How do you know? Have you ever asked that question?
Think about it differently now. How do you “know” things….
This evening I had another one of those intertube moments…where I read a short blog post about a new book: Leading Adult Learning by Ellie Drago-Severson. My interest in the tiny blip sent me googling Amazon for the book reviews.
Another search turned up Michael Ebeling’s piece on Drago-Severson’s work, his discussion about her research, and its implications for teachers and schools. He said:
Educators who are self-aware about and strategic in their response to their tendencies as learners and who engage one another in a school culture of teaming, leadership, collegial inquiry and mentoring, are positioned to model the zest for lifelong learning we seek to inspire in our students.
Tendencies as learners? Zest for lifelong learning? More googling…and I found an article by Drago-Severson herself in one of my favorite reads, YES magazine. Bingo.
Drago-Severson believes “that schools must be places where adults as well as children can grow.” Ok, I’m with her, there.
She lists and discusses the four ways of knowing:
4 Ways of Knowing: Rule-Based :: Other-Focused :: Reflective :: Interconnecting
Her research points to ways adult learners gather and process information–and how to help adults know and reflect more about their own styles. The chart (yes, there’s a PDF you can download) piqued my interest, and I found the post was part of a larger series by YES called Learn as You Go, why life’s best lessons are outside the classroom.
By the way, her work is based on Robert Kegan’s research on adult learning. He also writes about “immunity to change.” Want more on that? Here you go.
And people wonder why I spend so much time reading online. Fascinating.