Using the circle of learning to construe experiences in a positive way

How is it that some people react to a situation in one way and others face the same circumstances andreact in a very different way? How is it that some people encounter adversity and grow from it, while others become cynical and embittered? Part of the answer can be found within the circle of learning.

To read the full article, members please log in here. To subscribe please click here.

The first part of the circle of learning emerged from a conversation I had with Environmental Studies Professor Larry Neal of Oregon University. Larry and I met late last year when we both spoke at a conference for Parks and Recreation at the Burswood Conference Centre in Western Australia. We hit it off immediately and made arrangements for him and his wife Pat to dine with Lindy and myself on their return from a tour around the beautiful South-West of Western Australia.

Two weeks later we picked up Larry and Pat from their Fremantle Hotel and drove to a riverside restaurant. As we drove, Larry said something that became the basis of the first part of the circle of learning. He said how much Pat and he had been looking forward to the meal; how much they had been anticipating the event.

He went on to say that even though we would probably only be participating in our shared meal for an hour or two, he was looking forward to all the things we would talk about and to reflecting on our dinner time conversation for much longer than the duration of meal itself.

Larry explained how he uses these three points of anticipation, participation and reflection when talking about the learning process with his university students.Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 2.19.20 pm

The Circle:

Anticipate Participate Reflect
Reflect
Anticipate
Participate

To continue to use our meal as an example –

Larry anticipated the pleasure of the dinner event, he participated with a presence of mind and fullness of attention and afterwards he reflected on the friendship, the conversation and the learning that emerged from it.

Since that evening with Larry, I have often thought about our meal together. I too had been looking forward to it, loved the company and also had inspired reflections on our time together and the many things we spoke about. In fact, the concept of the circle of learning itself grew directly from my reflections about the learning that emerged from that evening.

A couple of weeks after our meeting, Lindy and I flew to Taipei to conduct a three- day learning workshop for the China Productivity Centre. Our flight was via Singapore. At the Singapore airport I picked up a copy of Howard Gardner’s 1997 release of Extraordinary Minds and I read it on my way through to Taipei.

Gardner is the Harvard Professor responsible for the theory of Multiple Intelligences – the notion that we each have many kinds of intelligence inside us and that these intelligences stretch far beyond the traditional view of intelligence as measured by IQ.

Extraordinary Minds is an extension of the MI thesis in which Gardner portrays a variety of exceptional individuals through an examination of their extraordinariness. In particular he focuses on Mozart, Freud, Virginia Woolfe and Gandhi as examples of what he terms Masters, Makers, Introspectors and Influencers.

“Only practice separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
H. Gardner

Masters are people who perform far above others in any particular domain, for instance Mozart in the field of music. Makers are those who, like Freud, invent a whole new domain or field of knowledge. Introspectors are the characters like Virginia Woolfe, who spend their lifetime exploring the path of personal self development, and Influencers are the seed planters, the Gandhi’s who shift the thoughts of people through a gradual and consistently passive process.

By examining some of the common themes that flowed through the lives of these four extraordinary people, Gardner is able to draw some conclusions about their successes and failures. In summarising he proposes the three key elements of

Reflection

Leveraging

Framing

as forming what he terms ‘Lessons for the Ordinary’.

Gardner defines reflection as ‘regular, conscious consideration of the events of daily life, in the light of longer term aspirations’. Reflection takes many forms and can include journal writing, dreaming, conversations with others, conversations with God, conversations with the sky, daily walks, meditations, strategy sessions, letters and simply taking the time to think and feel.

The term leveraging refers to the capacity to overcome or compensate for our own areas of weakness and to focus on strengths. A practical way to leverage is to know your own weaknesses and to teamwork with other people who are strong in the areas in which we are weak.

This relates strongly to the work of another researcher in the field of intelligence, Robert Sternberg of Yale University. Sternberg is one of our Learning Heroes from the CAPe who talks of ‘successful intelligence’ and says that successfully intelligent people

1. realise they have strengths and continue to grow them

2. realise they have weaknesses and learn to compensate for them or overcome them

3. use their talents in a practical way that shows up in real life actions and outcomes.

Framing refers to our capacity to construe experiences in a positive and apt way; it means that we are able to find silver linings in dark clouds, fresh energy from times of great trial and the empowerment to continue learning and proceed with life.

Some wisdoms to consider with the area of framing for optimism:

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future,

because unless you believe that the future can be better,

it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so.

If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for

freedom,

that there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world.

The choice is yours.

Noam Chomsky
Every Wall Is A Door
The Ground We Fall Upon Can Be Used To Help Us Rise Up Old Tibetan Truths

After reading Howard Gardner’s insights, I realised that they completed the circle of learning.

Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 2.19.26 pmThe Circle:

Anticipate 
Participate
Reflect
Leverage
Frame for learning

And keep on circling!

Related Posts

Nutrient Boosting for Fussy Eaters – Part 2

Nutrient Boosting for Fussy Eaters – Part 2

School Leadership & Navy SEALs

School Leadership & Navy SEALs

Why Our Education System Needs An Overhaul

Why Our Education System Needs An Overhaul

Ditch Money Worries

Ditch Money Worries

Glenn Capelli


An author, songwriter, radio and television presenter and creator of the Dynamic Thinking course for Leadership, Glenn delivers a message of creativity, innovation and thinking smarter. He teaches people how to be a learner and thinker in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world through the use of creative thinking, humour, enthusiasm and attitude. Glenn’s new book, Thinking Caps, is available from Spectrum. www.glenncapelli.com