Place yourself in your students’ shoes

Place yourself in your students’ shoes!

What can we learn as professionals from our personal learning journey?

As educators and learning professionals, this question left me pondering about our own growth  – what can we do to improve workplace learning in our own schools?

First and foremost we need to find time to place ourselves in our students’ shoes and experience the world as they do. Don’t forget that our journeys are not too dissimilar as many aspects that are required from them are required from us. Take a moment to reflect on yourself as a student; the goals, achievements, accolades and disappointments that forged your journey throughout your school career.

I started 2020 off with the question:

When did I last learn something new and important?

Of course, taken literally, the answer for most of us will be sometime in the last few minutes or hours, as we are continually receiving new information, albeit on the COVID-19 Pandemic on News24, conversations we have had on WhatsApp, discussions with our loved ones or perhaps from online content.

I pose the question above to gain some sort of metacognition momentum among us about when to learn the really important information in our lives and when to reflect on the learning processes that drive our personal development and growth.

I pondered over this thought-provoking question and decided to rise to the challenge and learn something new and important! During this lockdown period, I enrolled myself on two online courses to upskill myself in areas that were a tad foreign to me and concepts which I haven’t yet engaged in namely, Microsoft Excel and Webinars. I also looked at various content that would assist me with my development, mindful that the platforms needed to be both engaging and worthwhile.

Challenging myself, I came up with the following four most memorable and important discoveries in my recent learning journey and I want to share them with you:

1. 15-minute TED Talks
2. Webinars
3. Online research
4. Online courses

In all four cases, the learning experience stuck in my mind! They all had an underlying personal quality that was deep and meaningful – active learning! Active learning required that I invest myself in the process mentally, physically and wholeheartedly to adapt and change based on my intrinsic need for personal maximum development.

With regards to each online course I have completed (and trust me, there are many), the time I invested in the learning was very short in comparison to the long-term value I gained and yet I had no way of knowing that these small investments would have such positive impacts to my personal growth.

I challenge you all to do the same and let the team at Get SACE Points help you. 😊

A list of how you can actively learn with us? (Please click on the underlined words for suggested content)

1. The list is endless with regards to the fantastic Educational TED Talks – but this may help!
2. We have already sent you an email with regards to Webinars that you can join. They are free, so please do try and attend at least 2 – that is already 40 CPTD Points.
3. I gather, in preparation which you have done for your learners, you are constantly on Google. I always find these articles interesting too. There are so many teaching websites out there.
4. Online learning is extremely topical during these times, and I urge you to use this time to complete an online course. Let me tell you why:

It is important to note:

• The length of time spent learning often does not correlate with its value and long-term impact. Our courses range from 2 – 5 hours.
• It is important to build serendipity into our learning mindset. By this, I mean that the more you are open to learning opportunities, then the more likely it is that learning will come your way. Make every moment a potential learning moment!!!! 😊