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The Learning Process: Level 2
Phase 1 of level 2 of the Learning Process has the learners develop the required ‘knowledge’ that they require to satisfy their initial curiosity, initiated by the prompt. The learner needs to apply their critical literacy capability to ensure that the knowledge they find is legitimate.
The next phase of level 2 of the Learning Process is when the learner begins to appreciate that they are constantly moving backwards and forwards between the knowledge acquisition stage and the building of their initial idea(s).
The emerging idea becoming more sophisticated as the learner asks more questions, gathers additional knowledge and builds links between the knowledge elements by asking a range of question types that encourage the learner to interrogate that knowledge. As the new knowledge is questioned and examined, the complexity of the idea grows and eventually reaches a stage of sophistication that sits at the limit of the learner’s cognitive capacity. The foundation to building an idea is looking for the relationship between variables using a single context. This can often be looked at by examining the cause and resulting effect. Examples of ideas:
• the second world war was caused by a sense of injustice as Germany invaded other countries
• Martin Luther King encouraged Negro American people to fight for their civil rights
• Some Australian Aborigines feel betrayed by the government of Australia These are all ideas that come under the general pattern of
• People have different responses to a range of perceived injustice
We refer to this generic idea that has no context as a concept. The human brain sees the general pattern and remembers it and from that moment onwards the brain will recognise that pattern in other contexts and you immediately understand the concept, based on the underlying cause and effect.
Working on a new context requires the learner to initially source additional knowledge and we ask a range of questions to build new understanding. Once tour brain has acquired the knowledge that underpins the variables that make up the concept, it automatically makes the link between those variables. Having achieved that you immediately understand the relationship and can make increasingly accurate predictions. Some of the knowledge that went into creating the first idea may be well be reused in the next context for the emerging idea.
When the learner’s brain recognises the pattern between the variables, it releases a surge of hormones and you experience an ‘aha! moment’ – “Oh, I get it!” The hormone release and the good ‘feeling’ that the experience creates, encourages us to search for the next pattern and we want to have that ‘aha! moment’ again ... and again ... and we can become addicted to learning. At the same time as you have your ‘aha! moment’ the brain automatically puts that pattern/concept into permanent memory and you will never forget it, for as long as you live. Once you learn the concept framework for riding a bike you never forget it even after not having ridden a bike for 20 years!
The next phase of level 2 of the Learning Process covers the capability of taking the knowledge, ideas and concepts that are now understood, and applying them creatively to meet the needs and opportunities that the learner or the educator may have identified. Developing innovative and ingenious solutions to problems or questions underpins the purpose of this phase of the process.