My journey to learning design and development.
Learning has always been at the heart of what I do. I am fascinated with the science of learning and how knowledge, skills and experiences shape our understanding of the world.
As a musician, I am often searching for new methods and strategies to help me improve and develop. When I was completing my Bachelor of Music, my university professor said that I needed to learn over 500 jazz standards from memory. As I searched for how to overcome this challenge, I became intrigued about how new information is transferred into our long term memory. I discovered that learning isn't an event; it's a process.
This led me to discover the many learning theories out there, from Watson's behaviourism, to Bloom's taxonomy, to Piaget's constructivism. I discovered that learning is an ecosystem of experiences and that it requires desire, motivation, time, and patience. At this point I was already teaching music in schools and instructing adults in private music lessons. I really wanted to know how I could support my learners even more.
I enrolled in a Masters of Teaching course which would allow me to research and understand learning in greater depth. Once I had a confident understanding of a theory, I would apply it to my teaching strategy and found new ways to motivate and engage my learners. Facilitating that feeling of success for them was extremely rewarding and that's what I wanted to give every learner.
For over 10 years I have had the privilege of facilitating that feeling for a diverse range of learners young and old(er). I have instructed learners with hearing impairment, EAL (English as an additional language), and learners with special educational needs and disabilities.
I believe we are all life-long learners and that everyone deserves the opportunity to feel successful. This means knowing your learners and finding the right strategy to engage and inspire them.