Learning is like watching a murder mystery
(3 min read)
I’ve increasingly found I’ve been watching more British murder mysteries tv shows in the evening to unwind. I’m embarrassingly referring to the likes of Midsomer’s Murder and Death in Paradise – you know the type I mean! My partner and I try to guess who the guilty party is, having to share our decision making. We get it wrong as many times as we get it right. I know you must be thinking how much ‘fun’ I have but bear with me! I’ve also been involved in many learning experiences over the pandemic, both as a facilitator, contributor, and participant. My experiences suggest there are some strong similarities between the two. Let me share my thoughts.
Readiness: We are continually learning about every part of our existence regardless of how aware we are of it. However, when we target specific learning outcomes, we can be more deliberate in the process. The deliberate act of learning is a process of critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. It can be viewed as a skill, and as with all skills, with practice can be developed, just like the act of problem solving the murderer in a murder mystery.
Willingness: There are times when watching a murder mystery where I simply wait to the end to be told who the murderer is. I have become a passive participant in the process. Much like learning experiences, we choose to be an active or passive participant. My experiences over last 7-8 years would suggest how a learning experience is framed, previous experiences of being a involved in a deliberate learning environment and how safe and non-judgemental a learning space is (to name a few) will contribute to the willingness to be an active participant. There is also consideration around how the participant ‘arrives’ to the experience. There maybe unseen factors such as tiredness or significant life events (to name a couple) which will influence participants activeness in the experience.
Explicit: When the murder mystery becomes too abstract, it becomes a guessing game. With learning, when the content or application to context is too many steps away from us, it becomes abstract and the ability to apply it diminishes as we attempt to make sense of it. Learning experiences need to anchor outcomes to personal current or future needs. By doing so ensures supporting the transition of content to their context.
Clarity: There is excellent clarity of the outcome and process of a good murder mystery story. There is clarity of the roles characters play and interact with one another. A good learning event will have excellent clarity on the intended outcome and the methods (process) in which will be used to reach the outcome. This will also include the explicit expectations of the participants during learning events, including how interactions with one another is required.
With an increase in options of learning opportunities available to us all, two questions may help to enable us to get the most out of these experiences:
What do I need to do to ensure I am an active and deliberate in the learning process?
What must a learning opportunity provide to facilitate my active and deliberate participation?
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