Some time ago I was talking to a coaching client who was fed up with her job and was considering a complete career change. The type of job she had in mind would require her to undergo some type of formal retraining and her main worry was that she wouldn’t cope in a learning environment because she was always ‘hopeless at school’. As I was thinking about this article I remembered the conversation, and it struck me how much we relate the idea of learning with something we did in the past – i.e. going to school. And critically, especially if school was a less than positive experience, we think of it as a process we can’t, or shouldn’t experience again.

The reality is that throughout our lives we have experiences that contribute to our individual ‘package’ of learning. Whether it’s developing the skills that come with being a new parent, acquiring knowledge from a TV documentary, or finding ourselves in a situation that requires us to think/feel differently about someone else. The reason I appear to be stating the obvious is because, if you are contemplating a return to education, or going on to the next level, and it seems like a daunting prospect, it’s very easy to forget that you do have the capacity to learn, to adapt what you already know and to open your eyes to new challenges – you are doing it every day!

Two other factors are important. Firstly, we all learn in different ways. Secondly, there are different stages of learning, and depending on the particular skill/knowledge you are aiming to improve; you will find yourself on a different level of competence. Whether you are thinking about enrolling for a new course, finding some elements of your current programme more difficult than others, or simply worried that you won’t fit in with your fellow students, this article might help you to understand the learning process, identify your own style of learning, and make better use of the opportunity you have.

To understand, and exploit your knowledge of, the Learning Process, I think there are 4 major points to take on board:

1.  Understand the Stages of Learning

There are basically 4 stages of learning and these are set out below. The definitions in brackets are a more technical description of the same stages, as described by Coverdale. I’ve also used the example of learning to change gear in a car as a way to illustrate the stages.

Stage 1  Unawareness (Unconscious incompetence)   

Never having driven a car before, no knowledge of why you need change gears, or how.

Stage 2  Awareness & Interest (Conscious incompetence)   

Shown how to change gear using the clutch, initially stalling the car a few times in the early stages of practice!

Stage 3 (Conscious competence)  

Intellectual Understanding. Able to let the clutch out and change gear, but aware of each
step of the technique

Stage 4  Skill (Unconscious competence) 

Can change gear without thinking

The important factor in understanding these stages is that you will be at different stages for different skills and abilities. It’s easy to talk yourself into the Stage 1 mode – you can’t go back into education, because you don’t have any relevant knowledge, you don’t know how to write an essay, you’re not good at meeting people, and so on. The reality is that since learning comes with experience, mature students have a wealth of know-how, which they can tap into, and which can put them much higher up the ladder than they previously believed. For those of you about to make (or have recently made) the transition from school to higher/further education, and worried whether you will ‘make the grade’ at a higher level of study, look back and really reflect on all the learning challenges you have already overcome. You are already in the learning habit – and this will put you well on the way to coping with the next stage.

A good example is writing an essay. Some of the key skills needed to plan and produce an essay include time management, logical thinking, assessing other people’s arguments, and clear communication. Whatever your experience – whether you’re at home looking after children, working in an office environment, or doing voluntary work, you will have experience, and therefore competence, in at least some of these skills.

So, by being aware of the Stages of Learning, you can build more confidence in the abilities and knowledge you already have, as preparation for the study you would like to undertake. It’s also a way to accept that, to go back into education you don’t have to know, or be good at, everything – your experience as a student will help you develop your competence in the skills that are less familiar to you.

2.  Understand Your Learning Style

People learn through a mixture of three basic elements – thinking, feeling and doing. The extent to which each element figures in an individual’s learning is driven in part by their experience, their environment and by their preferred ‘learning style’. By getting a feel for your own preferred style, you may be better able to assess the types of learning activities that suit your way of learning, so enabling you to make a better choice of learning programme. There has been a great deal of work undertaken to understand how people learn and a variety of models of learning styles have been developed. I don’t consider myself to be an expert in any of them, but hope to give you a flavour of one particular model – developed by Honey & Mumford, and related to the work of David Kolb.

