Learning power

Learning power is a psychological concept best described as the innate ability of a person to learn. The idea was developed by British cognitive psychologist Guy Claxton in the 1980s as a way to describe the natural inclination of people to find ways to increase their knowledge and grow as humans. The core idea of learning power is somewhat vague, and has been described as the process of “learning to learn.” The concept rebuffs the notion that learning is best accomplished by reading and memorization, and repeating that practice until the mind absorbs the information. Instead, learning power relies on the mind’s natural curiosity, resilience, and its desire to ask questions to organically grasp information to gain knowledge. Although the idea has been used in many classroom settings, learning power is applicable to all forms of learning and problem-solving.

Background

Although the common understanding of learning is gaining knowledge or skill through instruction or study, the process of how the human brain receives information, processes it, categorizes it, and retains it as knowledge remains a subject of debate among psychologists. As far back as the eleventh century, scholars recognized that humans had an instinctual ability to learn, noting that this ability helped infants and children adapt to their world relatively quickly as they grew.

In the early twentieth century, psychologists began to look at the learning process with a more scientific eye. The earliest learning theory is credited to American psychologist John Watson, who developed behavioral theory in 1913. This theory holds that all human behaviors come from a person’s interaction with external stimuli in the environment. Behavioral learning theory can be further broken down into two subsets, learning by association and learning by reinforcement and punishment.

Learning by association, also known as classical conditioning, is exemplified in the work of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov, who showed that dogs who were fed in association with the sound of a bell were conditioned to expect food every time the bell rang. Pavlov and other proponents of the classical conditioning theory believed that learning occurred when the mind formed an association between a set of stimuli.

Operant conditioning is the term given to behavioral learning through reinforcement and punishment. In this case, learning occurs when a person’s interaction with a stimuli is strengthened through positive reinforcement or weakened through negative punishment. This theory, championed by American psychologist B.F. Skinner, also takes into account the mind’s association between stimuli, but introduces the consequences of that association into the outcome.

By the mid-twentieth century, cognitive learning theory had begun to overtake the behavioral approach among psychologists. This theory considers how memory, attention, problem-solving, and information processing combine to allow the growth of learning. One of the most well-known cognitive learning theories was developed by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who suggested people learn in four stages as they and their minds grow. In the first stage, which lasts from birth to two years, children learn about their world purely through their senses. From two to seven, children learn through the use of language and play. The earliest use of logic and concrete thinking come into play when children are between the ages of seven and eleven. In the fourth stage, people twelve and older learn to further utilize logic and incorporate deductive reasoning and abstract thinking into learning.

Another theory, known as constructivist learning, holds that people are not passive learners, but rather play an active role in building their knowledge. According to this idea, people take in information and actively introduce it into their existing cognitive framework. As they receive additional information, people continue to reorganize this framework to accommodate the new data. Social learning theory holds that children learn through observation and imitation of those around them. In experiential learning theory, people first conceptualize an idea before placing it in their cognitive framework through active experience. Learning occurs after periods of experimentation and reflecting on the results to gain a better understanding of the experience.

Despite the proliferation of different learning theories, modern psychologists typically do not ascribe to any one model, but rather incorporate a combination of elements from multiple theories to develop their own ideas about learning. In addition, studies have found people learn in different ways, so some theories may be better suited to certain individuals than others.

Overview

Guy Claxton is a cognitive psychologist who was born in London in 1947. While working toward his doctorate in psychology at Oxford in the 1970s, Claxton said he was often met with indifference from his advisers and turned to his friends to discuss, and argue about, his work. In this environment, Claxton said his curiosity thrived, leading to a healthy use of imagination, trial and error, discussion, and reimagining of ideas.

After graduation, Claxton worked as a psychology teacher at the University of London and observed firsthand how his students learned or struggled to learn. He realized that as much as he could try to help his students, he would not be there for them throughout their lives. He wanted them to experience the same dynamic in learning that he had experienced at Oxford.

In 1984, Claxton published his first book on the subject and gradually developed the idea that he would call learning power in subsequent books. The concept of learning power is abstract; it has been compared to a type of energy that allows the natural ability of the learner to acquire knowledge to prosper. In his books, Claxton describes it by saying knowledge is what a person knows; learning is a change is what a person knows; and learning power is a change in the way a person goes about learning.

