“They never taught us really useful things like how to light a cigarette in the wind, or make a fire out of wet wood…” All Quiet on the Western Front
I think this quote vividly illustrates something about different kinds of learning. We can learn a lot from books, the internet and training courses but this does not always prepare us for the reality of our day to day experience at work. There’s a difference between learning something that might increase the amount of information we have and learning that changes us and how we think and feel. The psychoanalyst, Wilfrid Bion who at the age of 18 was exposed to horrors of the trenches of World War one, France called this kind of deeper learning – learning from experience.
Learning from experience or put more simply learning on the job is one of the most important ways in which we learn. This is because when we learn from experience, we are dealing with the reality of our working lives rather than something which is abstract or theoretical. The question then becomes how can we maximise or accelerate our learning from experience? This is especially difficult to achieve in the hectic, digitally mediated, churn of our working lives. One answer to this question might be Reflective practice. Reflective practice is fundamentally a method for learning from experience rather than from theory.
The Reflective Practitioner
The term reflective practice was first used by Donald Schon in his 1983 book the Reflective Practitioner. Schon looked at a range of different professions including engineering, architecture, town planning, management and psychotherapy. He argued that intuition and reflexivity had been squeezed out by a narrow focus on technical expertise. He advocated for a more creative and individualised approach to working with people and on problems. Schon wanted to shift professionals focus from working with theory to developing the ability to respond to real world situations. He called this reflection-in-action.
Reflective Practice groups offer an opportunity to learn from experience and for reflect-in-action with a trusted set of peers in a confidential and safe space. Find out more about Reflective Practice Groups offered by A Place to Think here
Sign up to attend a free reflective practice taster session here
Next one is 26th March 1.00 – 2.00
For on this topic
Bion, W., (1984) Learning from Experience London, Karnac Books
Schon, D., (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, How Professionals Think in Action London Basic Books