Anything can be learnt

Everything can be learnt
I read a book “ Assessment as Learning”.  The following was the excerpt of the part that I wish to highlight.

“In American society, learning tends to be regarded as an all-or-none process. A student who is ‘bright’ is expected to just ‘get it,’ whereas duller students are assumed to lack the requisite ability for learning certain material.

Under the “ability model”, motivation to try hard depends…a great deal on the individual child’s assessment of whether s(he) has the ability to succeed. By constrast, the effort model such as the Chinese and Japanese tend to hold, potrays learning as gradual and incremental, something that almost by definition must be acquired over a long period of time.”
I, as a typical Asian, who believe in ability model somehow relates it to… Anything can be learnt. Then somehow, at this point, it strucks me as re-reviving my passion and mission to become a teacher.

I like to become a teacher because
“A teacher is teaching, and students are learning”

I know, it seems very vague, and no key highlight. Learning is a life-long process that anyone is doing it any time.
-A baby starts to learn by observation, imitating the response of adult.
-A less able, learnt that he/she is weak from the response of a teacher.
-Working adult, learning how to communicate with their colleagues, clients and customers to get the sales.
-Executive, CEO learning how to develop company, learning looking into it from various perspective in a bigger pictures.
-An elderly, learning how to adjust their elderly. Making a decision to adapt it, live with it or survive with it.

Learning, doesn’t only include visible in the classroom like  Learning Chinese, Bahasa, English, Maths, Science subjects and the rest of the other subjects. It includes learning
-        Sports (badminton, teakowdo)
-        Dance
-        Cooking
-        Editting video
-        Designing
-        How to talk appropriately
-        How to walk
-        How to dress
-        How to clean a room

If anything can be learnt, then we can learn how to think too. Thinking can be learnt!
You see, there were so much gap in learning. Anything can be learnt, but why that our learners seem like lack of so many crucial skills to strive in community (critical thinking skill for eg.). I started to see that there were so muuuuuuuuuuch gap in teaching.

I can see that it’s not students fault they were not equipped with certain skills, for eg. Critical thinking skills. It is the way a teacher thought. Does teacher teaching in an isolated context, that a student later fail to transfer it into another context?

Or is it because teacher fail to demonstrate/ convery the subject in vast array of broad examples in different context that the students fail to apply it into other context?

There were so many gaps to be filled up! Take me for example, I never thought that thinking can be learnt. That’s why when I teach, I emphasize on the knowledge itself ,and didn’t promote the metacognitive skills in students. (remind them to use it, thinking  from a bigger pictures, revisit learning process)

Basically, I am trying to said that anything can be learn. Even the way a person speaks can be learnt too! Following the idea that “Anything can be learnt”, then “how to be a successful person” can be learnt too!

A simple analogy is that “We can model a successful person in order to be a successful person.”, which many of us have known. If that is the case, why do so many of us still cannot be a successful person?

I think it actually also depends on the definition of success across the individual.

Just like assessment, how to judge the level of success is varied, and can be come out with criterion too. (LOL, but I am not going to do that. )

“Thinking and rationality are the engine of our choices, but feelings and emotional intelligence help to steamline decisions by eliminating some options and highlighting others.”
Daniel Goleman (1995)

Having to say this, it means there are various definition of success.
1. Financial freedom
2. Ample time with family (travel)
3. Helping others/community

For example, Syed Saddiq, the Youth and  Sports  Minister of Malaysia just turned down his chance of pursuing masters in Public Policy under a RM400,000 scholarship from the prestigious Oxford University.and  prioritise his country first and focus on his role in politics.


Some put priority over another. Hence, I just like to say that
Success is a process that can be learnt too. It has/ has not have a teacher to teach. Success relies on the person to put the right combination of everything (learning the right skills, metacognitive, factual, conceptual, procedural dimensions) and doing it continuously in a due time, and a due manner, confronting the challenges and knowing it when you achieve it.

I have seen many people of old age, parental age, are still working day and night for earn money. Why were they still working when they already achieve the life they want. Hmm, again it’s the ultimate purpose of their life again.




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