| Share |  |
 | |||
The Love of Learning
Learning is a lifelong endeavor that begins at birth. The patriarchs of our country, along with our grandparents and parents of the early and mid-1900s, esteemed the value of education and understood its power in a society.
However, in the 21st century, we tend to bypass in-depth study of various disciplines for “quick fixes” on the Internet or the media. I remember experiencing a desire for learning as I heard my father passionately recite the Gettysburg Address and excerpts from the United States Constitution. My heart was flooded with a sense of honor and pride in the blessings bestowed on this country by God.
Now it is up to us to pass on this thirst for learning and sense of pride and patriotism to the present generation. As an educational leader, I have found that what you focus on, you empower. Two theories of learning can aid you as you help your children and those entrusted to your care.
The first concept is called Episodic Memory. We all use this in helping ourselves recall experiences. Think of times when your senses have been stimulated by the recollection of a wonder moment, fragrance, dinner, or exciting event. As you remember these elements, you will also remember many things associated with that event. This gives you a basis for progressing on to other learning experiences. In today’s technological society, multimedia presentations often evoke episodic memories that can help us incorporate new learning concepts into our education.
Another concept is that of Motor Memory which involves the use of motor skills such as running, jumping or riding a bike. Such memory flows automatically. The more senses that are used to engage the learner, the more indelible the path that is formed in the memory.
This can be applied to how we use experimentation to learn about science and mathematics. As we apply episodic memories, we learn about culture, language and literature.
If we are alive, we are continually learning—even if we may not be able to identify educational experiences. We are either learning a new skill, sloughing off old ones, or reinforcing other skills that we are focusing on. Most of us fell down many times while learning to ride a bike; however, each time we got up and tried it again, we reinforced the skills we had been practicing until we could ride without falling at all. We had learned how to conquer that task. As part of that training, we were also shown how to do it by someone else, often a parent. The parent modeled the correct way to ride a bike.
As parents, we need to also model reading quality literature, attending challenging lectures, and seeking out educational experiences. In general, we need to provide teachable moments on a regular basis. The reward is seeing that flicker of light in the eyes of our youth that indicates, “Wow, I’ve got it!” We must model our love for learning and engage the learner in experiences that will guide him or her into life-changing and powerful moments.
So how and where do you start? You start where you and your learners are and move on to deeper, more challenging experiences. Take a deep breath and don’t get overwhelmed with the task. Above all, ask God for understanding and wisdom as you passionately pursue learning. Let the lamp of learning guide your path.
Copyright © 2008-2015 Heather Kinchlow
Post Your Comment...
|
|
||||||||||||
