Friday, February 15, 2008

Learning is a Journey

"Learning is a journey" is a conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). It is used to show how we perceive the learning activity,i.e. commitment and responsibility. Learning is in fact a very abstract concept. We won't be able to understand our perception and understanding about it if we were to define it superficially. Nevertheless, we can learn to use metaphors, and the grey areas will soon diminish:)

Check this out!
We start to grasp the world of knowledge in our mothers' wombs. At least, that's what science claims and mothers discover. The moment we open our eyes and make sense of things around us, we observe and analyze, follow what adults teach us and abandon nasty habits that result from our natural curiosity and carelessness.

When we grow older and believe that we're matured enough to assume responsibilities, we want to make our own decisions and break away from confining rules and norms. Sometimes, this does not take us anywhere, really, but a taste of independence only proves that forbidden fruit tastes better, and sometimes bitter!

Look around, and we see evidence of success. How we envy those triumphs and victories. We set our mind on a career goal, and we pursue higher education. Along the way, we stumble and fall, and we rise to the challenges in order to realize our expectations:) We are at crossroads, yet we know - there's no turning back. We learn that success is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. So, we set out to prove that we are capable to compete in this race.

We learn new things everyday, we learn through mistakes and constructive comments. We learn from friends and foes, and we learn passionately every moment we think, feel, see, hear and taste. Learning is such a rich experience, and learning is our lifelong pursuit.

Learning is a very noble endeavour, in every way. We can never stop learning. Take me as an example - as I'm teaching my students in class, I'm also learning new things from them, and like them, I also go through the ups and downs, the bittersweet challenge of learning frontiers, as a Phd student. As they all dream for their scrolls, I also pray that I can finally reach my finishing line.

Well - all the words in italics above give rise to the metaphor - learning is a journey. A journey, begins and a journey has a destination. The in-betweens may be bumpy, spinning, foundering, or smooth-sailing. Whatever it entails, complete the loop, reach the dreams and destinations - ALL the BEST! We can all do it!

Now, would you like to share your interpretations of the magic word - LEARNING?

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, learning is a journey, a journey which started from the very beginning when we have our 1st grasp of air in this world until we have the very last. As we are walking along the path of our lives, what we are actually doing in every single minute is learning, thus this had made learning as a journey, a journey which everybody have and must encounter. Learning does not restrain only in academically but overally, when we are talking to neighbours or even younger or older people, it can be classified as progress in learning too, because it is an art to get to know others well through words and body languages that we used. Therefore, as human who has the ability to think and regenerate information, do make use of the process of "learning" wisely before it is too late.
Never too late to start learning from now :)

Anonymous said...

yeah..thats true...
learning is journey..we can learn anything that can give a lot of advantages 4 ourselves..
same likes pn.zue said..,we learn new things everyday that can help ourselves to improve n learn from the mistakes that we were did...well,,we can get something very useful through the learning...:)-misz A-

Catherine said...

yes, i agree..learning is the longest journey in our life..since we born we start learn 2 move, talk,smile.Then we grow up we start learn for knowledge and many many things else.we not just only can learn from kindergarten,school and university...actually we are learning all the time but we don't realize...but we have to make sure what we learning is correct.This is a very important point..because nowdays children they don't know whether which is the right things for them to learn.Therefore, the social problems are keep on increasing.We realy have to take note on this because this wil deatroy our new generation..

ara said...

I thought learning was boring! But eventually, it turned out differently. Not so long ago, i realise there is so many things I dont know. About how people are, how they act, how they talk. They were all new, they weren't at all like they used to be. Then after that, i realise that maybe I have to adapt. This, i notice after a while become one process, step by step, things change. And after that, I'm at a completely new place and I have a new state of mind.

Everthing around you has to be 'learnt' before you're able to 'apply' it, learning doesnt just refer to your studies, its who you are. you learn as you grow. you never stop learning, even when you become a great granmother, you will still continue learning. Its a never ending process...

Dr. Zue said...

Catherine raises a significant concern here, that we need to know the material we are learning. I believe that we can be too receptive to weigh the value vs harm when we are naive. So, parents, teachers, adults, and friends may play a role by being alert to peculiar changes. If things become better , learning should be acknowledged and rewarded. If learning turns out otherwise, some deliberation and revision should entail. Nevertheless, learning is more often than not, for the good of mankind, extending our horizon every minute. Live up to wei yi's advice for us to be "wise" in our noble intention for and support for lifelong learning.

