How to learn Effectively- 4 ways to authentic learning

Psychology of Effective learning

                          

Learning is a lifelong process, from cradle to grave we will be learning one thing or the other. In this intense competitive world, a lot of impetus is given to learning and it is essential to keep ourselves updated with latest knowledge, else redundancy will set in and you will be left behind the competition. Learning is an integral part of our life. The day one stops learning, he/she will drive the last nail on the coffin, that's how the world is progressing now.

Effective learning does not necessarily come through reading books, it can be acquired  by observing life and nature, learning through your own experiences (Life gives experience first and lessons later) This is experiential learning, could be further enriched by studying history and observing behavior. 

In this information era, we are inundated with information by social media, TV, newspaper blog, the Internet etc. We are drowned in confusion and lost in the information maze and we have forgotten the real essence of learning. Seldom do we realize what to focus on and what not to, and ultimately we end up accumulating garbage.

For academic interest, let’s briefly look at how learning happens. According to NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) learning happens in four stages; these four stage model explains how we learn to move from, I don't know how to do it to effortlessly and skillfully do the work.

                        

a.   Unconscious incompetence: We don't know  that we don't know, we are not aware of our incompetence. Ex: we don't think certain things exist as we are unaware of them.

 Analogy of learning to drive car is very pertinent for all four stages of learning

Ex: as a child we think, just sit in car and take a ride, that’s all. We don’t know the driving skill required.

b. Conscious incompetence: We are aware of our incompetence and know that long learning curve ahead.

Ex: when you start driving, you realize, there is much more to it than  what you have thought of. There are so many different things to do and to learn many new behaviors.

c. Conscious competence: Having awareness of incompetencies, you have committed yourself and worked hard to learn and acquire new skills.

Ex: As you start practicing driving car you enter 3^rd stage of learning, but you are not fluent and smooth in driving car. And you are consciously aware of every areas of incompetency.

d. Unconscious competence: Perseverance and hard work to internalize the competency. This is where the magic happens and big transformation takes place. You are able to use your skill effortlessly and automatically, you're 'in a state of flow' it just oozes out without conscious focus.

It takes real hard work moving from conscious competence to unconscious incompetence.

Ok, let me not bore you with much theory, though this is useful for our future discussion.

Learning is a shift in behavior (modification of behavior as a result of learning from experience), meaning,  your behavior tends to change when you learn something new, otherwise it will remain as information only. ex: smoking is injurious to health…. even a doctor who smokes knows this but only as cerebral information. But when the understanding sinks into your bone that’s learning and you quit smoking, your behavior changes from smoker to non smoker. Getting up early in the morning and doing exercises has a lot of benefits…..we all know this mentally, but  how many will take the trouble of getting up early and start the work out? Only when knowledge sink in behavior changes

You must have passion to learn, only then you make the difference and shift in behavior happens. Ekalavya, a greatest archer, who was turned down by Dronacharya as a disciple, accepts mentally Dronacharya as guru and creates a statue of Dronacharya and starts practicing in front of it, with great zeal and perseverance. As a result he becomes one of the greatest archers. If you have the will and zeal to learn, in today's technology driven world there is an avalanche of information available, choose and focus on what you want to learn.  It's easy, unlike the era before the advancement of technology.

We resist new learning, It may be due to lack of confidence, lack of readiness to forgo prejudices, ego, myopic views etc…we can keep on listing reasons...but the major reason for not learning effectively is that we are not ready to unlearn things and go with a fresh mind. This is the major hindrance. This reminds me of a story of ZEN-cup of tea. A professor of a management school goes to meet Zen master to learn about Zen philosophy. They sit across the table, Zen master has ceremonious way of serving the tea, even after the cup is filled with tea, Zen master keeps pouring and tea starts overflowing. On seeing this the professor asked the Zen master  why he is still pouring when the cup is full and overflowing, Zen master retorts, "like this cup, you are full of opinions and prejudices, whatever I pour spills out, how can I show you Zen unless you empty your cup….

 Similarly, all of us have our cup full of opinions, prejudices and speculations. We need to empty the cup before we venture out to learn new things. We should be like children, open to learning with curiosity and rapt attention. Children are able to absorb to the extent of 95% of whatever has been taught to them.

How to empty the cup is the question, if new learning has to happen.

Over a period of time we all have developed patterns of thinking and action. We have landed in a comfort zone and remained there for long. So naturally it's difficult for us to embrace new ideas and concepts. We strongly believe there is no alternative to our ways. Challenging the existing patterns and accepting new paradigms will bring a shift in perspective and thereby effective learning takes place. 

Remove prejudices: Prejudices are a great impediment in the path of learning. You have strong opinions about something and you don't want to change them. Develop sincerity to recognize and remove your prejudices.  Go with a fresh mind; be open to new ways of learning.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi