Lifelong Learning as an Educator

I have always loved learning for the sheer joy of following some topic that catches my interest and following it wherever it leads.  On a walk with a friend the other day, I told her that I pretty much always have a course of some kind on the go. Continuous learning is so important but it can be challenging to fit in. The team over at Edutopia have some ideas shared at https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-go-beyond-seat-time-professional-development/

One of the areas I want to keep practicing and learning is the reflective approach to developing as an adult learner.  I’d like to keep trying it out, and as shared in my vision for the future post, am developing a way to make it an ongoing practice.  Learning more about the value and benefits of reflection will help me to keep the practice meaningful and help me stay committed and motivated when other priorities try to crowd in.  For myself, I know that having a good reason, a clear why, to do something helps keep me on track.  I would also like to begin developing a more reflective practice within my teams and so will build small teaching moments to develop their understanding and comfort with reflection.  

Through the program, I’ve learned a lot about using multiple forms of media and want to continue developing my competency and comfort with different forms such as video platforms and gamification.  I’ll also start building more time into presentation planning to update them for thoughtful media content and to ensure accessibility.

However, the largest area I would like to focus on learning more about and incorporating into my professional practice is around transformative learning’s potential to impact social changes.  I uncovered many resources and articles during a recent resource project which I’d like to explore in more detail as well as reading Jack Mezirow’s body of work on the subject and then building a more in-depth learning plan from there. Ultimately, one of my hopes is to support learners through the transformative learning process and create spaces in sessions, and through workshop design, with a positive environment for transformative learning.

I am so excited for the future.  Enhancing adult learning development opportunities creates opportunities for collaborative leadership and supports an enhanced sense of belonging.

Keep Shining!