Learning is a discipline, and as educators, it is our job to engage in that discipline regularly.
What does the discipline of learning include?
I offer the following points?
Daily Reading
Whether it's a book, article, Twitter stream, or blog, some time for daily reading develops our understanding and knowledge as well as our learning habits.
Goals and Objectives
Determining needs and interests is imperative. What do I need to learn? What do I want to learn?
Action Plan
How do I plan to learn? Who will help me? What resources will I use? What time will I commit to this learning? What is my end goal or success criteria?
Reflection
Time to think and write about the direction. How am I doing with my goals? What else do I need? Where can I gain support, encouragement, critical friends, debate, and review?
Collaboration
Our learning suffers if it is never shared or reviewed, so how do I build important collaboration and share into my learning.
Change
How do I embed new learning into the work I do and life I live? How do I transfer learning from understanding to action?
Schedule
Repetition helps us to strengthen our efforts in any discipline. How do I schedule time for learning so that I strengthen my own learning, and the result of that learning?
As educators, it is our obligation to be lead learners. By embracing learning as a discipline, we will become more knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced as learners, and in turn, this will help us to lead and teach students better.
