Facilitating the Learning of How to Learn: The Development of Active, Resourceful, and Responsible Learners in an Experiential, Cross-Cultural, Academic Program

A primary goal for education is the development of learners who know how to learn actively, resourcefully, and responsibly in the changing and complex environment in which they find themselves. Based on my own experiences as a learner and an educator , and most specifically on my experience as Academic Director of two College Semester Abroad groups to Ireland, I have formed five priorities for myself as a facilitator of such learning. These priorities are - (1) To encourage the learner first to view him or herself as the most valuable resource available, and then to look to other human resources. (2) To develop the group into a learning community which enhances the learning for each member. (3) To provide balance within the learning program between the group and the individual, and between leader-directed and self-directed activity. (4) To provide choices to the students within defined limits. (5) To provide and demand clarity: of expectations and objectives, of criteria and requirements, and of feedback and evaluation. Each of the five priorities involves an experiential process by which the students develop skills which are then transferable to new situations. The facilitation skills themselves are aplicable to most learning situations