A New Door Opening - Part 1

A famous proverb talks about preparing a child in the right direction; those foundational truths will be preserved when they are old. I believe that is true. People learn in different ways. Humans are not robots. Our thoughts and experiences are a part of who we are. What I learned as a child is still with me today. Now, let's go a few steps backward; what does it mean to be human and know? Being human is a gift on many levels. You can use your brain, sight, and limbs, experience feelings, and nurture your soul. Knowledge is a part of being human. How you understand information and being able to decipher that information to navigate education, situations, and life experiences is all a part of the human condition.

​As a life-long learner, knowledge constantly changes, and how you receive or perceive it changes over time. Knowledge is not a cookie-cutter conformity, nor is it black and white. Knowledge is to be questioned, explored and transformed. I accept left and right-brain attributes by debunking being told I am solely a left or right-brain individual. Stepping out of my comfort zone, making mistakes, and growing from them will help my personal learning theory. With that being said, learning should be holistic, emphasizing the integration of cognitive, social, cultural, and practical dimensions in the learning process. 

Because learning theories are frameworks for how people acquire knowledge, I delved into a quest to discover my personal learning theory. I did a search on learning theories. Of course, my significant convictions about learning were from the big four, Constructivism, Behaviorism, Connectivism, and Cognitivism; however, there are so many more, and growing up, I can now see how all four influenced my education and learning. Currently, there is a disruption due to the season I'm in, as well as my interests. In formulating my personal learning theory, existing learning theories that influenced me and spoke to my soul were:

• Constructivism
• Social Cognitive Theory
• Pragmatism
• Connectivism
• ​Sociocultural theory
• Humanistic and post-structuralist theory

I'm taking a risk with my personal learning theory, going out of my comfort zone, and that is okay because there is new knowledge coming, lessons to be learned, mistakes to overcome, and most of all, growth. My learning theory has layers and does not hold on to one theory or the next but takes parts and pieces of different ones; after all, it is my theory and no one else's. Yes, it is research-based due to Piaget, Maslow, Bandura, Vygotsky, and others' work and my learning experiences. It is an embrace of new knowledge. So many overlap with how humans learn, but even more, how I know.

I was asked to describe the experiment I would perform to "prove" my theorem, which took me to unknown doors. What would be an experiment to prove my theory? Being something never thought of before for a learning theory, a mixed-method experiment to perform proving my theory is a work in progress; however, carefully thinking about this question, initially, having an assessment where people can examine and explore the relationship between learning experiences, individual empowerment, and personal growth. Could adding in how social and cultural context influences the learning process be added? These questions and others will come along.

Here is a PSA; this ethereal research experiment has nothing to do with Myers-Briggs or other personality tests that could lead to something. It could be where I develop an experiment in which people critically examine and challenge traditional knowledge notions. 

My new personal learning theory can't be measured yet; however, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Stay tuned; there is a part 2 and more parts and thoughts in the future.

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