The 5 E's of Personal Learning and Growth

Personal Learning and Growth.  How we do it?  How does it happen? How does it progress?

We all like to improve ourselves, growing to become a more informed, more intelligent, more discerning, more discriminating, and overall a more enlightened person; moreover we like learning important new skills, learning things we always wanted to know about, and learning brand new things to enrich our lives - not to mention saving our jobs. That you agree with at least part of this is established by your reading this note and generally looking out there on the Internet for new and interesting ideas.

We posit here what I have long regarded as the reasons, the how, the why, and the results of new learning and growth.  They are uncomplicated and, because of this, open to dissent.  That's ok.  Let's get something on paper.  Then we can fix it, as needed.

Our small observations on personal growth can be classified by a few simple words, all beginning with the letter "E."   We'll call them The 5 E's of Personal Learning and Growth.

1. Engage - You probably will not undertake a new learning project (e.g. photography, art, philosophy, computer applications, cooking, golf, whatever) unless you are engaged with it.  You feel this effort is worth your time; maybe you need to know this for your job. Need does indeed count as engagement.
2. Explore - The first thing you do is explore your new interest, to explore what you need to learn, to explore what is out there to learn, to determine materials you will need.You begin to learn, first with facts, details, and the basics.  Then like pealing an onion, you penetrate the subject layer by layer, going ever deeper - at least as far as you wish.
3. Enjoy - You enjoy your explorations as you learn more and develop expertise, and as they filter into your personal growth and learning expectations and desires. You elaborate upon all you have learned within your personal context. It may help you professionally, or just personally.
4. Extend - Then you extend your new learning to your own values, ideas, and experiences.  You are enhanced and enriched.  You see the same things as an expanded person, touched by your individual effort. 
5. Extrapolate - Finally, you extrapolate your new knowledge into all your other personal experiences. This enlarges your world view and personal depth.  Maybe you keep your job. 

Of these all, the first and most important is the first, Engage.  Absolutely nothing will happen if you are not engaged - for whatever reasons.  Can you remember being required to learning something about which you were not engaged, i.e. interested?  "Tedium" is one word that comes to mind. "Boring" and "dull" are others.

Let's keep with our tradition of our blog used ideas...  Remarkably, these E's are slightly aligned with what is so called the 5 E Learning Cycle in education.  The 5 E Learning Cycle (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate) is all the rage in educational circles, though it is prodigiously difficult to apply in the classroom.  It is one of those methods that makes average or bad teachers worse, and good teacher better.  It requires a consummate and intuitive knowledge of the subject - a problematic issue.  Nonetheless, the implication is that this educational pedagogy reflects the long understood methods and style of independent personal learning. 

All the e-words used: engage, explore, extend, elaborate, enjoy, expectation, extrapolate, explain, enlarge, enrich, experience, enhance, expand, and evaluate. Most are action words, feel-good words, and worthwhile words we need to use often.

More at http://used-ideas.blogspot.com