aboutlearning

Karen Aka is working with the Hawaiian Educational Council Change Leadership Group of Harvard University. She works  creating leadership seminars and is well know in Hawaii as a consummate professional educator.

Karen sent us an example of insight on the Learning cycle that is important for all users of 4MAT to understand. The 4MAT Cycle is one complete flow always starting with learner connections and moving to the new knowledge and skills and then back to the learner for personal usefulness. This flow is learning made real. Here is her 4MAT insight recently sent to me.

Mike Zane and Kyle Shodai have been teaching a 4MAT session to a small group of us. (I had my project staff attend so they could learn how to 4MAT our leadership modules.)  Mike had an insight that confirmed the depth of the cycle.

"You know how we started to say the 2R is the outcome imaged or imagined. I have called it the bridge thinking it was the bridge between the concept and the content. BUT Mike's insight is that if 2R is the outcome imaged then the 3R is the bridge being completed and is the outcome being practiced. So the 2R and the 3R should be aligned - 2R imagined, 3R in action. What do you think? Maybe that was always your intent but I didn't make this connection until Mike taught the wheel to the group. I always referred to the bridge as bridging the concept to the content, not fully understanding the alignment between 2R and 3R as the necessary movement from imaged to action." 

This is a super insight from Karen and I was delighted to ponder the connection more in depth myself as result. I concur absolutely that the Cycle requires that something must be done with what we learn.