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The joy of learning is being in the ‘learning pit’118 and knowing how to get out by applying the Learning Process and then looking for the next pit to climb back into, so we can continue our learning. Building a language of learning is critical in being able to describe the Learning Process and in having clarity when discussing the stages of the Learning Process we are going through and what the next steps in that journey will be.
The learning pit is a ‘metaphorical place’ that learners dive into to find solutions to their learning challenges. As educators, we must take every measure possible to ensure that we do not steal the opportunity from the learner to learn. We need to ensure learners have that deep sense of satisfaction when they experience the ‘aha! moment’ as they emerge from the ‘learning pit’.
The transition from teachers to educator-learners and from students to learner-educators signifies a new culture in education. This culture has the learner taking increasing agency over their learning and it invokes a new relationship between the educator and the learner. The educator-learner is there to drive the learning ever deeper via active questioning and prompting. The learner’s curiosity is what drives them to find answers, rather than educators providing answers for the learner. This new set of educational practices embodies an approach to education that is now focused on learning being central to all that we do as learners and educators.
The Learning Process is built around how the brain learns and involves two general processes that are intertwined. The two processes are the Research Process and the Design Process. Both processes offer distinct elements that contribute to the Learning Process.
The Research Process provides the capacity to find and establish relevant knowledge, which lays the foundation for creating ideas, concepts and concept frameworks. That resulting understanding is then manipulated creatively through the Design Process to develop new understandings as well as innovative and ingenious solutions to the need, question or the problem that has been identified.
Knowledge Research Learning Design Creativity Process Process
Resource 38: The Research & Design Process
The Learning Process is complex and it is far from a linear process. The Learning Process is made up of a sequence of stages that are strategically revisited as required. The Learning Process is never linear and as we learn, we are constantly moving through each of the stages that make up the Learning Process. These stages are outlined and unpacked in the next chapter.
118 Nottingham, J. (2016). The Learning Pit. Retrieved from http://www.jamesnottingham.co.uk/learning-pit/ (more on this later)