Diversity In Learning

What formal education does for us is take curiosity out of the equation of learning. We put students in rows of chairs from first grade, expect them to sit in the same position for 50 minutes at a time, hone in on what they need to learn to graduate from school, and delete the unimportant subjects, like dance and art. The problem is, some people can’t sit still. They don’t learn that way. If you let them move, they learn just fine. That’s where diversity matters. We all learn differently, and we need to explore, and be curious about, the ways in which we learn best.

This applies to life as an adult as well. We don’t learn as well as we could because we’re too structured. We’re sitting at a desk all day, answering the same phone calls, responding to the same memo’s with ever increasing stress. The lure of running, swimming, going to the gym, a bike ride, or taking the time to share a cup of coffee with a friend is as important as the job. It makes the job interesting and helps us learn. Our brain loves novelty. It gets bored doing the same old thing.

When we prime our brains to moving and being active, we learn better. It’s active learning. We’re ready to absorb new ideas, challenge the status quo. We haven’t been sitting for an hour or more in the same position, overloading our brain with more information that it can take in until it’s all a blur. Moving is a kinetic way of learning, adding to the visual and hearing method. There is no one right way to learn. Everything helps everything else.

Keep running and taking mental breaks with your friends. Play with the dog when you are sorting through a problem. Give your brain a break from work or study, and you will come back refreshed and ready to learn something new.

That’s Aging Intelligently.