Words matter; and because words matter, so do definitions. It’s useful to unpack meanings, especially when we’re learning. So let’s talk about what we mean by learning.
Right off the bat, I want to say that learning does not equal school. We learn everywhere, all the time. Good, that’s out of the way.
Second, think of learning not as a point in time (a fact memorized, for instance), but an experience. Learning is a journey, with a starting point and a path; perhaps headed for a fixed destination, but more often encountering a series of signposts that lead us farther along. For something simple — something you can Google — the journey can be a pretty straight line. But for really deep, delicious learning, we loop and circle, branch and diverge, sketching out a beautiful recursive spiral that can continue all our lives.
Okay, but how do we define learning?
Definitions abound. Many focus on acquisition — gathering facts or information, developing and improving skills. Some speak of process, which is cool, because it reinforces the idea that learning isn’t just a moment. The idea that I like best about learning, though, is that it’s a change in state. I like it because it encompasses a diverse range of experiences. It can mean that we’ve
- Acquired new knowledge (facts, discrete bits of information)
- Gained a new perspective (it’s changed the way we see or think about something)
- Felt an emotion (this runs the gamut from awe to outright fury)
- Made a connection (that beautiful “a-ha!” moment)
- Felt empathy (feeling with, rather than feeling for)
- Acquired or improved a particular skill
Not a complete list, by any means. Learning can also inspire us to change our behavior, or abandon an attitude; the point is, that when we think of learning as a change in state, we can see that what we’ve experienced has made us a different person.
Now for the unpacking. Learning, knowing, understanding — are they interchangeable?
Is knowledge power?
I want to make the case that when we’re talking about learning, understanding is the mountaintop. The sine non qua. The Colosseum, the Louvre Museum, the smile on the Mona Lisa. It’s all that.
I was very fortunate in my own learning journey to come across Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s work around understanding. It was a game-changer. Among other things, it made me realize that unpacking the differences between knowing and understanding is essential when we’re designing learning experiences.
Simply put, knowledge consists of factual information. I know that the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. Understanding happens when we make personal meaning from knowledge. I understand that the Battle of Hastings led to momentous shifts in English society, disrupting the balance of power, bringing changes to language, culture, land ownership, etc. which still resonate over 950 years later.
Understanding is fundamentally different than knowing. We are overwhelmed like never before by the sheer volume of facts and information out there, and the amount just keeps getting more mind-boggling enormous every second. It’s bonkers, but I can take a five minute break from writing this and go pick up some knowledge about quantum computing, beer making, and the natural history of lemurs without leaving my computer. I can get an answer to practically any straightforward question by asking Google. But I have to make an effort to understand. It has to mean something to me personally (i.e. be relevant) so that I’m inspired and engaged enough to do the work. Understanding is different than knowing because:
- To understand something, we have to ask questions. We ask, Why is this important? How does this connect to other ideas? What does this mean?
- Knowing is about the “right” answer; understanding is being able to explain the answer.
- Understanding gives us the ability to transfer what we’ve learned to a new situation. I was never able to transfer my knowledge about algebra to a different context because I just didn’t understand it. In their 2005 book Understanding by Design, Wiggins and McTighe write “Transfer must be the aim of all teaching … because when we teach, we can address only a relatively small sample of the entire subject matter. Transfer is our great and difficult mission because we need to put students in a position to learn far more, on their own*, than they can ever learn from us (p. 44).”
- Collecting facts and information won’t help us deal with this rapidly-changing world, but understanding will. When we understand something, we’re much better able to handle the ambiguous challenges that the real world throws at us — challenges that require so much more than a single response.
Striving for understanding is also a great cognitive workout because it requires us to exercise habits of mind such as critical thinking, curiosity, and creativity, as well as calling us to come at our learning with a growth mindset.
For learning that truly makes a difference, to ourselves and the world, understanding is the goal. When we understand, learning sticks. When we understand, we can transfer what we’ve learned to new situations — and isn’t that the magic of learning?
Understanding is power.
(If you’d like to learn more about understanding (!), Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design framework is an excellent resource. It’s a learning geek’s paradise.)
(*lifelong learning! My emphasis.)
