PP

arrow image

Resources

Author: Chitra Iyer
Published on:
May 1, 2022

How Is Effective Learning Different from Learning?

Not every student is born an effective learner. Not even the ones who are great at memorizing or getting high grades in exams. Here's what differentiates an effective learner from any other kind of student.
Get your copy of my monthly learn-letter!
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Woohoo! You're on the list!

Don't forget to get your exclusive sign-up bonus eBook '5 Steps to Build Your Child's Learning Skills' now!
pdf image
GET INSTANT ACCESS

We’re all  born effective learners. 

Just think of a 14 month old child trying to learn how to walk. She doesn’t seek anybody’s permission. She doesn't feel any pressure to succeed in the first attempt. She certainly doesn’t abandon the effort after a few failed attempts. 

A crawling baby trying to learn to walk

She will fall, get up, and try again. She will fearlessly lean on anything within reach, and learn which are solid allies and which ones cannot be relied upon for support. She will choose learning resources based on her needs, and continually practice her newly acquired skill. 

Nothing can stop very young children from walking like experts once they make up their minds. 

When do we lose the ability to learn effectively? According to science, it's somewhere between grade 3 and middle school. Yes, that early. 

In fact, in 2017, neurobiologists found that without using deliberate strategies to retain what we learn, our brain is “wired to forget”. 

In the context of evolution, any information that is not critical for our survival is seen as discardable by our brain. To me, this study highlights the need to train our children to be effective learners, armed with an effective learning strategy - the skills, techniques and mindsets that will help them not just remember what they learn, but also apply it in various life situations to solve problems, innovate and create new knowledge. 

Suggested Read: How to Fail Better to Learn Better

The 4 Stages of Learning

As per the dictionary, learning is acquiring knowledge or skill via instruction or study; or the modification of behavior based on experience (conditioning). 
The goal of learning something new is to move from the ‘challenge zone’ to ‘comfort zone’ with practice and persistence, till we achieve mastery.

  • Starting from a place of unconscious incompetence (not aware of the need to walk)
  • Conscious incompetence: realizing that she is unable to walk
  • Conscious competence: through trial and error, experimentation, and sheer practice, become aware that she can walk (with support, with focus, with concentration)
  • Unconscious competence: she can walk without even thinking about it.

The 4 Stages of Learning are unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence
The 4 Stages of Learning Model take the Learner from Challenge to Comfort Zone

The Effective Learning Process

Effective learning is an elevated version of learning that needs conscious skills and techniques.

Effective Learning is a purposeful, disciplined effort to learn better, and be a better learner. It doesn't stop at just taking in information; but lays equal emphasis on understanding, analyzing, and being able to apply knowledge in concrete situations.

The Effective learning Process is Not Linear

Why Is Effective Learning An Advantage for 21st Century Learners?

The geniuses of the world are not smarter than you or me. They are simply more effective learners

They absorb, understand, recall, connect, and apply knowledge better than you and me. 

They know that effective learning is not an ‘automatic’ process. 

So, they constantly work on getting better at learning and developing the 6 abilities of an effective learner. 

Unfortunately, while our children are fed a lot of content, they are almost never taught how to learn better. They are not trained to develop their own learning strategies or to develop strong learning-to-learn skills.

In fact, in school, learning is all about taking in information. There is hardly any focus on what to do with that information, how to turn it into knowledge, and how to get better at learning to learn. 

In a constantly changing world, that puts children at a huge disadvantage.

We can’t predict what skills our children will need tomorrow. In fact, 85% of the jobs our children will do haven’t yet been invented today. When we were in school, our parents could never have guessed some of us would be practicing telemedicine, designing AI drones, or be social media content entrepreneurs either!

So in all that uncertainty, what should people learn? First and foremost, they should learn how to learn. With that, no matter what the future demands, they will be able to learn it, use it, and evolve.

How Can Children Become More Effective Learners?

The 21st century- the age of distraction, disruption and artificial intelligence, demands that we change the goal posts when it comes to human learning. 

As parents, our job is not to ensure they can pass exams, but to ensure they have the skills and techniques to learn anything effectively.

Being an effective learner is a sum of many constantly evolving parts. And the process of learning is unique to each learner. It’s a huge and confusing space. 

While there is no formula for how to be an effective learner, a mindful strategy built around the effective learning framework is a great way to bring everything into perspective. 

What is an Effective Learning Strategy?

With an ‘effective learning’ strategy, the learner sees far better learning and performance results. 

They have a stronger ability to absorb, integrate, connect, recall, apply and improve upon whatever they choose to learn. This is a strategy with immediate as well as long-term- lifelong- benefits. 

An Effective Learning Strategy is a combination of:

  1. Learning Mindset
  2. Learning Skills
  3. Learning Techniques
  4. Learning Styles 
  5. Learning environment

Parents play a crucial role in helping children - early learners, tweens and teens - to become aware of their own learning process, and develop the skills and techniques to take ownership of their own learning journey before they step out into the world of work.

  • The parent and child understand that they need to change tracks, and that doing more of the same (late nights, studying for long stretches, etc.) is not working so no point doing more of the same. 
  • Agree on the need for effective learning - working smarter, not harder. Agree on the fact that your child needs an effective learning strategy that’s designed just for him or her, to enable them to become better, smarter learners.
  • The parent and child must begin from a place of power, and that comes from a growth mindset. Studies or learning is not the enemy to be vanquished, but a super power we can gift ourselves with the right learning mindset.
  • The parent and child must invest the time to prepare the foundation for transformational change. Make this effort about building the skills, techniques and mindset your child needs to become a better, smarter, more effective learner for life. 
  • Have the self-awareness of what the effort is about. The difference between effective learning and studying is having a clear intention for effective learning. The learner is aware why they are learning, aware of their learning process, and are able to ‘own’ their learning journey. 

The time to start building an effective learning strategy with your child is today. Start with our parent-friendly guides that explain every aspect of effective learning. Get connected on social media and most importantly, sign up for my monthly learn-letter to keep pace with new ideas and insights about how our kids ‘learn to learn’.

Additional resources:

Our Curated Set of One-Page Guides and Infographics on How to be an Effective Learner

Why Every 21st Century Learner Must be An Interdisciplinary learner

The Power of Compound Knowledge

3 Learning Skills Schools Can't Teach (But Your Child Needs!)

GET A HANDY ONE-PAGE SUMMARY OF OUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE LEARNING BY CLICKING ON THE ICON BELOW

Download now!

Build Your Polymath Parenting Superpowers!

Once a month, I curate the very best ‘learning to learn’ resources to inspire and challenge parents.
And right now, I'm giving away my '5 Steps to Build Your Child's Effective learning Skills' eBook as a sign-up bonus!
Yes, I want the best ideas about how kids learn.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
PS: I promise: zero spam. Unsubscribe anytime with just one click!

Woohoo! You're on the list!

Don't forget to get your exclusive sign-up bonus eBook '5 Steps to Build Your Child's Learning Skills' now!
GET INSTANT ACCESS