For many years, the businessman had always driven from Bulawayo to Harare via Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Chegutu and Norton. It was the main road between the two major cities, after all. The journey was easy, familiar, safe and quick. There was no reason why he should not travel that way. That was until one day when a colleague showed surprise when he heard that was the way his friend went; he indicated he always went via Gweru, Mvuma and Chivhu. It was the same distance (almost exactly), had less traffic and there were fewer towns to pass through. So the businessman tried it and found the journey went more quickly as he took in new sights, new experiences and new routes.
by Tim Middleton
The example above may help us to begin to understand something about the subject of relearning. In previous articles, we have considered the first two parts of Alvin Toffler’s prediction that “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. How then can we go about the third part of this process, relearning? Sometimes to relearn something we have to look at what it is not, not at what it is — so relearning is not the same as revising (which simply and literally means looking at something again and again, in the same format and light); it is not the same as reviewing, recalling, remembering or retrieving. None of those constitute relearning. That is like Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Rather, relearning is when we learn something in a totally different perspective or context, when we refocus, not necessarily on the same thing. We will all have seen at some stage the various optical illusions where there are two pictures in the same picture, one if we focus on the black and another when we focus on the white. Relearning is refocusing. In a similar way, we can take what we have learned in one sphere and apply it to another, as a soccer player may take the lessons he has learned about creating space and applies them to rugby, even though the sports are very different.
Relearning is not a matter of learning again but rather a matter of learning differently. In that context, relearning is also like rebranding. The story is told how the creators of Old Spice after shave and deodorant sought to rebrand their product for the younger generation and spoke of “scent variations” as opposed to anti-perspirant. They wanted the public to relearn what they offered. Put another way, relearning is similar to the experience of refreshing the page on our computer programmes. As with the car journey, we take a new and thus refreshing look at what is normal and try something different. Using similar IT language, relearning is like rebooting a programme, updating what was previously there to fit in with the advances in technology and learning. Learn, unlearn, relearn is perhaps similar to the process of shooting: aim, fire then reload.
Relearning may simply be a matter of re-routing our journey, of giving ourselves alternative routes. Both roads from Bulawayo to Harare are fine but they give us different experiences, different sights, different challenges — but they both will take us to the same destination. It is the same with our learning; we need to be willing to see things differently, from a different angle, perspective or context if we want to be literate. We need to be willing to see the value of something in a new light, to try things differently, to apply things differently. Of course, if we really wanted to learn more about this beautiful country, we could travel from Bulawayo to Harare on other routes as well — we could travel to Mbalabala and Masvingo, and even then have the choice of travelling via Chivhu or the long way via Mutare — we would still reach our destination, though it would take us much longer, but we would have passed through many new, beautiful, historical and exciting places.
Many years ago a preacher shared how he had travelled a particular road in different circumstances — once as part of a convoy in extreme danger during the war years; another time in an ambulance when he was being rushed to a hospital after suffering a heart attack; a third time for the birth of his child. On each journey he learned different things through each journey. We will travel the same road of learning many times and learn different things but it is also true that we can travel a different road and learn much more from it. We, parents and children alike, must be prepared to relearn, not least about what education is. Start the journey now and see where it takes you!
Tim Middleton is the executive director of the Association of Trust Schools and author of the book on “failure” called Failing to Win. email: [email protected] website: www.atschisz.co.zw
