Keeping the learning going
The notions of ‘continuous professional development’ and ‘lifelong learning’ have been around for a long time. However, to what extent they are put into practice after leaving university varies enormously. It will depend on a number of factors, but I am going to focus on just three of them here, three particularly important ones.
Organizational factors
There are various ways in which organizational factors impinge on learning. For example, there can be huge variations in the extent to which particular organizations make a commitment to (and investment in) learning. But it is also more complex than this, as considerable commitment and investment do not automatically lead to a high level of learning.
What can make a significant difference is the organizational culture that you find yourself in. Such cultures tend to fall into three types:
· A learning culture This is where learning is valued, supported and made a central part of working life. It is not seen as a luxury that can’t be afforded or just a box that needs to be ticked to avoid criticism. Learning cultures tend to be very positive because they help to make people more effective and therefore give them greater confidence and more opportunities for job satisfaction. These benefits in turn help to promote learning. We have a virtuous circle. Positives beget positives.
· A non-learning culture In such cultures learning is either not valued or its value is recognised in principle, but not in practice (for example, due to excessive workloads and/or low morale). There is a tendency in such circumstances for people to be rushing around without necessarily being particularly effective (hamster wheel syndrome) and not taking the time to learn from their experiences. Negatives block positives. The result is stagnation and frustration.
· An anti-learning culture This is where learning is not only not supported, but actively discouraged. Comments like ‘If you’ve got time to think, you haven’t got enough work to do’ are typical of this sort of culture. It is as if learning is seen as a threat. Learning is blocked, practice does not improve, effectiveness is reduced, morale suffers and creativity stamped out. Negatives beget negatives. There is a vicious circle.
Personal factors
Characteristics of the individual and their attitude to, and experience of, learning are also important. Many people have gone through an educational system where the emphasis is on passing exams, rather than on genuine learning. It’s also not uncommon for people to have had their confidence about learning undermined (often because their style of learning was not being accommodated).
Many people will leave formal learning with little or no motivation to learn because they haven’t been helped to grasp the importance of learning — they have not had an enthusiasm for continuing to learn instilled in them. This is generally because the system tends to be instrumental (geared towards passing exams) rather than developmental (geared towards lifelong growth, learning and flourishing).
The model of learning adopted
As a result of the way our systems tend to work, the dominant approach is to assume that the responsibility for learning lies with teachers, tutors or trainers, rather than with ourselves as self-motivated, self-directed learners. Others set the ‘curriculum’ (what needs to be learned) and the ‘pedagogy’ (how it is to be taught). This approach can result in people feeling alienated from learning, seeing it as something that is done to please others or to tick a box, rather than as a means of maximizing our effectiveness and satisfaction in work and empowering and fulfilling us in our personal lives.
What is now emerging as an alternative is the idea of self-directed, collaborative learning, where you decide what is important for you to learn according to your needs, circumstances, priorities and preferences and how you are going to learn it. That’s the ‘self-directed’ bit. The ‘collaborative’ bit is that, while different learners can be pursuing different learning paths in different ways, they can still support one another in learning. For most people learning together is more successful than learning alone.
So, as you plough your furrow through your career, you need to be clear about: (i) what sort of organizational culture you are working in and, if it is not a learning culture, decide how you are going to carry on learning despite this (rather than become a passive victim of that culture and bring your learning to an end); (ii) what your own attitudes to, and experiences of, learning are and decide whether you need to do anything to make sure that these are not holding you back; and (iii) consider carefully who is in charge of your learning: are you leaving this to others or are you in the driving seat?
Dr Neil Thompson is an independent writer, educator, a visiting professor at the Open University and an adviser to the Vigoroom workplace wellbeing platform (www.vigoroom.co.uk). His Academy at www.NeilThompson.info offers an annual subscription service giving access to 60 of his online courses. This is available to individuals for less than £2 per course or a corporate subscription for up to 300 staff at just £3,000 +VAT.
