Personal Learning Support Systems

Leadership development is often used by companies as a way of providing members of their team the chance to build better and more productive relationships with their fellow employees and improve their leadership skills. The idea is that they return to their role impacted by the experience for the better.

If you attend one of these courses or events, you may, in the end, return to your normal day to day life not feeling like you have changed. However, even if it’s just on a subconscious level, you will see yourself, the work you do and the world differently. It’s possible that these changes won’t be immediately noticeable to you or others in your core team.

An interesting concept was discussed by Kathy M. Lipper, referred to as “Re-Entry”. The main goal of the concept was to assist people who had profound learning experiences to re-enter into the systems they already had in place, whether it be the organisation they work for, their team or family etc., so that they could continue to develop, while sharing what they had learned effectively with the people in the life and system who weren’t with them for that learning experience. The theory is that by focusing our thoughts on Re-Entry, we will be able to get more from the experiences we had and make stronger connections with our colleagues, friends, and relatives in this new version of ourselves. While being able to share the newly developed skills we have achieved in a way that doesn’t put them off or make them feel cut off. This will effectively spread out the skills development we experienced and help others, rather than leaving them to only imagine what we may have learnt and how our new form fits into the existing system.

“While it’s okay for “Re-Entry” to feel like a profound experience, it is crucial to start thinking about what you can do to assist and make personal growth and learning possible.“

While it’s okay for “Re-Entry” to feel like a profound experience or a life-affirming and changing moment, it is crucial to start thinking, after you have successfully re-entered, about what you can do to assist and make that continued personal growth and learning possible. The renowned sociologist, Charles N Seashore, described the various kinds of support we can adapt to learning support systems.

This includes the following:

• Relatives and close companions
• Those with whom we have common interests Competence respecters (people who appreciate our attributes and will support advanced learning)
• Helpers (those we can count on when we have trials and problems)
• Role models Challengers (the ones who give us the motivation to find different ways of doing things)
• Referral agents (help us to find the right tools and situations)

While the learning support systems outlined will help us to continually grow, it’s crucial we don’t forget the part we can play in giving back to the systems we benefited from. A lot of time and patience is involved in building and maintaining those relationships and having a fair attitude is important to achieving the best from our learning support systems.

What systems of learning support are you working on to help you continue learning throughout your life?

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