Anonymous said...

learning is journey??it's true...learning is very important in our life..Learning is not just important to ensure that we keep up-to-date with developments in our particular field. It is also an important source of motivation, stimulation and job satisfaction. For example, somebody who works in a particular place for three years, and during that time continues to learn, grow and develop, is likely to experience far greater job satisfaction than someone who stays in the same post for three years, simply repeating the basic tasks in the same way without any growth or development over that time. Learning should therefore be seen as something positive and worthwhile in its own right, not just something that we have to do to meet other people's expectations of us.
Besides, it helps us to keep in tune with trends and developments in our own field. It provides stimulation and job satisfaction and also helps to keep us on our toes to make sure that we do not become blasé and thus more likely to make mistakes. Learning should therefore not be seen as an additional burden on top of what is already perhaps a heavy workload, but rather something to be welcomed as a means of dealing as effectively as possible wit dat heavy workload.

Anonymous said...

For mr learning is very important in our life. We can know something new that we didn't know before this with learning. Yes,I agree with 'Learning is a journey'. It means that if we want to know something new so we need to have a methods or ways to learn it. Sometimes we will also facing a problems until we satisfy with what we have learn. So, the process of how we get the methods and how we solve the problems we can call it as journey of learning. So, it's very long journey if we want to learn something. Eventhough learning is very a long journey but it's useful to us.

Anonymous said...

Learning is a journey that will never end till the last breathe.From a single moment that we live, we learn how to walk, talk and lots more expression.. Then we continue to learn basics principles of life, differentiate black and white,humanitarian and aesthetic value, grab all the knowledge surround us. And if we think closely everything that we learn will be use to develop ourself, our ways of think,our manners towards life... and so on..
a learning is a never ending story...

nirosh said...

learning to me is the process of gaining information that enriches the knowledge pool of an individual. as i see it, there are two methods of learning. the first is learning through an educative process or system. for example schooling or attending tuition. to apply this method or not is entirely a matter of choice for an individual. the second method is more subtle and is what starts the learning process at birth and keeps it running throughout a person's lifespan. it is the seeping of information into the subconscious mind where the information lies dormant and is regurgitated when a need arises. this knowledge could also be referred to as experience. the saying 'jauh perjalanan luas pengalaman' which translates into, the more we travel, the more experience we gain, say alot in this context. an older person would naturally have learnt more than a younger person and that is why the elders deserve our respect. life is short. the time we spend on earth is limited. that is why i think that we should all make full use of the time we have in enlarging our pool of knowledge with not simply any information but the choicest of them. in IT, we learn that data is collected and presented as information that converts to knowledge. let us collect only the beneficial data so that the knowledge generated is purposeful.

Anonymous said...

I can’t agree more with you on this:
‘When we grow older and believe that we're matured enough to assume responsibilities, we want to make our own decisions and break away from confining rules and norms. Sometimes, this does not take us anywhere, really, but a taste of independence only proves that forbidden fruit tastes better, and sometimes bitter!’
Knowing that we’re able to make our own decisions, just gives us the wonderful feeling of being in power. True enough it’s not always sweet, but that’s where the beauty of learning comes in, isn’t it?

And I agree with all the readers/commenters, that learning is an on-going process and you can never learn enough. :)

fLoSS said...

hi pn.zue..
learning is very enjoyable for those who very into it..
but not me..
hehehehe..
kiding..
even got a several people who hate learn,but they actually dont know the fun of studies..
i admit some people out there got no chance to futher their studies in universty bcause of lack some other factor but dont u guys thnk that 'di mana ada kamehuan di situ ada ada jalan'..
right??
stdy no need to go to other great universty,.as long as we WANT to gain knowledge,everywhere should be fine..
just GO for it!

thanks

Nurhabsah Binti Jamil said...

yes. people is learning by journey. sometimes they do not want to learnt somethings. for me, if they do not want to learnt something they do not have complete journey. with no complete journey they do not have enough experience to their life. maybe they have difficulty move on in their life.

faiz said...

salam madam zue...

we need to learning because it's important to our life..without learning,we can't think what is better or not for our life..by learning also we gain a experience,know something news and for sure can used it in our daily life..furthermore,we can make our day became better because it can open minded of us to thinking..in short,learning it's important to our life

noor junaini said...

