Efficiency of Movement
Many years ago I read a book called Cheaper By The Dozen about Frank Gilbreth, the pioneer of something I've come to call efficiency of movement. It completely changed my outlook on the way I do things, in almost every aspect of my life.
People often associate this with Taylorism, something I also later studied in university, but the two are not the same. While Taylorism was more focused on efficiency with a view to saving time and thus increasing profitability, Gilbreth's focus was always on efficiency of movement or motion, to reduce the amount of movements needed to complete a task, and thus improving workers welfare and well-being.
It was when I decided to introduce it into learning that things got interesting.
You see, even without meaning to, learning tends to be quite separatist in its thinking and its execution. From learning in books to learning in the four walls of a classroom and even to online learning, it tends to remain contained. Obviously, many may jump and say I'm wrong, but this not to say what is out there is no good, all the wonderful educators out there are doing a bad job... not at all!!! Each and every one of you are amazing! I simply want us to open our eyes to other possibilities of elevating our learning processes.
Let's talk about one learning process to illustrate this.
Clap your hands in the comments if you still remember the day you learnt to ride a bike. Tag someone in and add a thumbs up if you still know how to ride!
Sure, you may feel a bit rusty if you haven't ridden for many years, but I guarantee you, within two minutes of getting back on a bike, you will be riding off into the sunset (sorry, can't guarantee the sunset bit, unless like me, you like cycling along the beach 'after work'!!!)
So what is it about learning to ride a bike that makes it a learn-once-and-you've-got-it experience? How can we replicate that for day-to-day or more traditional learning contexts?
It's all about processes and reducing them to a minimum. Most learning contexts will focus first on acquisition of knowledge and then a first level of processing, usually through practical assignments or roleplay situations. Real life application, while it is often a learning objective, can often miss its target in the busy-ness of daily work and life.
What if, though, we were to combine the processes, so simultaneously, as you acquire knowledge you are also processing it?
Did you know too, that the way you learn something can also directly impact the way we use that knowledge?
What if, in addition to the above, you could learn in a way that made it possible to take that learning process with you right out the 'classroom' door with you and directly into your daily life? Making it possible to directly continue learning and automatically applying that knowledge as you go through your daily activities!
Now we're talking about learning!
Learning that happens. Learning that is as easy as jumping on a bike and pedalling away!
Join the conversation now if you want to experience learning like that!
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