"Everyone is the architect of their own learning." - Appius Claudius.

We are learning all our lives, consciously or unconsciously. However, it seems that now might be an appropriate time to pay more attention to applying ourselves to the conscious act of learning. Information overload, knowledge workers being able to stay ahead, continuous learning, working smarter, performing better, learner responsibility and accountability are common themes in books, magazines and online material today. “Those who succeed are those who nurture and build their capabilities on a regular and continual basis. Knowledge by its very nature is impermanent” (Rylatt 2003). So what we know now may not be what is required tomorrow. We are in a risky position if we leave ourselves to an unconscious mode of learning.

In this age of information or more currently the knowledge age workers are encouraged to be their own knowledge management experts, but have we considered how well prepared we are to personally direct our own learning? Do we know how to consciously learn? As early as the 70s Malcolm Knowles said that most of us only know how to be taught, we haven’t learned how to learn. We also may not know how to be self-directed learners.

Why do we need to be self-directed learners?

“The modern knowledge economy turns on the better use of knowledge” and “the key is the ability to learn”. John Seely Brown.

Some of the reasons we might consider the need to be self-directed learners according to John Seely Brown are; the rapid pace of change, continuous creation of new knowledge and wider access to information. We need to be self-directed so that we can understand how to better use the knowledge we already have and the knowledge we have access to. However before that we need to be able to transform information into knowledge.

We know that information cannot be dished out with the expectation that it will be magically absorbed and morphed into knowledge by the recipients. Information requires some action to turn it into knowledge that we can use and that will enhance our performance. In fact, learning must take place in the process.

Being able to make the best use of our time and knowing how to maximise our learning is another reason self-direction is important. “The big issues here are relevancy and immediacy. Information has to be relevant to our current wants and needs, and it must feel useful to us. Most people don’t have time to waste. “We want to spend time learning what will make a difference now” (Vella 1994 in Connor et al 1996).

In his book, Winning the Knowledge Game, Alastair Rylatt says, “We are living in a 15-minute world, where people are struggling not only to do their job well and meet their obligations, but also to do the learning and activities they desire to keep up to date and fulfilled.” We need to be self-directed so that we can take control of our situation and manage the vast amount of information that we are faced with. Doing so will reduce the likelihood of becoming overwhelmed or left behind. Becoming self-directed learners is likely to help us better manage ourselves so that we can do our job well and maintain our learning.

We also need to be self-directed to move us into a state of lifetime employability. The working world has moved away from employment for life and we as employees, workers, performers, learners (whatever the latest label is) are expected to take the lead and initiate our own learning. Today we are as accountable for our learning as we are for our performance. There is now an expectation that as “performers” we are to be more autonomous in learning and decision making. This means taking on a greater degree of responsibility for self-learning and self-control which requires the capability and intelligence to do both (John Seely Brown).

We cannot sit and wait for learning to come to us, to be presented for our ready digestion. Neither are most people willing to wait for it to be given to them. We want to be able to find the answers to what we don’t know at the time we discover we want/need to know it. We also want to be onto the ‘next thing’ as soon as we become aware of it, while consolidating what is already learned.

In times of rapid change the people who stay ahead are those who practise thinking, analysing, identifying needs for new learning and finding ways to meet them (Gulielmino1994). Being self-directed learners will enable us to be flexible and responsive in the rapidly changing world of the workplace.

An interesting example of how self-directed learning may work in the workplace of the future is described in an article The Knowledge Warriors by Jonathon Levy. The article describes a model where learners become “knowledge warriors” through a system which creates solutions on the fly for individual users. Learning becomes part of everyday work while doing the job, instead of separate learning experiences via courses and classes. The article says that “a winning model will focus on personalised employee-driven learning that helps knowledge workers decrease time to performance and increase productivity. Control is with the learner. Grades and other learning metrics of the past have little value in a contemporary business environment.” Such a model would enable people to control all aspects of their learning.

What does it mean to be self-directed learners?

Being self-directed is about taking control of our own learning in a purposeful and autonomous manner. A fundamental characteristic of this type of learner is one who has (or cultivates) a passion for finding out what is not known (Knowles 1970). Roger Hiemstra (1998) describes the essence of self-directed learning as any study form in which individuals have primary responsibility for planning, implementing, and even evaluating the effort.

“An essential feature of self-directed learners appears to be a willingness to initiate and maintain systematic learning on their own initiative” (Skager 1979).

So some key concepts for self-directed learning are that the individual is the one who:
 Initiates learning and has primary responsibility for it
 Plans, implements and evaluates their own learning
 Maintains learning.
Self-directed learners are also able to organise their learning and apply analytical thinking. Knowles (1970) attributed the abilities of self-directed learners as those who can:
 Develop their curiosity
 Diagnose their own learning needs
 Formulate questions that are answerable through enquiry
 Identify data required to answer various kinds of questions
 Locate the most relevant and reliable sources of the required data
 Select and use the most efficient means of collecting data
 Organise, analyse and evaluate data to get valid answers to questions
 Generalise, apply and communicate those answers
 Collect evidence of learning accomplishments through performance.
How can we become self-directed learners?

