I recently completed some INSET training at school centred around creating a more memorable learning experience for children. My colleagues and I explored some basic principles of teaching as a reminder of how to manufacture an initial learning process to help children retain the information well. The key message was aim for overlearning and developing mastery as opposed to overloading with information and hoping for the best. (You've heard the saying about throwing brown stuff at a wall, right?)
Rosenhine's 10 Principles of Instruction
We began with a reminder of the ten principles of instruction, I'll list them below...
Start with a review of relevant previous learning
Introduce new material in small steps
Question a large number of your audience and check for understanding
Provide models and examples
Allow time for guided practice
Check for understanding again
Ensure a high success rate will be achieved before allowing independence
Scaffold any difficult experiences
Monitor independent practice closely
Complete regular reviews
As the majority of my following are in education themselves, I'm sure this information is nothing new. What it ignited within me, and the whole reason for this blog post, is the realisation that when we want to learn something personally, we rarely make time to manufacture our learning in this way to ensure our own success.
Neuroscience in Learning
This got me researching some of the key neuroscientific implications and outcomes for developing new learning, and I quickly realised how harshly I'd treated myself when I had tried learning new things recently. For example, your working memory is only capable of storing 7 pieces of information (on average) at once. This means you only need 7 things to unpick and convert to long term memory before your WM can be viewed as a 'bottleneck' - meaning it's easily achievable to connect pieces of information incorrectly or recall the wrong learning for the wrong situations.
Photo Credit to Teacherhead - this image details how we take information in, process it in our working memory and what sort of skills and activities help it to retain and become part of your long term memory.
From here, I wanted to create some 'top tips' for mastering the art of overlearning vs overloading when it comes to learning something for yourself.
Perfecting Your Own Learning Process - Top Tips
Start by reviewing what you already know or what skills you already have. Taking stock is an important part of developing what's next. Repeat this process every time you get involved with the next stage of the learning process.
Split your desired learning into manageable chunks. Whether you split it by skills needed or time available, consider what the first few steps of your learning journey will look like. You don't need to know every step of the way at this point, just the first few things you'd need to do to get started. The next steps will be revealed along the way.
The Expose - Involve - Upgrade cycle begins here (a wonderful book by Dani Johnson about business, but the concept can be applied anywhere). Expose yourself to the first few steps, get involved with completing them, upgrade yourself to the next step when you feel like you've mastered it. In between times, ensure you continue to question and reflect on your developments and understanding to see if you are ready for the next stage.
Find others who can be your model or your scaffold. Who or what can help you stay focused, develop the skills accurately, cheer you on, keep you motivated etc.
Review the learning process regularly and make sure you are still moving forward in the process, no matter how slow the steps are. If you feel overwhelmed at any point, break the next steps down so they are even smaller and go again.
Designing learning for ourselves is a skill that needs developing in itself. Anyone in training or education will know how carefully a learning experience is planned, but do we always devote the same time and dedication to our own learning? I know I didn't until this INSET day!
If you have found benefit in this blog post, you should consider joining the Believe Academy. It's an online Facebook group for adults with four livestreams per week - some more presentation focused and others group interactions. The content is based on many of the ideas I've written about here. There's also lots of benefits like shop discounts, first hand content and discounted and free events, and even an opportunity for 1:1 coaching.
Drop me an email if you'd like to know more!
Miss Tinks X
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