HOW DO I VIEW LEARNING? AS AN EDUCATOR NOW?

THIS STRANGE IDEA OF "SUCCESS"


Abbey Lossing

I have not always had a fixed view on learning, my thoughts on learning have fluctuated throughout the two decades I have been immersed within the education system. I have always measured education on how successful a person could be. But why? my parents certainly did not pressure me into this thought. The thought that education equals success. The idea that schooling if completed correctly would give me the chance to achieve my goals. The mere idea that i thought like this as a young learner truly and deeply upsets me. I have luckily had enough experiential learning moments that have broken through this thought, chipped away at it bit by bit to reveal the true message.The message  that knowledge and experience are far greater than schooling. 

My view on success had changed drastically throughout the years, but it's only as I have gotten to peak inside different areas of education that I have come to understand that success is measured in different ways. One student’s success for example could be completing school with very high marks in every subject  and then going off to do their dream college course, one that in their eyes will set them up with a “successful life” while other students success could be waking up and actually simply getting out of bed to go to school. 

Its thought provoking to think of the diversity within these two students idea of success but we have to remember as educators, people measure success differently because everyone’s life is different, our beliefs, how and where we grew up, all the advantages that were given to us or the disadvantages. Coming to a fixed view on learning is difficult because it is constantly in flux. But I have no doubt in my mind that I value curriculum as praxis as the most beneficial teaching style.

To understand how I came to this view on learning I must summarize my journey through the education system. I have been extremely fortunate to be given the chance to grow up going to abundantly advantaged schools. I went through the education system in the first half of my life in Irish speaking schools which gave me a passion for language, I then carried onto an Irish speaking post primary setting where I encountered some of my most formative years. 
During my secondary schooling I became an individual I learned how to form an opinion, I learnt what kind of person I wanted to be, I learnt that I have an undying passion for Art and all that it does for people. I also learnt that I am a terrible student. 
But what if i was exposed to an alternative education system? one that was not purely summative, but one that focused on a holistic learning approach. one that utilized praxis as curriculum approach. I strongly believe i would have learnt to love education a lot sooner if this was the case. So why don't we pursue these important traits.

During my secondary schooling years, I had a very hard time with retaining knowledge around various subjects I was not passionate about, my school setting would have been very high stakes and summative so this in turn started to effect how I looked at myself. I gained a very negative view on where I was going in life, I equated how I was getting on in school to how my life would pan out. 
Failing at everything but art and languages made me quite bitter towards my idea of education. I decided that I was unintelligent because I didn’t match up to what my school viewed as intelligence. I did not understand that my strengths in art could guide me, that my strengths in visual and spatial intelligence would become the pillars that ground me in my life. 
 Going through the motions I did not realize how much this would affect me in my later life. 

I found solace and understanding in art, I gained hope through my creativity and decided that after school that I wanted to go to art college. On applying to college I was nervous, I wouldn’t have been able to get high enough points for a lot of courses so the fact that art colleges let you submit a portfolio also was a great relief for me. I unfortunately failed two subjects in my leaving cert which meant I didn’t have enough subjects to have a full leaving cert. so here I was with the green light from art college to attend but no leaving cert. So my dream of going to college was slipping away, I was sadly used to this state of hopelessness in my journey through education. 

I decided I would repeat my subjects in the coming year while completing a level 5 fetac course in art, craft & design. Little did I know that this year in a fetac college would shape my view on learning so greatly. I was introduced to educators that showed my empathy and understanding. It was really groundbreaking for me and it also inspired me to become an educator in the field of art. I completed my year, passed my subjects in my second time round in the state exams and entered my BA in Fine Art. I was ecstatic to now be fulfilling my dream of being able to do my dream course. 

A whirlwind 4 years of my BA passed and I then graduated with a second class honours. This was a great achievement for me as I was very used to failure. 

I always speak of the education system and learning as very unfair and flawed, but in actual fact i am a representation of how learning works. through my own journey i have gone through vast highs and lows. Successes and despair, and how passion for learning can drive you to reach your goal. I don't truly think you can measure how learning works for each individual as we are all different. 

- Nollaig Lynch