Learning from experience - some thoughts
This afternoon I've spent some time going through the MAPP Module Handbook (DAN4510) and I've re-read through the text on knowledge, reflection and ethics found in pages 27-34.
The handbook reminds us that learning from experience is a process of turning information into knowledge and that in a work based learning context, our professional experience (the doing) has and will continue to give us knowledge. So, what tools do we need to be able to do this, how do we turn experience into learning?
I typed 'learning from experience' into YouTube and found was a TEDx Canberra talk by Dr Jane Frost, educator and nurse academic. She shares her innovative approach to nursing education in which she disguises herself as a patient in need of medical care to demonstrate the the value of learning through experience.
Learning through experience - Jane Frost TEDX Canberra
Through fostering a scenario where her students apply their learning to 'a real life person' rather than absorbing information in a classroom, she highlights the impact of how nurses talk to patients and suggests that communicating with kindness and compassion can improve a patient's health outcomes. Her research is suggesting a link between communication and empowerment and enablement.
With this mind, I've been thinking about how often I think about how I communicate with the students I teach and the ethical implications of how my manner affects others. Why do I say the things I do and what kind of language do I use? Do I make a conscious choice about my manner and how might it affect how my students feel? Am I kind and compassionate, and how would I know?
The TEDx talk reminds us that we primarily learn how to communicate through practice, and that the feedback we receive demonstrates whether or not our message has been communicated effectively. During my dance teaching studies, a placement at DanceEast gave me the opportunity to lead classes and reflect upon whether or not I could communicate a coherent lesson plan, and voluntarily assisting in community dance classes has enabled me to observe how other practitioners communicate with participants. Also, having worked in two administrative roles for two dance organisations, I have learnt how to communicate professionally via email/phone. My feeling is that it is the combination of these experiences that have progressively enabled me to grow in confidence in who I am and what I can offer, how I can communicate most effectively with the group I am working with and how I make them feel as a result. If I were to use Kolb's Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1984) by way of contextualising this learning, in those instances I have learnt about communication through observing people around me doing it (reflective observation), conceptualising my thoughts on what I've observed/heard/felt (abstract conceptualisation), adapting my communication based on this thinking and then trying it out (active experimentation).
As I continue to draft and write my my AOL's, learning about the way in which I communicate with others, and reflecting on how my manner and approach affects those that I'm working with feels significant. Finally, as Maya Angelo famously said; 'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'
Frost, J. (2017, November 3) Jane Frost: Learning Through Experience [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbYkNOtdGM
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
The handbook reminds us that learning from experience is a process of turning information into knowledge and that in a work based learning context, our professional experience (the doing) has and will continue to give us knowledge. So, what tools do we need to be able to do this, how do we turn experience into learning?
I typed 'learning from experience' into YouTube and found was a TEDx Canberra talk by Dr Jane Frost, educator and nurse academic. She shares her innovative approach to nursing education in which she disguises herself as a patient in need of medical care to demonstrate the the value of learning through experience.
Learning through experience - Jane Frost TEDX Canberra
Through fostering a scenario where her students apply their learning to 'a real life person' rather than absorbing information in a classroom, she highlights the impact of how nurses talk to patients and suggests that communicating with kindness and compassion can improve a patient's health outcomes. Her research is suggesting a link between communication and empowerment and enablement.
With this mind, I've been thinking about how often I think about how I communicate with the students I teach and the ethical implications of how my manner affects others. Why do I say the things I do and what kind of language do I use? Do I make a conscious choice about my manner and how might it affect how my students feel? Am I kind and compassionate, and how would I know?
The TEDx talk reminds us that we primarily learn how to communicate through practice, and that the feedback we receive demonstrates whether or not our message has been communicated effectively. During my dance teaching studies, a placement at DanceEast gave me the opportunity to lead classes and reflect upon whether or not I could communicate a coherent lesson plan, and voluntarily assisting in community dance classes has enabled me to observe how other practitioners communicate with participants. Also, having worked in two administrative roles for two dance organisations, I have learnt how to communicate professionally via email/phone. My feeling is that it is the combination of these experiences that have progressively enabled me to grow in confidence in who I am and what I can offer, how I can communicate most effectively with the group I am working with and how I make them feel as a result. If I were to use Kolb's Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1984) by way of contextualising this learning, in those instances I have learnt about communication through observing people around me doing it (reflective observation), conceptualising my thoughts on what I've observed/heard/felt (abstract conceptualisation), adapting my communication based on this thinking and then trying it out (active experimentation).
As I continue to draft and write my my AOL's, learning about the way in which I communicate with others, and reflecting on how my manner and approach affects those that I'm working with feels significant. Finally, as Maya Angelo famously said; 'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'
Frost, J. (2017, November 3) Jane Frost: Learning Through Experience [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbYkNOtdGM
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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