Assalamualaikum Puan Zue.. I really like this article and I agree with you that " Learning is a Journey". With learning, we will learn something new and it will give us a new information that we didn't know before. It also help us to improve our knowledge such as in education, scientific investigation and whole thing around the world. Besides that, we should learn something that give advantages to ourselves. As you said, we learn new thing everyday and we can learn thing from our mistake that we did..So, we can improve ourselves and try to be the best among the best. Many people may think that learn something is wasting their time and bored..For me,it's wrong.. As long as we still alive, don't stop learning. Learning same that you gain a new knowledge. It's not too late before you regret...:)
Thank you.

seem said...

Hye Ma’am

Absolutely! Learning is a journey.

Learning something new can open doors for you. Almost everyday I learn something new.
I love to try something new in my life because it can makes me improve my ability, memory, helps me to meet peoples, new friends, build on skills that I already have and gives interest that I can share with my family and friends.

I very interested to learn extreme activities or games and travel around the world.
So that, I can get many experience and opinions to help me live in the right way.

Learning can develops level thinking skills, develops social interaction skills, enhances self management skills, build aim of life and promotes positive attitude.

Learning is seen as something that you do in order to understand the real world.

Learn until the last breath.

All The Best! :)

ng chalice said...

to me learning is an important essential in life. something that we cannot part with. no matter what happens. whether we learn it faster or slower than others it doesn 't matter. all it matters is whether we improve or not.
in this world nothing in life is going backwards. this is a fact. we cannot prolong our mind in the past.
as i recall,when i was in form 5 i longed to get out of my secondary school. that was in the year 2006. and now 4 years have past. i am now 21. in a university that i never expected to be in. sighhhhh. as the saying goes, when one door closes, another door opens. we can 't expect all form six grads to be in local uni.
all of us are now learning new things, abandoning older knowledge or maybe bringing them back for reference.
in my form six. i thought it should be an easy task for me to be in form six since the subjects are so related to my form 5 subjects. but i was wrong . it was like hell. i can 't even pass my mathematics. it was very hard. and i was very relieved that it was over.
but i have to admit form 6 did helped me. now i am very much serious in my studies. plus, i don't have to take MUET again. cause i have done it already. hahaha
no matter how hard it is i still have to go with the program. the last victor will be victorious if he persists with his struggles. guess that makes me quite victorious. hahahha
but whatever happens now i am in UNITEN. I will continue fighting till i graduate and get my degree. thats what i have in mind for now. as to learning, i am doing it everyday, every hour, minute and second till the day i die.
even at this very moment when i am writing this comment.

Majeed Amjed said...

It is very great essay about learning we can inspired many things from it
One of these things is an experiment.
It shows here life duration from mom's wombs till end of life, still learning and learning to get better life involving our relatives.
But there is something I want to mentioned here it is learning sometimes be safe and sometimes be risky.
So we have to choose our learning to pave our way and get our destination.

Ahmed M. Ahmed said...

This is true, but I see that the journey of learning starting from the childhood and not ending.
Learning as sea as u said.
I think the human must seek the knowledge from the cradle to the grave

Unknown said...

Yes, i totally agree that learning is a journey. Since the day we were born out to this beautiful world, we had been learning evry single day to gain more knowledge and be a better person. When we were a baby, we learn to talk and walk. As time goes on, we started to grow up and learn to be more independent and be more matured. Besides, we learn to get knowledge in school until university. Eventhough after we had graduated, we still have to learn to improve ourselves. Therefore learning is a journey of life. We have to learn from young to old. As what my parents used to tell me when i was a kid, "the more we learn, the better we will be". I'm sure every parents will tell that to their childrens.

zhiquan tan said...

From the day we are born we have started to learn.We learn by using our senses.Using our eyes to observes and use our ears to hear.When we are still young we will try and observe what the adult are doing and we will try to follow them.When we grow older we have our own thinking.This happen is because we already learned a lot of things that make us too be more confident of our own decisions.This show that learning is very important.We learn throughout our whole life."I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma" said Eartha Kitt.

Yasmine said...

Hi Mdm Zue,
I can’t argue more about the title – learning is definitely a journey, a never-ending one. Along the way we pick up knowledge and wisdom, sometimes from unexpected sources. You know, I learnt about livelihood and fate from the cats at the back alley of my house. Seriously. And I believe what matters most is how much knowledge that we managed to gather in all the time we spent in this quest of life.

Anyway, this is an exciting adventure as we get to learn something new every day. New experiences, new people, new age… Everything is like aliens to us when we start to march further on the aisle of knowledge. Maybe that’s why people said “the more we learn, the more we don’t know”.

