Four keys to optimizing learning & development
There are four keys to optimizing learning and development and ensuring that it continues over a lifetime.
#1 — Don’t cram content. Learning doesn’t work optimally when it is rushed or when learners are over-stressed. In Finland, students only go to school three 6-hour days a week, rarely have homework, and do better on PISA than students anywhere else in the world. (Unfortunately, PISA primarily measures correctness, but it’s the best international metric we have at present.) Their educational system is focused on building students’ knowledge networks. Students don’t move on to the next level until they master the current level. The Fins have figured out what our research shows — stuffing content has the long-term effect of slowing or halting development, while a focus on building knowledge networks leads to a steeper learning trajectory and a lifetime of learning and development.
#2 — Focus on the network. To learn very large quantities of information, we must effectively recruit System 1 (the fast unconscious brain). System 1 makes associations. (Think of a neural network.) When we learn content through the Virtuous Cycle of Learning (VCoL), we network System 1, connecting new content to already networked content in a way that creates a foundation for what comes next. This does not happen robustly without VCoL, which builds and solidifies the network through application/practice and reflection. System 1 can handle vast amounts of information and processes it rapidly. It serves us well when we learn well.
#3 — Make reflection a part of every learning moment. People cannot reason well about things they don’t understand well. When we foster deep understanding through VCoL (and the +7 skills), we recruit System 2 (the slow reasoning brain) to consciously shape the creation and modification of connections in System 1 — ensuring that our network of knowledge is growing in a way that mirrors “reality.” The constant practice of analytical and reflective skills not only builds a robust network, but also increases our capacity for making reasonable connections and inferences and enhances our mental agility and capacity for making useful intuitive “leaps.” We learn to think by thinking — and we think better when we have a robust knowledge network to rely on.
#4 — Educate the whole person. My colleagues and I believe that education should focus on the development of the entire human being. This means supporting the development of competent, compassionate, aware, and attentive people who work well with others. A good way to develop these qualities is through embedded practices that foster interpersonal awareness and skill, such as collaborative or shared learning. These practices provide another benefit as well. They tend to excite emotions that are known to enhance learning.
