Quote-A-Day: Day 173

You can teach an old dog new tricks, as long as the tricks are ones the dog wants to learn.  #QuoteADay #Day173 #edchat #edu #KeepItRelevant

Old or young, new or old, fast or slow, proactive or reactive, it doesn't matter.

Regardless of where we are in our life cycle, we can always learn, and we have to, realistically.

The old adage of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks isn't really correct.  Old dogs can learn new tricks, as long as the tricks are what the dog wants to learn.

We can never underestimate the power of relevance, as regardless of one's age, or one's past experience as a learner, if the subject, the style, or the medium is relevant, then we can, and we will, learn about it.

Too often, relevance is left out of the schooling equation.  Sometimes it is because curriculum is being taught, rather than learners.  Other times it is because a teacher, or leader, doesn't know how to reach a learner or group of learners, and either doesn't know how to ask for help, or doesn't know who to ask.

Education has to be all about relevance.  If it doesn't matter to us as learners we tend to shut down and ignore it.  Or, in the best case scenario, we engage because we have to, but not because we really have any interest in doing so.

Contrast this to when something is relevant.  Oftentimes we can't get enough, clambering for the opportunity to go deeper and deeper down the learning rabbit hole.  All of our learning experiences must be like this, if for no other reason than it makes our learning more powerful, and makes us more likely to remember (and apply) what we've learned.

Remember that everyone can learn something new, but if it doesn't mean anything to the learner, then why would they want to, and why would we expect them to?