Meta-Learning from the Balcony

Learning is so integral to human nature that it’s often overlooked. We have to rise above the day-to-day to recognize its presence.

Walk with me up the stairs to the balcony. Rise above everyday rules, conventions, and sacred cows. Let’s find a vantage point that enables us to see what’s really going on.

Look at the people in the plaza below.

One man reads a book, two women debate, a dozen people listen attentively to a politician, a bearded man describes the old days to his grandchildren, a baby stares into her mother's eyes, three cigarette-smokers talk about the news, the gardener shows his apprentice how to plant a tulip, a teacher tells her students how acorns grow into oaks, a boy demonstrates how to blow a bubble with bubble gum to his little sister. All of these people are learning.

From the balcony, we can observe the way people are learning.

We see elaborate social exchanges where roles and status and self-image come into play. Some learning is planned; other learning just happens. Some learners are active, others merely receptive. Some are gaining information, others pick up new skills, and yet others are developing something deeper, beliefs. Teachers learn. Learners teach. The activity on the plaza stimulates some but distracts others. Some are adept at learning, others not. From a distance, we see patterns. We are looking at meta-learning.

The Balcony: What is Meta-Learning?

Looking at the Learning Process

Improving the Learning Process

Leveraging the Learning Process

Meta-Learning Lab Helps Corporations

Engaging the Meta-Learning Lab