Education ain’t the same as learning.
Education seems restrictive and limited, while learning seems freeing and filled with possibility.
Organized education creates an environment of unquestioning acceptance.
We’re often presented with opinions as facts and instilled with principles and ideas in a way that discourages indeoendent thinking and critical examination-in other words we get indoctrinated.
And what do we get to prove we’re indoctrinated?
Some sort of certificate.
If we figure out what’s on the test or parrot back with the teacher, we could get good grades and the prize proving we were educated. That’s the easiest way to win in education. Our prize is the certificate.
Occasionally, education leads to learning, but not always.
On the other hand, learning nurtures critical thinking, evidence-based reasoning, and developing our own
understanding by questioning and challenging the ideas placed before us.
Learning is a conversation, sometimes an argumentative one, intended to change minds.
To learn, we gotta have emotional enrollment; our learning usually happens long after we leave organized education.
We're more likely to learn when we leave previous assumptions behind and strongly desire to be transformed.
Here’s What Goodwill in Learning Looks Like:
We’ve gotta be ready and eager to change our minds.
Anything that anyone says is true should be verified as true.
We’ve gotta do the studying and practicing, produce the work, and then show the work.
Let everyone know what our actual intent is as a photographer.
We need to understand camera operation, composition, and light. It’s not enough to know these things; we also need to understand how to use them to make a photograph.
Don’t judge a picture based on how comfortable or
uncomfortable we are when looking at it.
Don’t ever forget that we don’t know everything. When we’re learning the right way, the phrase “I don’t know” usually leads to knowing and understanding
When it comes to opposing views, engage with the strongest ones.
Understand and accept that “not yet” is a lot different than
“never”.
When we make a mistake, we should be grateful for it because it shows us where we need to learn more and strengthen our skills and understanding.
Consider questions from an alternative viewpoint before coming to a decision.
We’ve gotta understand photography before we can create pictures that have a message to be
understood.
When we identify the ideas we’re attached to, we temporarily set them aside to make room for new ones.
Remember, when we change our minds, we change our Photography.
That’s what I’m here to help you do.
Ways to learn with me are below and the Photography Basics (Introduction To Photography class start soon.