What can we do to be independent and responsible for our own learning so that we can keep up to date and feel fulfilled? Learning is a natural process so most people will be self-directed learners to some degree. We may, however, have to assert some effort and focus to become fully self-directed in our learning.

A good place to start would be to check out our own understanding of learning, how we learn personally and become aware of our natural or preferred learning style.


1. Initiate Learning
We can create our own need and:
 find out what we need to learn
 determine the best way to learn what we want to know
 instigate our own learning programme.

In order to initiate learning we need to consider what motivates us, so that we know what it takes to get started and importantly, keep going. Today our motivation for learning is often driven by the need to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for professional development along with the need to stay ahead of (or more likely, just keep up with) the vast amount of information we may be presented with.

It could be said that motivation should be intrinsic with the need for “lifetime employability”, that the need to be employable and maintain currency in skills and knowledge is motivation enough to learn. “Rather desire to learn must come from intrinsic motivation, created by the need for personal growth and fulfilment” (Connor et al 1996.) We can be inspired by children and their natural desire to learn and who derive joy from learning something new. Sometimes unstructured exploration (I know, it’s probably an ill-afforded luxury these days) can lead to the spark that gives us a direction for our learning or the motivation needed to get started.

However without the ability to be self-directed learners, we may struggle to “perform” as learners, let alone maintain motivation.

2. Plan and Implement Learning
Another key element to becoming self-directed is planning and implementing.

When planning, keep in mind two types of learning to consider:
 Instant: learning on the fly that we can use on-the-job [just in time]
 Progressive: incremental building of skills and knowledge for ongoing development.

These are the elements to consider when developing our plan:

Learning Agenda
Because “people only learn what they want to learn” (as opposed to learning that others may seek to impose on us or that we “should” learn), as self-directed learners we need to set our own personal learning agenda. We must decide what it is that we want to learn as having our own learning agenda is more conducive to our engagement in learning and the process of change that occurs (we would hope) as a result (Boyatsis 2001).

Goal Setting
A good learning plan includes our goals so that we know what we are aiming to achieve, and objectives so that we know exactly what to focus on and which can be used to evaluate learning outcomes.

The plan also needs to identify:
 the best way to learn what we want to know (e.g. formal or informal)
 where we can learn (e.g. internal or external to workplace)
 who the experts are that we can learn from
 the location of useful resources.

Support Sources
We need to identify sources of support. These could be internal help options in our workplace, colleagues or experts, or external learning centres. Support could also come from a mentor if it would suit our situation.


Information Management
Practising our own information management will also help us. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of managing and organising information by sourcing, scanning, sifting, sorting, synthesising and storing only information that is relevant and useful. And then discard what is not. We must also organise information so that it is easily retrieved when it’s needed.

Action
We must also act on the plan to put our learning into action. To do this, we can seek opportunities to experiment and practise as we learn. This also becomes part of our learning process which can evolve into “continuous improvement” (Boyatsis 2001).The cycle continues as we reflect on, analyse and evaluate what we learn and open paths for further learning.

3. Maintain Learning
We also need to develop ways of maintaining our learning so that it becomes an ongoing process.

Recording
Writing a journal or notebook of learning is advocated by many experts as an effective learning tool. We can use a journal to record questions, thoughts, ideas, analysis, sources, findings and conclusions about topics.

Monitoring and Updating
Keeping a check on our plan will allow us to monitor progress and update learning requirements as new needs are identified.

Building Learning Relationships
Being self-directed does not mean that our learning is a solitary activity as we also need to learn from and with others. Many of us may also be social learners so we can find ways to develop relationships to assist with our learning process. Coaches, mentors, friends, participating in a community of practice, special interest or discussion group or other networks are all ways we can develop learning relationships. Building these relationships is also useful for discussing and getting feedback on progress with our learning agenda.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this article has touched briefly on some key ideas about self-directed learning; why we need to be self-directed learners, what it means to be self-directed, and how we can become self-directed by pursuing it ourselves. There is a huge amount of material on self-directed learning and the implications for us in light of the increase in knowledge-based work, so if we wish to become consciously self-directed, perhaps we can start with our own investigation of the subject.

Go, investigate how to consciously be a self-directed learner and become the architect of your own learning!

References:
Connor, M. L. et al. (1996).Learning: The Critical Technology, 2nd Edition. Sourced 20 March: http://www.wavetech.co.uk/wpapers/abttmwp.html
Boyatzis, R.E. (2001) Unleashing the Power of Self-Directed Learning. In Ron Sims (ed.), (2002).Changing the Way We Manage Change: The Consultants Speak. NY: Quorum Books.
Brown J.S (2001). Linking, Lurking, Listening, and Learning: Interview from Upside Magazine with Marcia Conner. Sourced 20 March. www.John Seely Brown.com
Levy J, (2004) The Knowledge Warriors: T&D Magazine Feb, 46-51.
Hiemstra, R. (1994). Self-directed learning. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Education (second edition).
Hiemstra, R. (1998). Self-Advocacy and Self-Directed Learning: A Potential Confluence for Enhanced Personal Empowerment. New York, March, 1998. Sourced 20 March: http://home.twcny.rr.com/hiemstra/advocacy.html
Rylatt, A. (2003) Winning the Knowledge Game. Australia: McGraw-Hill.