Josh Waitzken is the author of "The Art of Learning" and has created an organisation that brings these techniques to education. “When children explore how they learn they become empowered to take control of their learning, express themselves creatively, and develop a life-long love of learning.” He breaks down ways in which we learn and how we can then apply our unique way of learning to all areas in life. He trains adults at the top to reach their full potential in a way that is authentic to themselves; revealing how they learn and how to harness that.
"The core foundation of learning does not lie in the study of any particular subject, but in the thematic fibers that connect disparate subjects: the art of learning itself."
Josh stresses the importance of valuing process before results:
"True learning occurs through a process of effort and a nuanced understanding of each challenge, gain, and loss along the way. Therefore, it is more important to draw insights from every step we take rather than focus on any end reward or goal."
Josh advocates taking risks and finding learning in the "losses".
Josh says, "In my experience, successful people shoot for the stars, put their hearts on the line in every battle, and ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence mean much more than the immediate trophies and glory. In the long run, painful losses may prove much more valuable than wins".
"We should learn to observe our passions; understand their sources and their unique character. Then we will be able to transform them into creative inspiration for successful action. Once we have an in-depth awareness of our personality and the ways we react to external stimuli, we can use our minds to evoke a powerful internal physiological state at will and channel it to great advantage."
"The first step to artful teaching is tuning in to the essence of the student. It is critical that we appreciate each individual’s unique learning style and natural voice":
"When I made a bad move, Bruce asked me what my idea was and then helped me discover how I could have approached the decision-making process differently. Much of the time in our lessons was spent in silence, with us both thinking. Bruce did not want to feed me information, but to help my mind carve itself into maturity… The most important factor in these first months of study was that Bruce nurtured my love for chess, and he never let technical material smother my innate feeling for the game."
"Themes that arise in one area of our personal lives will also surface in other areas—all aspects of life are interconnected. The ability to learn and perform in consistently effectual ways is therefore impacted by our general state of mind. It is vital that we unearth the psychological patterns and emotional responses that get in the way of our successes and take our weaknesses on."
To truly excel, we must cultivate access to intuition—the bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind that is the well-spring of our creativity.
"Much of what separates the great from the very good is deep presence, relaxation of the conscious mind, which allows the unconscious to flow unhindered."
Read more on the Education program: theartoflearningproject.org/resources/
Read more on Josh Waitzken and his book: www.joshwaitzkin.com/the-art-of-learning
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