PART - I
Do you think #learning is limited to application of knowledge already acquired by someone? Or does it have to do with looking at new things too? In every aspect of life, we come across models that have grown outdated or obsolete, from education to business, from relationships to careers. In order to embrace the new logic of value creation we have to learn it first. But learning isn't the problem. No. It is #unlearning that is the problem. Let's find out more about this on #Mangalmaza
WHAT IS UNLEARNING?
Most of us think that unlearning is to do with forgetting what we had earlier learnt. But that's not it. In simple terms unlearning is to do away with the old to give way to the new. When we learn, we add new skills or knowledge to what we already know. When we unlearn, we step out side of what we already know and choose a different alternative. Most of it is to do with the myths and paradigms that we have been fed up on while growing up.
WHY SHOULD WE UNLEARN?
It is an understatement to say that we are living in an ever changing world. In fact, change around us is so rapid that experts believe that a major part of what students are learning today will become obsolete in probably 5 or 10 years from now, when they will be getting ready to get into action with the corporate world. Corporate world is experiencing revolutions and disruptions at an alarmingly rapid rate making #continuouslearning the need of the hour. We have to unlearn things to adapt to a more agile learning and collaborative approach to work.
CATEGORIES OF TEACHERS
According to P’Rayan, A., IATEFL (Cardiff 2009 Online Forum), there are three distinct categories of teachers who can influence us with unlearning.
- #Neomethodophobes - Allergic to anything new. New methods, new approaches, new knowledge, new skills, new ideas etc., They are neither open minded nor willing to change.
- #Neomethodomaniacs are teachers who like novel ideas and methods of doing things but are uncritical of anything. They blindly accept changes and are very easily influenced by anyone as they lack critical thinking.
- #Neomethodophiles are those who look at things critically and are willing to unlearn.
Teachers, as educators, who constantly unlearn are able to enable their students to learn to unlearn.
I am sure by now, at least some of your doubts have been cleared about #unlearning. There is a lot more to it. Keep a watch out for #Mangalmaza to get more information about unlearning.
PART - II
There are so many articles on the web which talk about how to unlearn something. I don't think there is any point in quoting the same here. So, I will try and put out few of my experiences with unlearning and how it actually went for me. Good, bad, ugly.
We were taught that genders don't decide your careers at home by both my parents and yet what I saw was totally different. I have never seen my Dad get up and go into the kitchen to get a glass of water for himself. I attribute it to the upbringing he has had. He was brought up in a household of women. His Aunts, GrandMom, cousins (mostly women) who would run around and do errands for him while he would sit and enjoy the fruits of being the son of the family. This continued even after his marriage. He had not one but 3 toys to cater to his whims and fancies. This has been my hardest unlearning till date. Because I tried to replicate mostly what I saw rather than what I was taught into my relationships for a long time. I cannot say I have unlearnt it fully, but now I can see things for what they are. My journey to unlearning started very early. And this is what I do when I decide to unlearn.
STEP 1 - Identify the 'WHAT' & 'WHY'
This is totally up to you to decide. It could be letting go of your assumptions, beliefs and opinions which you have carried for long. It could be a policy, process or something particular related to work that you are too comfortable with. It could be an artform, a bare necessity or even something you have learnt and are following ever since you were a child. There could be more than one thing that you would want to unlearn. You can pick up any of it and try to identify why you want to unlearn it. What is it that will change if you unlearn it? And if the answer to this question makes a difference to you, go ahead and try working on unlearning it. It could leave you all alone in this process but stick to it.
STEP 2 - Be OPEN to it
Much of the information or the knowledge we have has been deeply rooted within us for a fairly reasonable time. Replacing older and stronger views that we have held on to for a while is not an easy job. Take time to prove yourself and your assumptions wrong. Challenge your habits, routines and the thoughts behind them. Flood yourself with the new found information and don't hesitate to take the plunge.
