Self Directed Learning with Paul Kloosterman, season 3, episode 2

Talking Youth Work

Hello dear listeners,

In this episode, we talked with Paul Kloosterman, a youth worker and author of several publications for youth workers and facilitators. We heard Paul’s story of how he got involved in youth work, but the main topic of our talk was Self-Directed Learning.

As the name implies, self-directed learning it’s a process where individuals take responsibility for planning, continuing and evaluating their learning experiences. The role of the learner here is to be curious and find the support needed from fellow learners, facilitators of the learning experience or other resources.

One can say all learning is self-directed because learning is an individual and personal process. We cannot force learning, it’s something that happens within us as a response to external or internal stimuli. The desire to advance in our careers, the need to change something in us or the world around us, the curiosity of exploring connection and wonder, or whatever compels us to start a new learning journey.

Learning doesn’t start or stop at the place where teaching or facilitating is happening. It’s an ongoing process that feeds from the conversations we have, the books we read, the games we play, and the places we go to, so the only constant in the learning process is the person who is learning. The more it can be self-directed, the more impact it will have in one’s life and the life of the people we interact with.

The role of the teacher, facilitator, mentor or youth worker is to support and stimulate the learning experiences that every learner has or needs to have. This support can come in many forms, but the most important support is to show interest in what's important for the learner, bring new perspectives, ask questions and suggest ways forward, always in service of the learning process of each individual.

In a group setting, it can be more of a challenge, but learning with others is also a form of self-directed learning. Paul puts it in a very clear way when he says:

“You start a program, and people go their own way. They go their own way, but they go together.”

Self and others are all parts of the learning experience.

Paul shares a very nice approach. Curious? Have a listen.