A Learning Cycle

What type of learner am I? This is a question that I hadn't considered in some time, probably not since I graduated from college. From reading the Reader 2 and further reading of related articles I have seen how important it is to look at and reflect on your learning in order to evolve and improve the work you are doing.

'Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of evidence' (Kolb 1984 p.38)

Reading about Kolb's learning cycle I was immediately able to relate it to my own recent work of teaching dance. Kolb's learning cycle is about the process of learning from your experience and comes in four stages. Before reading further and reflecting on my own work I would have said I entered the cycle at the 'Abstract Conceptualisation' stage. I like to really think things through before I act. For instance before teaching a class I like to think up all possible outcomes of a class and come up for a plan for each of them. I will make a list of what I am going to include in a class but also make a second and third list for if the class goes in a different direction because of reasons out of my control, for example if the standard and knowledge of the children is different than I expected. Although this way of learning makes me feel prepared it has the negative aspect of time wasting. I could plan two thirds of a lesson that will not get used.

I believe the environment you are put in can have an effect on the way you reflect and learn. Recently I have been teaching lots of new different classes as I covered a colleague's work due to sickness. This meant that I often did not have an in depth knowledge of the children and their abilities before I taught them. Due to the amount of classes I was taking it was not possible for me to come up with three or four different lesson plans for each class 'just in case'. Therefore I was taking each first class with each group as a learning experience. I would try out lots of different things with them and then go home and consider what worked well and and what didn't and use this as my basis for my next class with them. I entered the learning cycle at the 'Concrete Experience' stage. I used an actual experience to reflect upon and gain knowledge from and then altered my future work accordingly.

Looking at the learning cycle further I am able to see where I regularly complete the four stages of learning in my work as a dance teacher. One example I have comes from a new class that I have been teaching once a week for nearly a term. The class has a lot less structure than other classes I am used to teaching as it does not follow a syllabus. I found that the younger children were struggling to keep their concentration with the lesson plan I had in place. During my time teaching the class I was asked to cover a different class which came from a franchise. This franchise uses a lot of imagery in order to involve the children in the class. After teaching the class and seeing how well it went, I reflected on why the images worked and thought of ways to introduce them into the regular class I taught. As a result the next class I had with my regular group I used images in a special 'Sports Relief' themed lesson. The images I used broke down the individual steps that the children had to put together in a routine. The change in the children was remarkable. They were engaged from start to finish and their level of creativity increased. An example of an image I used is below.

I am looking forward to developing my knowledge on reflection and different types of learning. I think it is important for me to have a wider knowledge as a teacher in order to cater to the different learning styles of the children I teach.

An article I found helpful to read further to the information provided in the Reader 2 was - 

                                                 http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html.