Throughout the journey, we’ll get to know the very best teacher of all – experience. From experience we learn to differentiate between right and wrong. Like what C. S. Lewis said, “Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”

As a footnote, do remember the One who has the greatest knowledge and wisdom of all – The Almighty God. ;-)

avinesh said...

YES "Learning is a Journey" the seconds which started after we give birth by our beloved mother....In this life;learning journey involves our whole being. It entails not just our physical and material aspects, our social and human sides. It covers the fullness of our nature and its intrinsic dignity that certainly goes beyond our earthly dimensions.
But we have to do our part. We have to enhance our spiritual faculties. We need to make our faith, hope and charity, which always go together and affect each other, grow strong everyday.

But we have to do our part. We have to enhance our spiritual faculties. We need to make our faith, hope and charity, which always go together and affect each other, grow strong everyday.

But we have to do our part. We have to enhance our spiritual faculties. We need to make our faith, hope and charity, which always go together and affect each other, grow strong everyday.

Morover, we have to do our part. We have to enhance our spiritual faculties. We need to make our faith, hope and charity, which always go together and affect each other, grow strong everyday.
Without these, we cannot fly high and pursue the natural and supernatural consequences of our being persons and children of God.

Journey in our Life won't end...
Till we a alive in this world with the greatest Lord.....

Lola Akram said...

Good day people,

Learning is a process where knowledge is gained with certain skills.One of the things that makes us human.It is crucial for us in order to survive on this planet.
Learning can be fun depending on how it is accentuated.To me school is a stratergic starting point for learning process to be conducted. Learning has no rules and boundaries,it knows no age and gender,so what's up with all the formality?It is not always necessary.
Learning process exists in many ways,through teaching at school,through experiences,through observations,etc etc.And nature is always the best teacher.So teachers,never stop teaching.We are learning!
It is fun to know new things everyday. That is what learning is to me. xx

khuddin1992 said...

what a nice article. I agree that learning is a journey because learning start when we in the mother womb. Than the learning is continue until we die. the learning process will not stop if we continue to study and study.

-alif- said...

LEARNING-such a big word to describe in details,and yet we are still "in" it.learning takes forever as we get older and older.thus,we will definitely learning more and more.learning takes place everywhere,everytime...learning from mistake is the greatest thing in learning process..we can learn without hesitation.Furthermore,we can still learn from our friends & foes.which shows that learning has no reason to be neglected.no exception..learning,learning and learning,it is an ongoing process.and if we embrace it,it will be very beneficial to us in the future.Although we cant be the best forever,but we can keep learning and make ourselves much better.LEARNING IS A JOURNEY..."EVEN THE MORROW IS BARREN OF PROMISES,NOTHING SHALL FORESTALL OUR JOURNEY AND TRIUMPH IN LEARNING.."

ezard said...

learning is a journey is one of very nice topic. nowadays learning is a must for us to survive in this modern world. basicly, all of us start the learning process since we are kids. we learn many things from many resources such teacher,lectrer, our parents,books,internet,and etc. just look around us, we can found many things that we can learn. its based on ourself to decide and analyze it either good or bad for us to learn it. diffrent people have diffrent thing that their will learn. learning is the process that take alot of time and will never ended because its a journey that more challenging and full with adventures.with learning, we can found that it will produce more inteligents peoples in this world.

learning is the way that we can make sure our life will success in the future!

DIV said...

I admit that this post is such a beautiful one.learning can make someone to be a useful person.

we can learn many things by learning.thefore,as people able to get know everthing so do make use of the process called learning.

hence,learning can help us improve all our skills and we can gain a lot of benefits.

"LEARNING IS A JOURNEY"

ah won said...

learning...learning is all about what we see, do and experience...its something which is not an option but a must!!...practically learning process is done automatically...we do not need to force ourself...its a journey where every1 from every state of age go through...

arif92 said...

well yeah! definetetly! at first , i though learning is boring, but, the more you learn it, the more u life it. Learning is like a journey because, the more we grow the more complex education.... so thhe conclusion is, think positive and try make it fun when learning =)

S.N.A.I said...

Yes that is true. Learning is a journey. Anytime we will learning something new. And we never stop learning. If we stop learning that mean we stop breathing too. As a students, I must learn how to achieve my career goal. Besides I also have manage my time to be punctual. Moreover we cant spread learning and ourself.