Newsletter 034: Version 2 of Belcher’s “Model for Learning”

Greetings and salutations!

Welcome to another semester of ideas and applications on learning; thanks for joining and continuing to read this newsletter!

My family and I moved to the Lisbon, Portugal area at the beginning of August. The move has taken a ton of time and effort, limiting my creative output. However, we are now getting stabilized by finding a long-term apartment (that we love!) and starting our teaching roles at our new school. We are excited to get into a rhythm for the semester, which will also allow me to share this newsletter more consistently.

I had a fantastic opportunity last week to share the ideas and applications on learning with Sue Maguire and Sandy Dickson through their podcast Meeting on the Bridge by — here is the link to the podcast! We had a wonderful conversation, which I think you will enjoy.

Now, onto the new ideas for this newsletter!

Ideas

While creating videos for the series of courses called That’s How Learning Works?!?! (see the links in the footer for more information), I realized that my Model for Learning needed to be updated.

The change from version 1 to version 2 comes from Practicing and Performing — this part needs both an output AND an input. The model needs another arrow showing the feedback to the person as an input; this happens because we adjust our knowledge and skills based on the feedback during practicing and performing. To make this change I added the “U-turn” arrow in red, which now shows that practicing and performing have both an output AND an input.

Here is v2 of Belcher’s Model for Learning:

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Besides adding the arrow for Practicing and Performing, the rest of the changes were cosmetic. I adjusted the spacing of various parts and tried to make the lettering more consistent. I hope the new version continues to help ground your understanding of the learning process!

[For a much deeper discussion about the entire Model for Learning (using v1), read this essay: That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process.]

Questions

1. How does this Model for Learning help you understand the learning process?
2. What questions or comments do you have about the content in the model?
3. What questions or comments do you have about the way the model is drawn and lettered?
4. How will you apply the ideas in this Model for Learning to your personal and professional context?

Learning happens when we share what we are thinking, so I would love to hear your answers! Also, you can use these questions as conversations starters with friends and family — hearing their answers and having a conversation would be great!

If this newsletter resonated with you, please share on the socials and with someone who you think would also benefit; I would greatly appreciate any help in spreading these ideas!

Thanks for reading this newsletter — and all the best!

Nathan