Learning Power

A research team at the Bristol University Graduate School of Education investigated what makes some people effective lifelong learners.  Seven dimensions of learning emerged from this research.

Changing and Learning: understanding that learning is something you get better at, and that you can transfer techniques and knowledge from one situation to another 

Critical Curiosity: an ability to use questioning to analyse information and extract details for greater understanding

Meaning Making: an ability to see patterns and connections in new information in terms of existing experiences

Creativity: ability to use imagination and intuition when learning and to make learning enjoyable

Learning Relationships: ability to learn with and from others and to be capable of independent learning 

Strategic Awareness: ability to plan learning before starting by assessing the time needed, the resources required and understanding personal strengths and weaknesses; to reflect at the end of a task to evaluate learning 

Resilience: ability to persevere when difficulties arise and to be aware of feelings and know how to manage them 

A person’s ‘learning power’ is created by combining and using all these aspects of learning. If one or more aspect is not being used effectively the ability to learn is impaired. 

The Graduate School of Education at Bristol University has developed an initial diagnostic tool - Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI) that provides evidence on how people learn. This gives the student an insight into the possible areas of difficulties that they should concentrate on when developing their effective learning power.