After looking at the descriptions of each style below, you should be able to identify broadly the one that seems to reflect your preferred approach. If you are interested in having your preferred style identified through a more rigorous approach, there are organisations available who will offer to do this by asking you to complete a questionnaire (I assume for a modest fee!).

Honey/Mumford’s model identifies 4 learning styles: Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatist.

If you have broadly an Activist style you will be someone who enjoys tackling a range of different activities, you particularly enjoy the ‘doing’ activities, such as role-playing or practical team tasks. You are comfortable taking a lead role – presenting to your fellow students, leading a discussion – and you particularly enjoy working with other people. You like the buzz of brainstorming ideas in a team situation and you are happy to ‘have a go’ at a new challenge.

As an Activist you may get less satisfaction from a learning environment which puts you largely in a ‘non-active’ role, such as listening to lectures, reading, watching demonstrations. You will feel less comfortable tackling work of a more solitary nature, or where you are dealing with pre-determined theories/instructions.

The Reflector style belongs to someone who prefers to take a step back, observe, and think about the learning activity. You prefer having time for preparation, such as pre-reading, and enjoy the research process – planning, investigating, analysing and assembling information. You are comfortable in a group situation where the activity is well-structured and known in advance.

As a Reflector, you will feel least comfortable in a lead role, particularly in a spontaneous, unplanned group event. You will prefer to avoid the ‘off the top of the head’ activity, such as brainstorming, or the pressure of tight deadlines.

As a Theorist you prefer to work with concepts, theories, models, systems and enjoy analysing the connections between ideas. You enjoy working with complex and interesting ideas, particularly where you can probe the underlying theory, logic or approach. You prefer to learn in an environment that offers structure and clarity, working with well-argued ideas and logical assumptions.

A preference for the Theorist style may mean that you are less comfortable in a learning activity where the overall purpose is unclear and you are working with emotions/feelings rather than facts and concepts. You may not enjoy a study programme that covers skims over a wide range of topics/ideas and which does not allow the opportunity to analyse concepts/approaches in any depth.

The Pragmatist learner enjoys activities that link to a practical solution or application, such as improving one’s time management, giving a presentation or speaking a foreign language. You work well in a learning environment that allows you to try a new approach or skill under the guidance of a coach or expert. You enjoy working with ‘real’ problems and practical activities, and where there is a strong link between the two. You need real opportunities to put into practice what you have learned.

If you have a preference for the Pragmatist style, you may be less comfortable working with concepts/theories that don’t have an obvious connection with ‘reality’, or where there is no clear framework for applying the learning to a real problem. You might also feel frustrated in an environment where unfocused debate/discussion often takes place and where there is no obvious scope for implementing what you have learned.

Having looked at the short descriptions above you may not feel you have enough information to align yourself strongly to any particular preferred style, or that you can identify with more than one. In either case, don’t worry. Firstly, you may have noticed I keep using the word ‘preferred’. By this I mean the style you demonstrate most often or the learning environment in which you are at your most comfortable. But it is quite possible that you may have a moderate preference for other styles in different circumstances. Secondly, my personal view is that it’s not critical to align yourself absolutely to one particular style. Having a flavour of the types of learning activities you feel you might enjoy most, and importantly, the ones that, when you imagine them, make you feel the most uncomfortable, is enough to help guide you to the type(s) of study that you will get the most out of.

3.  Be aware of the Obstacles to Learning

Choosing a course of study that suits your own style, and acknowledging that you won’t start the course at the highest Learning Stage (and neither will anyone else, otherwise you’d all be paying a lot of money to learn very little!) are hopefully useful tips for helping you to prepare practically and mentally for your next step into education.

It’s also important to understand the other factors that, as you progress through your course of study, may get in the way of effective learning and so reduce your enjoyment of the experience. There are probably dozens of potential obstacles to navigate, and if I tried to list every single one all I’d be in danger of putting you off completely, so here, based on what students have talked to me about, are what I think are the key risk areas (if you’ve experienced other significant ones that I haven’t covered let me know and maybe we can add them in to this article).

