How do you like to learn?
I often find myself asking this question - and I often get blank looks in reply. If I asked:
"How do you like your eggs done for breakfast?"
most people would know what I'm talking about. But
"How do you like to learn?" is a question many people haven't thought about.
People can often tell you how they don't like to learn, however. I've heard many a complaint about the boring nature of school French classes, or the hours spent ploughing through tedious textbooks deep into the night for an essay to be handed in the following day.
The delivery of learning has changed considerably, though. Eight year olds now research their homework projects online, people can dip in and out of courses on websites and on TV, while teleforums and video conferencing allow us to learn from our peers across the globe.
But it's still worth taking a little time to understand how we ourselves prefer to learn, and how we are best able to take in information. I love to borrow and buy books about business and training - but I'm not too good at reading them. When I'm shown a new program or a new way of doing something, I can't wait for the end of the explanation before I dive in and try it out.
You, on the other hand, may prefer to read all about a subject, take time to think about it and then ask questions before you put any of it into practice. It all depends on your learning style.
One way to find out about your own learning style is to think back to a learning experience you found really enjoyable. Consider the process you went through. Who helped you? How was that help given? What made you remember what you had learned?
Another good way is to draw your ideal learning situation - mine would show me sitting at the controls of a small plane in flight while someone talks me through the controls! Yours might be curled up by the fire with a huge pile of books and an endless supply of tea/wine/chocolates.
We all have to be learning all of the time in the modern business world. When we're looking for ways to take in all that we need to know, we can give ourselves a head start by knowing what works best for us.
For more information on learning styles, have a look at Peter Honey's website where you can check it out in detail for a small fee.
I'm an activist pragmatist, by the way...