Unlearning to develop new skills

Wow! Following on from last week's blog and the need to know, today's DFI with a focus on work flow was of huge value. Improving my work flow, becoming as efficient as possible, is an ongoing goal. 

The challenge with being an adult learner is that when you are comfortable with doing something, and it appears to work well, eg. using a particular app, moving to a new app or way of working takes effort and initially slows your work flow. There's the old saying "If it ain't broke why fix it?" which can, if we let it, be a barrier to developing new practices and, with that perspective, becoming outdated. Featuring in this video is a brief explanation of how adult learning can require "unlearning" in order to learn something new. It's such a brief comment that it could be missed, but it resonated with me today as I contemplate changing the ways of working that I find  currently to be very useful. 

 

There are two apps on my phone that I use frequently: Notes and Reminders. I moved to Notes from Evernote a few years ago and use it for everything both professional and personal; shopping lists, recording meeting notes, links to online articles, collecting recipes. It has the ability to take and insert photos, can be used as a checklist, can be formatted for tables and has folders for organisation. It is really useful. However it can't be used for reminders which is why I use the Reminders app. So discovering Google Keep today means I could replace two apps with just one, with the additional advantage of being able to use it collaboratively. I am a creature of habit though, so I'm going to have to make a conscious effort to retrain myself to use Keep, to unlearn what I am comfortable doing.   For a while I'll need to accept that some things I want to refer to will mean switching between  Notes and Keep.   There might be a way to transfer the most important things eg. my notes for each weekly staff briefing meeting, from Notes to Keep.  I'm motivated to find out if it is possible.  It won't be hard to stop using Reminders though as I can simply start using Keep for these things.  

The additional advantage of Keep is the ability to use it collaboratively.   I'm thinking about how this might be of use professionally.  On the personal front I can already see lots of useful purposes. As adults we are motivated to be efficient so that we have more time for doing the things we value.  I wonder how many of our parents, caregivers and whanau would know about Keep and how they might use it to their advantage. I'll plan to include it in my next parent comms.  My sons, daughter-in-laws and their children all have busy lives with schedules for events and commitments written on notice boards on their fridges.   I''m sure Google Keep, with key information only a click away,  might solve some of the problems, and stresses that happen when busy people forget what's written on the fridge. It's certainly worth a try and whether it is doing away with the written diary, the chart on the fridge or moving from one app to another, the unlearning  will be worth it. 

Thanks to the DFI team today.  There were other work flow discoveries today which I'm sure will be equally as valuable. 

The need to know

I am reflecting today on the process of my learning rather than what I learnt; what challenged me and to what extent did I succeed?  

 Malcolm Knowles developed the theory of Andragogy which is defined as "the science of teaching adults" as opposed to the theory of Pedagogy which is focused on teaching children. 

 https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/andragogy/

Knowles' theory is centred around four assumptions:

1. Adults need to know why they need to learn something
2.  Adults need to learn experientially 
3. Adults approach learning as problem-solving
4. Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value. 

In terms of problem-solving I have succeeded.   Throughout the day my laptop switched, at will, between my personal and professional gmail accounts creating problems and frustration.  The biggest issue was not being able to access my blog by which point I could have gladly thrown the laptop out the window!  As an adult though, I can make decisions about self-care, so after time out for a boxing session at the gym and a little bit of space,  I came back to the problem, persevered and solved it. I know how to avoid this experience next time.  Would this have been the same for a student in the classroom? Probably not, for a number of obvious reasons. I was motivated to persevere because the need to be able to blog had immediate value to me.  

Why is the DFI of value to me?   Why do I need to know this stuff?  As a principal I need to keep pace with my staff. I need to be prepared to adapt, learn, be challenged and apply my learning because this is what I expect of my staff.   Our learning is driven by the desire to enable our students to learn.  Overall I have a need to learn.   What was challenging though was that I didn't necessarily have an immediate need to change the organisation of my Google docs, or create a group, or use Voice to text.  Perhaps though the next time I create a doc I'll think differently about the title I use and the nature of the sharing permissions of the folder into which it is saved.   The thought of re-organising three years worth of folders and documents does not appeal however a gradual change of practice will inevitably refine and improve my system. 

There is a joy in learning something new, when a problem is solved and a need is met.  I had a moment of joy this afternoon.  Getting ready for the gym I pulled on my active wear pants, at least a year old, and discovered for the first time that they have two well-hidden pockets.   The discovery of the pockets means there are new options for me when I wear them.  There are things I can do differently that will be of value to me.   Had the attempts to blog not been so fraught I would not have felt the need to go to the gym and not made this useful discovery. 

I think this is a metaphor for the DFI process.  I don't know what I don't know yet and I'm sure there are going to be some unexpected discoveries, some new ways of to add value to my both my professional and personal practices.  I look forward to next week.    

A poster created using Google Docs