Are you a good learner?

What is a good learner? Does having an “A” on your math exam mean that you are a good learner? Or is it actually the other way around? There are a lot of different views regarding this topic. Some people believe that a good test score represents your cleverness, hard work, and your dedication which usually means that you are also a good learner. This view shares the same values as our traditional classroom in which the students are graded by the score. Meanwhile, some others, usually called as the progressive, argue that the true ‘good learner’ can’t be defined easily by a test score because people learn differently and the traditional system at school might even hinder them from reaching their true learning potential. So which one do you believe – the traditional or progressive?

The first thing to note from the traditional view is that they believe that people’s brain works similar to a computer. In the traditional classroom, the teacher gives new information (data) to the learner’s brain (computer) and then when it’s necessary the learner can recall the information (data) that had been input. This pretty much describes the process that happens in our today’s classroom. From this view, we can understand that a good learner is someone who can easily put the new data into his/her brain and recall it whenever it’s necessary. There are plenty of supporters for this view because by using this view, learners can try their very best to remember and do well in the exam. So hard work equals smart. In the long run, the traditionalist believes this act would contribute to hard-worker, dedicated and clever individuals that will contribute positively to the society.

On the other hands, people in favour of the progressive view believe that people’s way of learning works differently from a computer. They believe that there are a lot of variables that affect the learning process which makes each person learning is unique. It even further suggests that a student who has a good score often means that he/she has a good family background, excellent mother qualifications, adequate nutrition, and a well-developed communication and networking skill. Moreover, the students who got a bad score wouldn’t mean that they are born stupid instead they might have an unsupportive home situation and other challenges. From the progressive point of view, a good learner is described as a person who has a continuing thirst for finding out new things from the world. Let’s take the example of the good old Einstein who had been rejected by his school, labelled as stupid and now look at his tremendous contribution the science!

So then how would you define a truly good learner? I believe that a good learner is basically a person who continuously hunger for more knowledge as well as open for more learning opportunities in which also makes her/him a very good student in the traditional class.A good learner can put himself to always enjoy learning even in the most conservative way. Yet, as a truly good learner the learning from school will not make her/him feel “full” instead he/she will eager to learn and explore beyond the conformist way ; unraveling the mystery and secret wisdom that the world and universe have offered. Then, do you consider yourself a good learner?