Psychoeducation Provides The Foundation For Positive PERFORMANCE Psychology
There are many ways to teach successfully, all of which draw, more or less, on our various, differing sensitivities. Some like to learn through doing, or visually, or through hearing. Others prefer learning independently, without meddlesome, authoritative “Teachers.” Some are spellbound by the words, actions and ideas of charismatic thought and action leaders. Great orators like Winston Churchill and John Kennedy come to mind.
When properly established, the goal is to facilitate growth and development in the Learner. Traditionally, this has been mostly a classroom affair, but online learning is an option in today’s digital, modern technologies. The bottom line is this: People learn best when interested in the subject or task at hand, and this is when their powers of attention come into play. If your brain does not register incoming information as exciting and important, it is less likely to retain the same. Remote learning is not for everyone, but it certainly is more widely appreciated and completed by those with an Internal Locus of Control mentality.
Learn To Teach
Learning to Teach starts with learning something you want to pass on to others eventually. If you love learning mathematics and the task of problem-solving with numbers in play, it is likely you will enjoy teaching mathematics, but not necessarily so. You may love a subject and have no interest in sharing the same. And that is fine. There are no such rules in the teaching game. What we do know is that those who learn something well will do a better job explaining it to others and hopefully more interestingly. Also, some teachers work with learners who are uninterested in learning, demonstrating the perceived irrelevance of the material in their own lives.
There are also those Externals who believe rewards come about because of good luck, being in the right place and who you know. If you are teaching Externals such as children who have never learned about life’s possibilities, believing there is no chance for them, you will probably experience a classroom of eyes glazed over, a yawn now and again, waiting for this to be over attitude. If so, your teaching challenge is to help externals develop an internal attitude toward learning, and this is certainly a goal worth pursuing.
Teach To Learn
The more you are engaged in teaching one or another subject, the more you learn about it. Learning is always a continuing process, and processing the same material the same way, from the same perspective repeatedly, as a Coach, Teacher, Counselor, and Therapist is devastating. Let’s face it. Human development, at its best, takes place when teachers inspire learners, and this is immensely enhanced when teachers keep in mind they are growing along with their learners. Everyone learns best when the subject matter is perceived as relevant to their goals and perceptions of how important learning is to self-development. Internals tend to have a good grasp of this. Externals, not so.
The central point for this discussion is that Self-learning In The Zone features internal locus of control and values the importance of facilitating a genuine interest in self-development. One of the most important things that internally oriented learners can do is learn to transform an attitude of external devastation towards the learning process into a positive journey of self-discovery for all involved. Let’s face it. Teaching and learning within dull, irrelevant environments are little more than a waste of time. Yet, many of our school faculties at all levels of education are filled with poorly equipped teachers to perform one of the most essential services anyone can engage in. That is helping others learn how to help themselves through education and self-development. Let’s examine a few ideas on how all of us can improve ourselves, inside and outside the classroom, remote or not.
Developing Internal Locus Of Control In Learners Where Externality Seems To Dominate
Let’s do a brief self-assessment of your LOC. Select one of the following statements as the one most reflective of how you look at things:
a. In the long run, people get the respect they deserve in this world
b. Unfortunately, an individual’s worth often passes unrecognized, no matter how hard he/she works
Internality is exhibited in item a – and externality in item b. In both items, we reveal our perception of reality. There is no right or wrong. It is mostly how we look at things, which we call our ATTITUDE. If you view your place in the world and your eventual accomplishments as something up to you, then you progress toward an achievement process likely to be rewarding. It is so because of the skills you have acquired in pursuit of self-defined goals. Item A above reflects this sort of attitude.
If you view the world as out of your control no matter what you do, then you are programmed to avoid goal setting, goal-directed behaviors and a life less rewarding than that experienced by Internals. (For more about this, check out my article on The Mulry 5-Step Method for Internal Locus of Control – In The Zone)
When exposed to rewards, we can become increasingly internal, linking behaviors to rewarding outcomes such as learning. For starters, you can help externally minded individuals become more internal by assisting them to practice verbal comments regarding their strengths and talents versus their usual practice of verbalizing what’s wrong with the world and, of course, themselves. To continue your exploration, consider reading the Positive PERFORMANCE Psychology E-Book.
We always want to link our behaviors to outcomes, and we can shape that process. We are all changing all of the time. Either we are growing, or we are dying. It is a basic law of nature. To advance your growth process, Teach, Coach, and Counsel with growth in mind, and always remember so many of those learners you feel don’t care, you think are lazy and doomed to failure, are often dominated by an External Locus of Control mentality. This is something you can help them change. Always Learn To Teach – Teach to Learn.