What is a lifelong learner? Well, essentially, a lifelong learner is precisely what you think it would be, someone who has mastered the art of learning new things every single day. To become a lifelong learner, there are several things that you need to understand. Below is a list of essential things to keep in mind when trying to become a lifelong learner.
Learn for the Sake of Learning
The problem with the education system today is that the motivation for learning new material is a letter. Kids today learn from a young age that if you learn something new and recite it on paper, you get something in return.
Throughout the entirety of the grade school and high school career, kids are motivated to learn to get a good grade. People tell them, “if you get good grades, you can go to a good college,” and while that may be true, you walk away from thirteen years of high school, and the only real thing you have learned is how to get an A.
Dismiss the Idea of Grades
Instead of going through school as a means to get to another school, where the logic is the same, “if you get good grades in college, you can find a good job,” children should understand that learning is a skill to develop. If you take away the grading system, you will find that children and young adults will walk away from school with a better understanding of the material and, more importantly, life skills.
Taking away a system that has been instilled in public and private education is unrealistic, so to become a true learner, you have to understand that the only prize waiting for you after you learn the material is knowledge, and it should be enough. There should be an intrinsic motivation to better yourself instead of an outside driving force.
Embrace Your Learning Style
Another thing to keep in mind is that everybody learns differently, so find your learning style and use it. If you take any class and the teacher doesn’t use your type of Learning, then stay after and ask her for help, but just asking for assistance won’t always be an option, so as you are asking for help learning to translate from the teacher style of teaching into your way of learning.
The fact that everyone learns in different ways is remarkable because not everyone is bound for college, and not everyone will get a 9 to 5 in an office. Some peoples’ life paths are just different from the one we are told to travel, which is ok. As soon as you understand your learning style and figure out what approach to take, you will immediately be taking steps in the right direction to becoming a lifelong learner.
Some people need a new environment to become lifelong learners, and a great place to look into when deciding to embrace new things and become a lifelong learner is Albany, New York. The University of Albany has several classes that you can take and sit in on to learn without the stigma of earning a degree in something new, not to mention the amount of Albany houses for sale that you can find for reasonable prices.