To be taught or to learn?

As many of our readers will know both Christine & I are involved with the Academy of Wedding and Event Planning and we both spend alot of time working with students.  As such we receive alot of feedback on our courses, the way our course materials are put together, the delivery and the expectations of our students when they sign up for a course.

I have found it very interesting to note that there seem to be two different types of students. Those that want to be taught and those that want to learn. In the day of readily available information I wonder if we are becoming a little lazy. Many years ago some of the most influencial people were self-educated and used projects in order to learn. Amongst these were Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, to name but a few.  These people were able to take the information they had to hand and build on it in order to make something of it. It seems today that the ability to self-educate is becoming a lost art when in reality it should be something we are embracing more and more.

Learning isn’t simply about reading information in a book, that is only the first step. In order to really learn you need to take the basic information you have been given and apply it in a practical way. This involves research and the ability to think outside the normal confines of our minds. Take things a little further, stretch them, play with them and manipulate them until you have explored every part of them. It is the only way you will truly learn. People who want someone to show them exactly how to do something never actually get started.