News & Views
Updated: February 04, 2008
(List of Other News & Views)

July - September 2000 Views

Guided Self-Learning and Self-Knowledge:
Simply the best way for effective learning and knowledge.

My 8 year-old son Nicholas got up one morning last week and said to me "I don’t feel like going to school today, I want to stay home." Instead of immediately ordering him to get dressed, I thought I’d try a different tack. I said to him "That’s OK, Nicholas, you can stay home. But what’s Mum or Dad supposed to do if you stay home on a school day?" He said, "Oh, yes. You or Mum has to write a note why I can’t go to school and give it to the teacher."

I said "Yes that’s right. OK, then," I said, "what would you like me to write on the note for you?" Not being one for telling lies or for coming up with real whopper stories, Nicholas said "I can’t think of the right way to say it." I then started to make some suggestions to him such as "OK, what about if I wrote down that you have a cold and you’re sick and so can’t go to school?" Thankfully, Nicholas said that we weren’t telling the truth, so that reason was no good.

I then said, "Good boy; well, how about I write down that you just don’t feel like going to school today, and that you can’t be bothered?" He gave me a little smile, realising that that particular reason would not look too good on paper; he didn’t want the teachers to know that he just couldn’t be bothered.

I said "OK, how about I write down that you don’t want to go to school because you’re going to play with your Lego all day, and you want to watch Disney’s Alladin for the ninety-third time?" Again, he smiled at me, indicating that he didn’t what that particular reason to go on the note either.

I then said "Well, are there any other reasons I can write down?"

Nicholas then looked at me with a realising grin, paused, then said "I’ll go and get dressed for school." He willingly and (almost) gladly got dressed and went to school without any fuss.

By answering questions and thus being guided, Nicholas had learnt for himself that the best and most appropriate thing to do was to go to school. I had only asked guiding questions. If I had been authoritarian and overpowering, I would have yelled something like "I don’t want to hear any rubbish, you are going to school and that’s that!", Nicholas then would have gone off all depressed, still convinced about his own views about school that day; he would not have learnt through his own self-knowledge, the reasons why he should go; (I must point out that it doesn’t always go this way).

The same principle applies in all other aspects of life: More effective learning is one where the learner is guided by the teacher, instructor, tutor, trainer, or whatever, towards a particular end, goal or learning outcome. Being simply told the answer, or even told how to work out the answer is probably more efficient learning, but is not necessarily more effective learning. There is a big difference between the two!

It is satisfying and very rewarding to see people’s eyes light up when they themselves understand a particular concept or conquer a particular skill. No amount of almost overpowering and impatient ‘telling of the answer’ can compare with a person’s own self-realisation, internalisation or understanding of the correct steps to an answer or of the answer itself.

In our courses here at CLASS Training we use this as our paradigm in guiding people towards this self-realisation and understanding. Rather than just telling someone our particular right answer, we’ll take just a little more time to ask the right sorts of questions so that trainees themselves discover their own right answers. This works very well and allows one to better understand concepts more effectively, especially if they don’t feel like going to school (or to work).

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