When I started learning Spanish, 7 months back, I was sure I will ace it because it was a fun way of learning and all I had to do is to take help translating from Spanish to English and vice versa. But then 2 months down the lane, I realised I was doing it totally wrong. I might eventually end up learning the language but not like it is supposed to be learnt. So, I decided to unlearn this way of learning and give it a try in a better way. This will is definitely going to take me longer to ace the language, but I am assured I will learn it the way it has to be learnt.
STEP 3 - SEIZE the unfamiliar
As we keep repeating things in life, we tend to repeat the same patterns through out. Putting ourselves in different and new situations at times can help us brace the unknown and will help us look at the world with a different perspective. Feel the fear of the unknown which might be daunting at first but is bound to improve as you keep feeding it with new information.
I am a hardcore when it comes to Art and People Skills. And I grew up to believe that anything that has to do with technology is not my cup of tea (I like Milk, by the way). There was this role I had to take up which needed me to recruit people with technical skills and understanding for our online portal. I had a tried and tested way of doing it, of taking help from our inhouse technical team and closing it. But I started reading through a little about the requirement in depth, analysed the qualities that we were looking for from a potential recruit only to understand that I need not be a technically inclined person or be an expert at technical skills. All I needed was to look at it just as a skill that would enhance my perspective as a HR while recruiting people with technical skills. It did wonders. And I am still reading about the latest technical advances that are happening in and around us. Mindichhh blowing.
STEP 4 - Watch out for TRIGGERS
It goes without saying that whenever one gets into a new path, different from the regular one, there are certain triggers that flow. It is advisable to watch out for these triggers and make sure you are addressing each one of them accordingly. Triggers like taking risks, facing novelty, dealing with complexity, encountering unpredictability, training regular patterns. These triggers impact our habit chains that we have been following for long. A certain robust theory of extinction essentially says that you need to make an action extinct before you can learn something new in its place.
I am not a fan when it comes to shopping. And yet I love it when I am out shopping with my friends and people who can relate to my crazy tastes in things. They might not agree to all of them but at least they know it. And I realised it very early in our relationship that it is not going to be the same with this person. At times I felt it was a very small sacrifice for being together for life (at least that's what I thought back then. For the record, we are not together anymore). But I could see this impacting other crucial decisions in our relationship. So I decided to scratch this and think of something better. It took me about 6 - 8 months to figure out the triggers and address each one of them. At the end what mattered was I managed to unlearn the deep rooted philosophy of thinking about our partner's happiness and getting aligned to his way of thought for a peaceful and successful relationship.
STEP 5 - Get CURIOUS
I am sure as kids we were forever curious about things and would question everything around us as it was all new. And each answer would eventually lead to many more questions. But as we grow old, we learn to accept things and embrace the fact that we know everything which not only makes us to stop being curious but also doesn't force our brains to think differently anymore.
Ever wondered
Why is there a Pandemic? Is it really because someone ate a weird animal somewhere?
Why is it flooding everywhere?
Why is every forest going on fire?
Why do I have to think about my waste (mis) management now?
Why do I have to think about sustainability when the rest of the world is doing fine otherwise?
Why should I think of planting essentials in my garden when I can get them readymade from the supermarket?
Why is plastic being banned? Do we even have better alternatives?
I haven't found answers to all of them, but because I started getting curious and asking these questions only to end up reading more about it to realise that every act of ours impacts #ClimateChange either directly or indirectly. Which means I am also a contributor to the #ClimateCrisis that is on right now.
STEP 6 - ACCEPT the Change
You must have understood by now, that #unlearning is going to be an uncomfortable thing. Chances are you might falter or want to get back to what you learnt earlier because it was easier to manage, you were a pro at handling things around it, it was well within your comfort zone or just simply because you did not have to deal with too many questions. It will only get better if you can accept the change that you brought into your own thoughts, beliefs, notions, processes, policies or life as a matter of fact.
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