A Paean of Praise for the Bravery of Learners

Rachel Burnham writes: 

For the learners, who take risks and stretch themselves when being assessed, using technology to engage others (but that may or may not work at the crucial moment) or by choosing to go powerpoint-free.

For the learners, who offer their peers honest, constructive feedback when it would be so much easier to be nice, bland and safe.

For the learners, who freely share their expertise, ideas and resources with their peers, enriching the learning experience for all.

For the learner struck so nervous at the thought of a practical assessment that tears fell, but who successfully completed their assessment and has gone on to further learning in that same area.

For the learner who questioned the value of learning about report-writing most strongly and who took the trouble two weeks later to tell me they had been asked to write their first business report for work and were using the learning from the programme.

For the learners, who say ‘IT really isn’t my thing’ and then get experimenting with all sorts of tools & technology.

For the learners, who have graciously questioned their grades & feedback and sometimes have led me to find I’ve made a mistake.

For the learners, who have taken the time and had the courage to offer critical feedback to improve the learning experience, even though I was also their assessor and still had assessments of theirs to mark.

For all of us, who see ourselves still as learners, with so much to discover.

Rachel Burnham

11/10/15

Burnham L & D Consultancy helps L&D professionals become even more effective.  I am particularly interested in blended learning, the uses of social media for learning, evaluation and anything that improves the impact of learning on performance.

Follow me on Twitter @BurnhamLandD