Happy Day of School Starting! A new backpack perhaps, together with a fresh notebook, pencils and erasers. A patterned roll of paper to wrap your new books with. And definitely a new outfit! Are you ready for school? This week is when most schools start their fall semester. The universities in a couple of weeks too. And with that comes a fresh start, maybe even more inspiring than New Years in the middle of winter. The air is getting crisp but still holds the promise of an afternoon able to play outside in afterwards. Something we as adults can cherish too.

While most of us only have distant memories of our own school days, some might be sending off their children, and some might be taking up a new class. It’s never too late to learn something new, it’s said. And you can too!

I recently re-did me thesis in Working life science in Sweden, where I presented the various interview models used for career guidance of unemployed here, with a focus on coaching. It’s something I started practicing in the early 2000’s and found to be like the old Socratic maternity technique. What a different world we would have, if we all could learn to hold authentic dialogues, focusing on understanding and solving problems in a positive way, without powerplay and with a mutual respect for each other’s needs and the organizations’. And while I’m glad that I managed to push through and get it done, and to get it approved to finally have my Swedish Master’s degree, the university here, claims it to be a Master of Science, which it’s not. It’s a Master of Arts, of course. Which takes us to the core of the matter. The more we know, the humbler we can be towards others’ knowledge. If I know the correct translations and categorization of academic majors, why isn’t my expertise respected? I for sure, know that I can always learn more. If you don’t think so, you’re blinded by your assumed power in an authority position that you use just to dominate others. So, we’ll see if they come to their senses, so I can get my official transcript rightly translated into English. This is of course also important to all the other thousands of students!

In dance class, it’s different. There’s always something new to learn, or a reminder to correct any of the motions we use for our warm-up, technique practice and choreographies. I come to clarity, the more I practice, whether it’s something completely new, or a detail like how to use my hands. I think the best teachers are they, who never cease to be students themselves.

Learning is a process that we need time for. Knowing when to let something rest and when to pick it back up, comes with understanding yourself. Often, we need to learn something first, before we take in more information on a higher level. Then we can distill it into knowledge, and apply it to become wisdom, as we relate our knowledge to our own experiences. For me, taking down my own notes through pen and paper, preferably by making mind-maps, enables me this process of understanding. If I would let AI make the summary, AI would get the information and understand it, but I wouldn’t! Why would I then use AI for that?

We can learn in five ways: 

1. Visually – by observing
2. Auditory – by listening
3. Reading/Writing – by reading and writing
4. Kinesthetically – by hands-on practice
5. Logically – by indexing and understanding cause and effect

While we might prefer one of the ways, or think of one as the easiest way, we can use all five or a combination of a few, depending on what we seek to learn. Which way do you prefer? Can you bring this with you into learning in your workplace and at home after work too?

Sometimes, we simply learn as we go about our days. I didn’t study any Portuguese before I went to go and live in Portugal for a while, in 2019 to 2020. This is something I should have, would I had planned to stay, but nonetheless, I wrote down the words I picked up in my little glossary booklet when I came back to Sweden, and it turned out that I acquired a Portuguese vocabulary of 50 words, just by being attentive as I went about my days, going grocery shopping or taking the little train between Lisbon and Cascais. This in turn, makes it easier for me to learn more, would I go to Portugal again, even if it’s more convenient with a Google Translate-app. 

The actual physical action of writing by hand, takes longer time than reading for me, so therefor I’m naturally reading it several times, as I write it down and therefor repeat it and learn it better.

So, now that all children go to school and some are off to college, what would you like to learn? Do you have a topic of interest, a hobby, or a subject that you’re fascinated with? Here in Sweden, it’s quite common to go and attend night-classes whether that is to learn how to do pottery, play the guitar, or learn how to speak a new language. Learning more about something you like and are naturally interested in, will make you feel more inspired and motivated, which in turn elevates your mood and raises your energy level, so that you can handle other things better as well. This way, learning can even be self-care.

I’m going to look into various Human Resources programs and see if I can master some of them. I’m also going to practice my coaching with other coaches, I hope. And learn what is needed more in a business plan to apply for venture capital!

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