Flipping The Classroom

It’s easy to get good at what you need to do. Don’t worry if it didn’t happen in school.

The classroom was always meant to be a place where readily available resources (books, materials, subject-matter experts) could be found, explored, and used to aid in learning. Learning mostly happens—not inside the classroom but outside of it—out in the real world where real-life action naturally applies new knowledge and develops skills.

When you are told to “sit down, be quiet, and pay attention” in a classroom, it places stress on your nervous system and can make learning much more difficult. While such commands may force us to listen, they don’t make it easier for us to hear. Learning requires movement, experimentation, trial-error-feedback-retrial, and exploration of our natural world. Learning can be messy, chaotic, fun, terrifying, and exceedingly interesting.

You were born a naturally gifted learner. Your brain and mind are magnificent at learning what you need to know and at becoming better at what you need to do. That’s how you adapt and succeed wherever you may be. It’s called “adaptive learning,” and it’s what you naturally do best.

Confusion and “not knowing” is always the beginning of learning something new. Don’t let your confusion stop you. Use it to get curious, get up, and get going! There are resources here and elsewhere that will help you learn to get really good at what you desire to do.

Knowing that you can adapt is a first step. Every step you take in the direction of what’s important to you means you will also develop greater mental complexity and capacity for success. That is the beginning of transformative learning, defined as a change in the way you make meaning.

A child learns through play. Before you went to school, all fun was how you learned. As an adult, you can practice making all learning fun, no matter how difficult it might seem at first. Soon you will rediscover the “seriousness of the child at play,” and that all fun truly is at the essence of all learning.

Every day you can get better at what is important to you, and transform your life in the process.