In a classroom environment, learning power can be understood by contrasting it to modern child-centered and knowledge-centered models of learning. In child-centered models, the focus is on the child’s learning experience and his or her learning outcome is seen as the ultimate measure of success. In knowledge-centered models, the acquisition of knowledge and skills becomes the primary focus of learning. Learning power takes a learner-centered stance, where the child is viewed as the learner and knowledge is transferred in the process of learning. Learning power is not focused on getting the right answer, but rather on nurturing and developing a person’s innate capacity to learn, which will eventually lead to the correct answer.

Outside of the classroom, learning power can be seen in the ability of people to merge together many concurrent stimuli and sources to learn to play sports and video games, become familiar with smartphones, etc. In some cases, young people may excel at these activities, but struggle at classroom learning. Learning power advocates see this as evidence the student’s innate learning power is not being tapped.

Although the concept of learning power is difficult to quantify, advocates have identified seven dimensions of learning power that provide a positive framework for learning. The first is the idea of changing and growing as a learner, understanding that the amount of knowledge someone has is not going to be the same amount one has in the future. Learning is a “learnable” trait and can be developed in much the same way people develop their muscles by working out.

A critical sense of curiosity is another invaluable dimension of learning power. Curiosity, in this case, is the ability to ask questions about something, examine the answers, and dig deeper in an effort to reach one’s own conclusion. A chief trait of the learning power strategy is that educators do not teach learners the answers, but rather encourage the curiosity of learners to find those answers themselves. This sense of curiosity, which pushes students to question each answer until they find the truth, could spark a love of discovering new things.

The third dimension is the ability to make learning meaningful to someone on a personal level, forging a bond between what a person already knows and what they have just learned. This may mean connecting a person with new information about a subject they already know a lot about, or connecting them with something that touches them on a personal level. For example, a person who likes hiking through a local park may enjoy learning about the park’s history and the people who lived in the area years ago and may have walked the same path.

Creativity in learning is another important dimension in developing learning power. This aspect involves creating imaginative ways to learn by doing things that are fun, different, and challenging. Creativity in learning may involve playing with different learning ideas to find one that sparks the best response. To paraphrase common business jargon, this dimension is akin to learning outside the box.

Learning in conjunction with others is also a large part of developing learning power. Talking, discussing, and debating information with others can create a personal dynamic that can boost the ability to learn both as a group and as an individual. While people should relish learning on their own, sharing thoughts and ideas with others can inspire all parties, injecting fresh perspectives and questions into the learning environment. Forging personal learning relationships can lead to a sense of positive accomplishment by helping others learn as well.

Another important aspect of learning power is being strategically aware of one’s own personal learning process. This means consciously managing that process, the strategies involved, and one’s feelings about learning. For instance, a person understands best how he or she learns. They know what subjects are fun, which ones are challenging, which ones they like, and which ones they dislike. They also have some idea of the time needed to devote to each subject. Being aware of all this information allows a learner to allocate their energy and time to effectively accomplish their learning goals.

The final dimension of learning power, resilience, is also one of the most important. In this context, resilience is the ability to persevere through the end of the learning process, no matter how confusing or seemingly insurmountable that process is. Learning inevitably will involve making mistakes and struggling to grasp information, which the learner needs to know are natural parts of the process. Learners should not give up when setbacks occur, but should step back, refocus, and keep trying until they succeed.

Claxton suggests that to ensure learners have the right environment for learning power to be effective, they should adapt their mindset to be more open to learning. For example, learners should approach the learning process in a proactive rather than passive manner. They should be curious, not apathetic, and independent minded instead of relying on others to teach them. They should be intrinsically motivated, which means being spurred on by the personal satisfaction of accomplishment, not the external praise of others.

Learners should also be thoughtful, open-minded, and adventurous toward learning. Rather than falling apart easily over failure, they should be resilient and bounce back from setbacks such as receiving a bad grade. Learners should also hold off on believing everything they read at face value. Instead, they should employ a healthy skepticism and be critical of information until they have verified it for themselves. In this way, learners are being prepared for life, not simply for the next stage of learning.

Bibliography

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