Week 1, Task 2: Life-long learning (71/2 habits....)

This time we were asked to read and listen to a podcast. The learning habits of successful life-long learners were discussed and a learning "contract" was proposed. I wasn't thrilled.........

Personally, I thought the 7 1/2 habits of life long learning was rubbish and a waste of time. First of all you are addressing a bunch of people who work in libraries. Don't you feel that 99.9% of these people are probably already interested in learning. Then to top it off you are addressing a bunch of people who signed up for the program. They are obviously interested in learning something new. Then there is the contradiction in terms. Several times "PLAY" has been mentioned and "Have fun!", "Enjoy the process" were also thrown around. After this they take learning and break it down into categories that can be labeled and put into a contract. Talk about sucking the fun out of something!

OK, I'll dial it back a little. I know that there are plenty of people who relish outlines, borders, rules and contracts. It helps them to organize in their minds, as well as on paper, and gives them some sort of accountability. So yes, I understand that this process could be helpful for some people. I also realize that someone put a lot of time and effort into putting this together so I don't want to belittle their work. However, I think that maybe calling them "keys" to learning instead of "habits" and changing the "contract" to an optional outline would be a better approach. Learning is an individual process that works differently for everyone. Trying to pigeon hole people into a specific structured learning process could really backfire in my opinion.