname - there’smuch more toyou than that. For example, someone else wrote the following in answer to the question

Someone with apermanently enquiringmind whodoesn’t alwayshave themental orphysical energy to follow through the implicationsornuances. A seekerafterknowledge and wisdom, whomay getsomeof the formerbutwill never achieve the latter.A tolerantperson who isaware of the basic contradictionof being tolerant to intoleranceand seemsto be more andmore unable to solve thatdichotomywith age. Probablyan intellectual snobwho looksdown on those lessintrospective than himself. Someone with a highly developed senseofhumour,probably rooted ininsecurity, butatleast whodoesn’tenjoy imposing itonothers. A charming, loyal and irritatingperson with a knowledgeofhis own faults and an intolerancetowardsthem

Norare you, in your life,an address - you are ata certain pointin your life. For example

Planet earth – centreof a personaluniversein Eus radiating out to the known boundaries of civilisation

So let’s ask the questions again. You can answer it orally with your Learning Counsellor or write it down below - we’ve given you a littlemore space.

Who are you?

Where are you ?

How are you?

Toolbox Item4

Intherestof this section you’ll be analysingsome of things youhavedone in yourlife which have caused you to bewho you are.Mostof it is connectedwithlearning.Think aboutit! We learn for apurpose - to achievesomethingwewant toachieve. Themore we wantto achieve somethingthe more effort we are prepared to put into our learning.

As childrenwe learned easilyand without even knowing that wewerelearning.It’sanatural human condition. Later in life we getmore claims on our attention and sometimes our will to learn more diminishes.It canbebecauseof bad experiences in the past, a lackof time and energyora lackof self- confidence.

But we neverstop learningunless we choose to. Andoften the morewe learn, the more we want to learn more, even if it’sjustmastering the instructionsforworking the video recorder. So here goes. - your Personal LearningPlanstartshere.

Section 1 - Understanding yourself and Recalling Learning Experiences

One way to recapture you zeal to learn isbyreviewingsome of your past experiences and achievements.

Try torecall about3 experiences - you can do more if you like - at different stages of your life andremind yourselfwhy they were important and howyou felt about them at the time. An example might be as follows.

Whatwasit / When / Whathelped / What didn’t help and what was theoutcome
Making my first model aeroplane / WhenI was14 / My unclebought thekit for my birthday -he encouraged me toread the instructions / Ididn’t think Icould do it at first - it was messy and the gluegot on my hands - thefinished product looked more like an elephant than an aeroplane but itwasmine and I pretended it was anew design for thefuture

Nowwritedown yourown experiences in theboxes

Whatwasit? / When / Whathelped / What didn’t help and what was theoutcome

Toolbox Item5- Part2 What helped me to learn?

Sometimes weneedto understandourselvesandwhat stimulates us tolearn somethingnew.Wehave many diversions whichkeepus from learning, so let’s examine how wemightby-pass these andwhatkeeps us learning.

Thinkabout your examplesinPart1. What dotheysay about your learning motives?Atthe same time your motivation may have changed with maturity, so bear this in mind too

a) Why I start

Whydo you start learning? -Are you a self-starter?Do you need cajoling?Do you always need apurpose? It’s important to recognise whatmotivates you. Complete the statement in thebox

a) It helps me to get started if.

b) Why Ikeep going

Inyour examples what made you see it through?-fromyourknowledgeofyourselfnow what stimulusdo you need to complete the learning?It’s important torecognise what may keep yougoingeven if there are obstacles. In the box below complete the statement

It helps to keepme goingwhen.

c) The influence ofotherson me

People, their attitudes, support andencouragement canhelporhinder learning.Fromyour examples analyse the influenceof otherpeopleonyourlearning. It’s importantto understandhow others affectyour learning. In the boxesbelow complete the statements

It helps if other people

It doesn’thelp ifotherpeople

At thispointwe suggest thatyou take abreak and let your thoughts incubate a little. Discuss itwith someone if youhaven’t alreadydone so -or with a different person to geta fresh eye on your perceptions. Lookoveryou answersand add,delete, change ifyou want to.

Toolbox Item6

Section 2 - Assembling your Learning Needs and Desires

Part 1 - Your Learning Experiences

In Section1 you looked at what stimulated you to learn and gave some examples. We need to look in a bit more detail at whatyou havealreadylearnedduringyour life-time. This was partly doneduring the Learning Audit, butweneed torecapitulate.Let’s take an inventory

a)Your working life - makea list of your currentskills that enabled youto carry out your past and, if relevant,your presentwork orprofession.If you haveneverhad ajobignorethisquestion.

………………………. …………………… ………………… …………………………

………………………. …………………… ………………… …………………………

………………………. …………………… ………………… …………………………

………………………. …………………… ………………… …………………………

b) Yournon-working Life- make a list ofyour sports,hobbies and interests and the skills and knowledge youneed to carrythem out-includehome interests such as bringing upchildren,householdjobs

Hobby/Interest Skills Skills Skills

c) If you havea learning counselloror mentor describe severalof thesewith him/her, extractingthe additionalknowledge and skills you haven’t remembered to putdown.

d)Make a list of the things you have done to help others in the past

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

These may becalled your personallearning record and youmay be surprisedbythe amountof knowledge and skills you have picked up alreadyover your lifetime. It is probably most certainly farfrom complete since it is difficult to remember and record everything youever learned.

Toolbox item 7

Part 2 - Your Needs and Desires

In Section 1 one you described who and where you arenow. This part looks at who and where you may want to be in thefuture and thequality of life you want to achieve.

Some people decide whatthey wantto be earlyin life andpursue that goal single-mindedly. Butthe majorityofusarenot sure. We may (beforced to) changeour ambitions.We may reviseourdreams. We may become something through force of circumstance thanpersonal design. Family, home, friends, locality, new perceptions, economic conditions etc can all changeour viewpoint in allparts ofour lives.

But it is important to knowwho and wherewewant tobe in the future and to be realistic about, without closingdown,dreams and ambitions. Manythings arepossible giventhe rightadvice, supportand individualapplication towards a personal goal.

a) So let’s examine whowewant to be inthedifferent parts of our livesand lookforwards towards how you might become a richer,more fulfilled person using the table below as aguide.Don’t hold back - they can always be modified. Complete thefollowing statements in theboxes.

In…… (you choose - notlessthan 3 andnotmore than 7) yearstime I intendto become:

AsanIndividual

AsaMember of my Family

In relation tomyfuture work or retirement

In relation tomy leisureactivities

In relation tothe my personal development

In order to contribute to my community inmy town