Essay On Self Directed Learning

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1. Describe the essential aspects of a self-directed, intrinsically motivated, active learner?
a. Establishing a climate of trust
Knowles starts Self-Directed Learning with the idea of “setting a climate” for learning. This is a deceptively simple but critical step. To learn effectively, we must trust ourselves. We must develop a mindset conducive to being an effective learner and embrace a “degree of responsibility.” We must also develop practices that enable us to gauge the authenticity and trustworthiness of our teachers and other sources of learning. Without this foundation, the pursuit of self-directed learning is very difficult, and I suspect it is because a “climate of trust” is never established that so many efforts at self-directed learning fail or never get started in the first place. …show more content…

Understanding the “why” of self-directed learning
We are always learning, whether consciously or unconsciously, but the “directed” aspect of self-directed learning suggests a motivation, a purpose, a sense of “why.” The effective self-directed learner actively seeks to understand her own motivations and purposes. For Knowles, the motivations for self-directed learning run very deep, and extend beyond the individual learner. As he puts it: the “why” of self-directed learning is survival (emphasis added) – your own survival as an individual, and also the survival of the human race. We are talking about a basic human competence – the ability to learn on one’s own – that has become a prerequisite for living in this new world.
c. Understanding the “what” of self directed learning
If the “why” of self-directed learning is focused on the “directed” part of the equation, the “what” is focused on “self.” There is a tendency to view self-directed learning as something that happens in isolation; as something in opposition to “teacher-directed” learning. This is a false

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