LEARN [2]

An acronym that can have many interpretations. For our purposes we will consider it from two perspectives, firstly in relation to a tutor / teacher helping a learner to engage with, and get the most out of, the learning process and secondly from a learner’s perspective of how they can help themselves to learn better.

Tutor / Teacher’s perspective:
• Listen: Listen, actively, to the learner’s concerns. This helps to show you are interested in what they have to say and is the start of the helping process.
• Empathise: Understand their perspective, asking them questions to clarify any points you don’t fully understand.
• Acknowledge: Provide a response that identifies their concerns and challenges, so as to provide them with assurances that you have fully understood their concerns.
• Recommend: Suggest actions both they and you, as the tutor / teacher, can take to provide satisfactory outcomes to all of their concerns.
• Negotiate: Discuss ways in which outcomes might be achieved using the actions identified above and which takes into account the learner’s personal circumstances. This may include providing resources, or access to them, prioritising, and timescales, as well as how progress might be monitored. All negotiations do need to be mutually acceptable and agreed.

Learner’s perspective:
• Listen: Listen, actively, to the tutor’s / teacher’s ’s comments. This helps to show you are paying attention and have some interest in what they are saying.
• Engage: Participate in the learning process by responding to questions or suggestions.
• Ask questions: Be active and ask questions, especially where you are unsure of something or where further clarification is needed. Don’t think that if you are stuck on something then that is the end of it. There are always ways of being able to move forward. If in doubt, ask.
• Reflect: Don’t rush everything. Take time to consider the how’s, when, where, who, and why’s of something, as well as possible consequences of suggested actions and solutions. Spending some time on reflecting will often deepen learning, as well as identify other areas of interest for further learning.
• Navigate: Use a range of resources to help your learning. Exploring different resources can help to improve understanding and provide ideas which can act as a spark for your own creativity and improve engagement with the learning process.