Humor and celebration can play an important role in learning. Tate says humor can get the brain ready to learn, encourage creativity and make a learning experience more memorable. I use humor, especially self-deprecating humor, to make learners more comfortable and to reduce the distance between learners and myself in the role of teacher or presenter. When standing in front, a teacher has most of the power. I find that self-deprecating humor demonstrates to learners that I am willing to cede some of my power to them. It shows that I don’t take myself so seriously that I would be offended if they shared their thoughts and questions.
Celebration of small wins can contribute to perseverance and resilience in learning. In their research on workplace motivation, Teresa Amabile and Stephen J. Kramer found that the most common triggering event for and improvement in overall mood and motivation was any progress on work (2011). People often have trouble identifying their own progress and seeing the significance of that progress. By celebrating small wins, teachers can help learners see their progress and recognize how important consistent progress is in achieving their learning goals.
Application: As I mentioned above, I use humor often. I have not been as attentive to celebration as a learning tool. In my experience facilitating Working Out Loud circles, I’ve gotten practice celebrating small wins. Each week, circle members check-in with their progress or lack thereof. We always meet these check-ins with celebration and validation. Even if a participant has not made any progress, we celebrate their effort. If they were unable to attend to the Working Out Loud process because of challenges at work or home, we celebrate their resilience. Many people quit long-term behavior change efforts because of a failure like cheating on a diet or skipping piano practice for a couple of weeks. We use celebration in Working Out Loud circles as an inoculation against giving up.
Assessment: Personal Learning Environment (Barkley & Major, 2016, pp. 399-404)
One of the primary purposes of the Working Out Loud experience is for learners to create a personal learning environment (PLE). Throughout the experience learners share and reflect on the people and resources in their PLE. Their fellow learners and the facilitator offer feedback on and suggestions for improving their PLE. By the end of the experience, learners can assess whether they have a PLE that will support their continued learning and growth in the future.
References
Amabile, Teresa and Kramer, Stephen J. (2011). The Power of Small Wins. Harvard Business Review, May 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins
Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2016). Learning assessment techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tate, M. L. (2012). “Sit and Get” won’t grow dendrites: 20 professional learning strategies that engage the adult brain. (2nd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.