Unlearning and Extinction Bursts

Learning new things is easy. Adopting new behaviors as a result of that knowledge is harder.

I was asked to write an article for Chief Learning Officer Magazine on behavioral extinction’s role in the learning process. You can read it over at: http://www.clomedia.com/articles/6525-unlearn-before-you-can-change . It’s about how we need to unlearn old behaviors before we can learn new behaviors.

This “rule” – unlearning has to happen before new learning can occur - applies to everyone whether it is an individual trying to create a new exercise habit or a company initiating a new work process.

If you are in a position of leadership, at some point, you are going to be tasked with teaching people new skills. Knowing what you want to teach is only part of what makes a good teacher. Teaching is an art and the best teachers are compassionate. They give us space to make mistakes. They nudge us along as we struggle to learn the new way of doing things.

They are compassionate because they understand – we will struggle. We have to unlearn old habits before we can fully master new ones. And they give us the space and encouragement we need, consistently over time in the form of compassionate pressure and encouragement, to make those changes.

Learning how unlearning will save you a LOT of frustration the next time you are tasked with teaching someone, including yourself, new tricks. When you understand how learning and unlearning occur, you find there is no need to get frustrated. You just have to create the conditions in which learning and unlearning can occur.

If you want to learn more about the science of learning and unlearning and behavioral conditioning  - check out this course: Why is Change so Hard? https://humanistlearning.com/change1/

What skill sets do children need for the future?

The 6C’s – Skill set for effective lifelong living and learning.

I love it when best practices coincide with a humanist approach to life.  It turns out that early childhood education specialists, Doctors Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pask, have narrowed down the key list of skills children should learn so that they can learn how to learn so that they can keep learning as they grow up.  (See more at: http://dupagechildrens.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ELRAC_Brochure_11_11_2013_update.pdf)

Why is all this learning important? Because success in life is largely a measure, not of what you know, but of how you use the information you have. So the synthesis of information is important AND knowing how to acquire new information if it turns out you are mistaken is also important.  Because the only thing worse than being wrong is continuing to be wrong because you don’t know how to correct your mistakes.

Anyway – the 6Cs – the skill set we need to focus on to help our children learn.

• ·         Collaboration (building new knowledge and approaches with others);
• ·         Communication (persuasively arguing – and listening – to share ideas);
• ·         Content (the 3R’s and so much more);
• ·         Critical thinking (selecting and synthesizing the information needed to perform the task at hand);
• ·         Creative innovation (using content and critical thinking to envision new solutions to old problems);
• ·         and Confidence (the old saws about perspiration and perseverance have much to offer).

What is Learning?

What is learning and why should you bother to learn stuff?

Most Humanists I know are voracious learners. And by voracious I mean we are interested in everything and in learning all that we can learn. Given that there is a lot to learn it’s a never ending quest.

Not only are Humanists interested in learning, we are also interested in learning how we learn so that we can better learn. Is your head hurting yet?

The reason Humanists engage in all this learning is because by learning, we gain new knowledge. By learning we come to know things. By learning, we come to be able to do new things and acquire new skills. By learning, we come to understand better.

Humans are an interesting creature. We are capable of instinctual behavior, but we are also capable of learning new behaviors. And these new behaviors are really very helpful in the quest for survival and reproduction. In a word, learning is very sexy (in a survival of the fittest sort of way). People who know how to learn have a better chance of survival.

When you think of it, there is no downside to learning. True, it can be difficult at times, but that shouldn’t stop us. Because it turns out that the more you learn, the funner learning becomes.

Why are Humanists lifelong learners? Because Humanism is the applied study of what it means to be a good Human being.  In some ways, Humanism is the best of what we've learned so far and what we continue to learn.