Freedom to Learn – part 3

Bholu the Baby Bear - Part 3

One day Bholu (the bear) told his parents, "Once I grow up, I want to be a
NOBODY"

His worried parents, asked, "Why?"

Because the other day Mr Parrot was very upset with the mango tree which has no
fruit this year. He said to him, "What's the use of being a mango tree if you
can't give mangoes".

"But it would give mangoes next year?" Assured father bear.

"And what if it doesn't?" joined in Uncle Bade in the discussion

'Yes", said an excited Bholu, "What if it never able to bear mango fruits, ever
again?"

"But what's that got to do with your being a nobody?”, Quizzed father bear.

Uncle Bade clarified, "Somehow we tend to get locked up in two things - first,
our assumed roles and second, expectations we think people have from us. Often
the second emanating from the first. Which means we operate from outside.
”But if”, as Bholu says, “we are nobody, then having nothing to prove, we simply
look at our strengths. Hence, we operate from inside - our strengths, which can
be constantly evolving. The same mango tree can then be a source of wood, or
shelter or nesting sites and so on.”

”But we do need to be somebody, don't we, to be able to operate well in life, to
be able to achieve?”, piped in Mummy bear.

"Let me give an example," Replied Uncle Bade, "If Bholu and both of you, think
that he is very good in Math, and if by chance he gets less marks in a test
-then Bholu feels disappointed. He may then work harder or he could resort to
other means to somehow score better, or he may tell you lies and so on. The
reason for disappointment is not less score in the test, but the score should
match up to the image that Bholu carries.”

”But what if, Bholu and both of you just think that Bholu likes and enjoys Math.
Then even if he gets less score, without any disappointment, he simply wants to
do the sums again or learn another way to solve them and so on.”

"Then it also doesn't matter how much my friend Chimpu gets", Adds Bholu

Liking and enjoying are in the "present state" and hence more about the task and
less about the person. While tags like "good at", being "future" oriented are
more about the person and hence the struggle to live upto the image.

So you mean, to ensure effective learning, lets focus on the task as separate
from the person.

Oh yes, you have hit the nail on the head. We call this as PROCESS based
learning, where the process of learning is far more important than the result.
Realize that the process is about the task - the interaction between the learner
and the learning while the result is about the person - the ability of learner
to produce the desired end.

Now Bholu was very excited, "Uncle Bade, is it same as how you said that I was
neither “creative”, nor “not creative’. I am simply someone who uses creativity some
times and does not use it other times"

"Exactly! The moment I think creativity is about me or the results I produce,
there are three problems:
One, on the basis of my results, I start evaluating myself as 'creative' or 'not
creative'. If I judge myself to be 'not creative', I am unnecessarily putting a
serious limitation on myself. If I judge, I am creative, and if others assess
any of my work as "not creative" - I get hurt and either fret or fight or both!
Two, I spend too much time trying to get others to see me the way I think
they should see me, while, I would be better off focusing on the task itself.
Three, and most important of all, instead of open to others comments as
feedback, I usually defend it as a criticism and hence am mostly closed to
learning.

"The image becomes the result we want to fuel". Father Bholu now understood,

"Exactly, if we focus on the process of creativity and enjoy it, we learn more,
grow more and achieve more.

”But this way won't we all take more time to learn?”, Mother Bear worried.

”But mummy, since I am nobody, I am not in a hurry to be somebody”, argued Bholu.

”I get it. Time becomes a pressure only if we are trying to prove the person
behind it, rather then the learning behind it", replied clearer mummy bear.

”I think we all are much clearer about this "image" which blocks the process and
forces us to focus on the results. But true freedom to learn is in realizing
that the result is binding, while process is liberating.”, said Uncle Bade

Meet me, I am Bholu the Bear, a nobody, who doesn't try to be somebody, just
enjoys learning everything and from everybody.

By Ratnesh & Aditi Mathur

For www.geniekids.com

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