Diverse Learning Approaches

Joining a diverse group of fellow learners can be a rewarding experience but, inevitably, you will come into contact with people who learn, and therefore behave, in a different way to yourself. Appreciating diversity is a great attribute, but if you find your preferred style is, say, Activist, and your seminar colleagues are all Theorists, you may find the production of your group’s presentation a somewhat frustrating experience.

In general, as I’ve said elsewhere, the healthiest approach is sometimes to simply ignore the behavioural style of others if it’s not getting in the way of your own learning. However, if it is becoming an obstacle, try to engineer a conversation with the person/people around different learning needs/styles. Show appreciation that their needs are different to yours, make a point a asking about how they like to learn and their ideal style of learning activity, and talk about yours. Try to create an understanding of different learning styles and the need for ‘give and take’ on all sides. If you feel uncomfortable engineering this on your own, talk to your course tutor or personal tutor, see if they would be willing to facilitate such a discussion with the other students.

Physical Environment

This can encompass place/time/facilities/etc., each of which can hinder learning. Trying to attend evening classes three nights a week when you are tired from being at work all day, or being located far from the library resources you require, are all potential obstacles that you need to take into account when planning your course of study.

Motivation

Fear of failure can actually be a great motivator. But it can also get in the way of trying new things or taking learning risks, and can lead to an ‘I can’t so I won’t’ rather than ‘I might be able to so I’ll try’ mentality. Getting over your insecurities takes a lot of courage (I know from experience) and acknowledging your achievement in taking on something new and risky is a good way to build your motivation to finish.

Equally, you may start with all the confidence and good intentions in the world, but find your motivation flagging later on (often known as 2nd term blues!), leaving you feeling less inclined to do more than the bare essentials of reading or essay preparation. When you sign on to a course of study, take some time to think about the goals you hope to achieve in so doing (a new career, a promotion, a confidence boost, a new set of friends, new skills, a sense of achievement). Write these down, add to them as you go, and keep referring to them whenever you hit the motivation blues.

Previous Experience

As I said at the start of this article, one of the key obstacles to learning is our own perception of our ability to learn. Not enjoying school, or having given up a course before the end – for whatever reason, can lead to a long term lack of confidence in one’s ability to learn new things.

If you have read some of the case studies we’ve published, you will see that this perception has been a feature for other people. However, what the case studies show is that not doing well at school/college is no indicator of your ability to take on a new learning challenge and to succeed, if you are willing to put in the work and take the risk.

I would also stress that having an understanding of the Stages of Learning will give you the confidence to accept that you have more ability in some knowledge areas/skills than you previously thought, and that it is perfectly okay to not be competent in everything you will need to go back to studying. A good study programme will help you identify your own learning challenges and support you as you work up to a higher level of ability in each area.

4.  Round Out and Round Up Your Learning

Having begun to get comfortable about where your innumerable abilities might lie on the Stages of Learning, and to understand your preferred learning style (thus identifying the type of study that might best suit you), it’s also important to recognise your ability to extend out of your initial assessment and grow your learning experience. As you start your course, the idea of moving outside your comfort zone will be the last thing on your mind (believe me, I spent the first few weeks just trying to keep abreast of the reading!). But as you progress through different assignments, appreciate the new skills you’ve learned, acknowledge constructively the areas where you would like to improve (and be positive in asking for support from others or offering support where requested).

In particular, think about the learning activities that make you least comfortable. As your course knowledge and your skill level grows, so will your confidence, and at this point you might want to try to extend your opportunity to learn. If you love lectures and hate participating in the seminars, think about taking a step out of your preferred style – ask a question at the end of the lecture or the group discussion or offer to present a joint paper with someone else.

Acknowledge your learning challenges and be willing to try to extend your learning style. Set yourself achievable goals and, above all, celebrate each of your successes, whether it’s a pat on the back for a week of efficient seminar/essay/reading planning, or that you took part in a five minute role play exercise. For me, learning to be open to new experiences, and learning to appreciate what you have achieved along the way, are key to the idea of ‘learning to learn’ in its broadest sense.