A Rubric for Life and Learning

             In order to gain much of anything from what we learn, whether it is in school or college curriculum or the hard knocks of adult life, we all should deliberately seek to interpret and organize what happens to us in ways that are personally meaningful.  For a young person in school, the currently popular K-12 Common Core provides a sequenced curriculum framework, but no unifying method of organizing contents from beginning to end.  For older folks like me, the great temptation is to let the news media or those with specialized knowledge or credentials (like my spouse and family) tell us what we should do or think.  There have to be some better psychic hitching posts for everyone, regardless of age.  I have come up with five fairly straightforward, admittedly broad guides that represent sort of a rubric for life and learning.  

            First, ask questions. When encountering any new piece or source of information with potential for it to become meaningful knowledge, think in terms of the traditional journalistic guide for getting the facts.  Ask who, what, when, where, often how, and always why. Actually, the WHY question leads to a whole wide world of telling justifications.  When you know why, you can better grasp the past, present, and predictable future of the life you are leading.   Many times we are afraid to speak up and query for fear of dispelling the impression we know what is going on, but wise folks tell us, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. Perhaps the very best learning questions are ones triggered either by curiosity or by the desire to challenge and promote dialogue.

           

            Second, compare and contrast.  Whatever we experience is most likely not something absolutely new or different from what preceded it, or what others may be thinking or doing right now.  By taking a comparative look at something, we can figure out whether it is more similar or more different from something else.  We grasp whether things are original, or an outgrowth, or, as they say, just “new wine in old bottles.”  Thereby, knowledge can be constructed, and perspective gained.

            Third, value relationships.  They may lie between individuals or things, but  in either case they are potential assurance that we are all linked, and that we can build on connections to generate meaning or purpose, perhaps especially in a social context.  Even when we are just sensing or thinking about relationships, we are more apt to be in touch with the world that surrounds us.  We experience more feeling. When we understand a relationship, then we understand ourselves better.  It gives us a sense of place in a big world.

            Fourth, embrace emotions.  By giving room to what we feel, it gains enriching occupancy in our house of meanings.  So called social and emotional intelligence is an invaluable learning tool because it vitalizes virtually every other kind of traditional  learning opportunity.  It provides context and dynamism in a world that would otherwise be rather superficially dry and sterile.  Remember, a story that involves people who interact typically means much more than research that describes theories and findings.

            Fifth, seek to understand.  Educators like to call this getting "the big idea".  If you get the key idea behind whatever you learn, if you see the bigger picture, then typically it provides motivation, a scaffold for further learning, a balcony from which to observe and appreciate what is going on below you, and a justification for the multitude of facts and information that you are exposed to.  Seeking out and articulating the big ideas really provide meaning for the welter of activities washing around and through our lives.  As educational writer Grant Wiggins has thoughtfully explained, there may be different kinds of understanding, but all of them comprise the most durable underpinnings for whatever we learn.  They surely help us sort out and remember what we are learning.  Understandings should be designed into the curriculum of life.  They answer the why question.

JMB

2/1/15