For
ages, whenever we talk about learning, we have talked about a learning
hierarchy: Guru - Shishya, Teacher - Student, Trainer Trainee, Mentor- Mentee, Superior
- Subordinate or some sort of a higher intelligence- lower intelligence. The
teacher or trainer, have always been looked up as a highly resourceful person,
who has an answer for any question under the sun. But in this digital era, the
equations have changed. Information is available in abundance. So, information
is no more a differentiating factor, for a person to consider himself
intellectually superior.
Moreover,
today we are talking about multiple intelligence, which means that, everyone is
intelligent in a different way. So, the concept of one person being a
superior and another being inferior, in terms of intelligence, is slowly
vanishing. Everyone is intelligent is his own way and there is a great opportunity
for us to learn from each other, if we are able to come out of our ego trap. In
the world today, if we need to sustain and to grow, we need to be open to the
idea of learning from everyone around us. It could be our friends, our
colleagues, our children or the people who work for us. I think the new age is
all about co-learning or collective learning.
I
have personally experienced, the significance of colearning as an emerging
trend, especially in the area of life skills training, through some of the
programmes, I
attended this year.
The
beginning of the year, I got introduced to a programme called TCI - Theme
Centered Interaction. The highlight of this programme is that there is no trainer,
but only a facilitator. Participants, including the facilitator sit in a circle
formation, everyone facing everyone. A particular theme is put forth for discussion
and every participant is asked to share his experience or thoughts. The duty of
the facilitator is just to keep the momentum of discussion alive and on track.
When someone speaks, others listen. No one interrupts the flow of thoughts.
There is no validations, no judgments, and no arguments for or against.
Everyone who speaks is expressing their view, based on their own experience and
therefore they cannot be judged right or wrong. Even at the end of the session,
the participant does not have a “take home message”. All he has gained is a
renewed perception of life. I found it interesting and a new learning
dimension.
Just
a month later, I enrolled myself, in a basic counseling skills programme at
Asha Counseling Centre, Coimbatore. I experienced an almost, similar type of
learning atmosphere here. Participants are encouraged to share their
experiences. They bring to open their problems. The counselor by way of listening
and asking genuine questions, helps the participant to gain clarity and a
higher level of awareness.
This awareness helps the participant to find his/ her own answers. I realized
that there is so much of richness and originality, in this way of learning.
Everyone comes with a treasure of their own experiences, of which none can be
discounted. When they share the same with others, it is not just for other's to
know what is happening in their lives, but also to know what we could learn
from the other person's experience. It was yet another learning dimension.
We
live in a world, where we talk about synergetic growth. Synergy means that the
whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Similarly, this collective intelligence
is far greater than our own limited intelligence. I found this insight very
meaningful and hope this sharing, can widen your learning dimensions. We have
always talked about learning ladder. It is time we start talking of learning
circles
Happy Reading
D. Senthil Kannan
Article Dated Dec 2012
