Learning to learn
Write.
About learning.
I’ve learned that I know how to learn once I get over the first stage of learning, looking silly. The “cognitive stage of learning” as Shaw (2023) describes it is the stage of “trying to work out what to do”.
While grappling with concepts that are new, or new to me, I am hardly ever a first adopter. You’ll find me in the early adopters/mid section adoption of things and that’s because a crucial step of my learning process is having a teacher. It doesn’t have to be a classroom situation, but if something is mildly interesting to me, I look up who has tinkered with it first. It helps me visualize my way around the subject/thing I’m trying to learn before I try my hands at it. I will admit that the temptation to stay in the “learning to learn” zone is pretty high.
This year, I forced myself to learn something I’ve always wanted to be able to do: play the guitar.
Get Chidi Uguru’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
When I started lessons at Muson center, at the start of the year, I didn’t know what note each string produced and I was certain my hands were simply too small to learn this instrument. Almost 11 months later, I’m not yet Tracy Chapman but, now, I’m able to find my way around the first three frets of the sound board, I know the Major chords and can almost transition through them seamlessly, and I’ve even begun learning to play notes further down the fretboard.
What have I learned about learning this year? That there’s a reason for the “monkey see, monkey do” approach and it is an appropriate way to start my learning process. During my first class, my teacher didn’t ask me if I knew the notes in a scale, instead he immediately got me to practice strumming patterns and finger placements. It was only at the end of the third lesson that he introduced musical theory and the “Why” behind a lot of the work I had already done. I find that this method worked for me and recognize the potential to confuse someone else with a different learning style. I’ve also learned that building on past experiences, patterns and things I’ve seen before increases my chance of absorbing a new concept/skill. It has also become very clear to me the importance of having a teacher that genuinely wants me to succeed, who will be gentle when I make mistakes but very clear about how much I’m derailing my progress by not practicing.
I’ve re-learned that learning something past the “hobby stage” is incredibly hard work and really and truly requires the 10,000 hours everyone keeps talking about. It’s sometimes difficult for my brain to accept that I’m bad at something and so the impulse to quit is almost always under my skin.
Do you have a thing you’re learning? Please share.
References
Shaw, Will. “Fitts & Posner’s Stages of Learning — Cognitive, Associative & Autonomous.” Sport Science Insider, Sport Science Insider, 28 Nov. 2023, sportscienceinsider.com/stages-of-learning/.
