Experience, reflect and learn

I happened to read a statement given by somebody that human kind does not learn by experience, which was something new to me because this is what we have been  told that the experience teaches human being more than anything else.But the next sentence cleared my doubt and the confusion and the sentence was that the human kind learn not only by experience but by reflection upon the experience.And this made me to realise that some people who have vast experience in one or the other area, do not perform any better over the years what they have been doing and there may be others who do not have that long an experience  but still do better than what they had done previously.Though this is applicable to all the professions and the people, but will be more relevant in case of teachers, parents and the students.
Many examples can be taken from the day to day life. There is a farmer who does the same work all through the life but if he reflects upon the reasons regarding the crops yield and the quality, he will be able to decide what to do next time to get better crops or what other kind of crops would be useful in that particular climate.Even the so called uneducated farmers are able to innovate and that is not only because of the experience but because of analysing on the previous crop quality and reflecting upon the way to improve the production.Take an example of the businessmen and you will realise those who reflect seriously on their previous experience are able to incorporate a change in their approach and may get better results in future. Learning does not mean that one will  always be able to achieve  what was aimed to, but will definitely learn more than the ones who have not contemplated upon their experiences .This makes me to understand why the past is also important because that will guide our present and decide the course of our future .Only two examples have been cited here, but if we think seriously, this will be true for every profession and in every situation and as mentioned earlier the teachers can be benefitted the most if they  learn to reflect upon their experience, because they are the ones who experience many things everyday right from the teaching learning process to other behavioral aspect of the students,colleagues and their own self.They must reflect upon their classroom experience everyday and learn from them to make things better for the students the next day.
Suppose a teacher planned  to do an activity in the class and there was some problems which he/she did not anticipate, then inspite of forgetting about it, the teacher must try to understand its reasons and devise another method to avoid the same mistake in the class in future.If the children do not pay attention to what the teacher is talking in the class then the teacher must reflect upon this with open mind without any prejudice towards the children then only he/ she would definitely be able to come up with something different and more appropriate which might draw the attention of the children towards what is being discussed in the class.  Great teachers keep saying everyday that whenever they go to the class they feel they knew very little yesterday and the if the same topic would have been discussed this way, the students would have learnt it better.This is true for those teachers who reflect upon their previous experiences  in the class . The teachers who think to have completed the job for the day and do not try to understand what was the impact of their interaction with the children would not be able to do anything different or worthwhile even if they teach the same subject and the same topics for the whole life.
An effective innovation can not be done until and unless one reflects upon the previous experience.
You must have noticed that some teachers make their presence felt by everyone very early in their teaching career while the others waste a lot many years but still are not known for the good.I firmly believe that the teachers are the fortunate ones who can learn the most from the students around them everyday and by reflecting upon their experience can learn even more. So the children are the best source of learning for the teachers and that is why they should be appreciated and encouraged so that we can learn more from them.
The other people who can learn more from the children are the parents because children are a blessing and they are fortunate parents to observe and learn from their own children.I take one example of a parent who had some problems in his office and when he came back home he did not talk to the small child  though the child had been waiting for him the whole day. One day, the father treated the child in an impolite manner because the child wanted to play with him but the father was tensed due to his own problems. After that incident the child stopped going  to the father and remained confined either to his room or with the mother.Perhaps, the father realised that the child was not coming to him at all and tried to reflect upon why was it so? The moment he realised his fault of not treating the child well on that day he learnt his mistake and started behaving with the child in a very dignified manner which changed the equation in the family.In the similar manner,the children too can learn many things from their peer group.They can sieve the most fruitful of the achievements of their friends such as qualifying a competitive or any other great success and attach a meaning to their life. Such incidents must have happened with many of us a number of times and when we reflect upon our experience, we learn, otherwise  no learning  takes place and the problems remain the same rather they multiply.Hence, experience isn't interesting till it begins to repeat itself as it is not what happens to a man but is what a man does with what happens to him.

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