Everything is a Process, and Process is Everything.

I am a self-diagnosed process junkie. I believe it all began during my freshman year of college while taking general education courses, specifically Biology 101. I’d always perceived science as a magical, mystical entity reserved for the smart scientist types. So imagine my surprise when six weeks into my university course, I found myself standing in the front of one of those vast college auditoriums, explaining the process of energy synthesis to my classmates.

This was when the magic began to unfold, as I started to see that this mystical creature called biology really just described a collection of processes playing out the act of living/dying/existing. Soon I began to comprehend everything around me as a process…some combined with others, some dependent on others, but essentially all just sequential steps to achieve an end result.

Everything is a process. 

Driving? Process. 

Parenting? Process. 

Falling in love? Yep, even that is a process.

Based on this knowledge, I’ll share with you how to unshroud the mystery of adult learning by unpacking a couple of approaches that really are just a series of predefined steps.

Foundations of learning processes

Before we start, I would offer two foundational concepts for the adult learning process to succeed.

• Systemic and Systematic The process of adult learning features both systemic and systematic characteristics. As an adult learner experiences a transformation (learns something), they impact the environment around them with their new knowledge or skills…imagine how, as an apprentice accumulates skills and becomes an expert, they can increase the productivity of the business by 20%. Additionally, the process is systematic; the output at each step becomes the input for the next.

• Order of Operation Because of the systematic nature of the adult learning process, following the order of operation is critical. Just as the mitochondria can’t produce energy without first having the transport of ADP, so the adult learning process also has dependencies. When implementing any of the approaches to learning, you must follow the order of operation in order to achieve the desired outcome. (Please note, it’s been a couple of decades since that biology class, so please don’t test my statement on mitochondria and ADP 🙂)

Process 1: Reflective Practice 

Reflective practice is an application of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory. Where Kolb’s learning cycle is described as an endless circle of absorbing, reflecting, and acting [2], reflective practice focuses on specific moments of reflection-on-action, and reflection-in-action. 

Reflection-on-action takes place after an experience, or possibly in anticipation of an experience through research. Reflection-in-action is more dynamic and requires the actor to make adjustments while taking action. 

In a previous blog post, I shared how I applied reflective practice to work on my relationship with my daughter. And by using a colorful blend of eight real-life stories in teaching, instructor Tom Russell shares how his process of reflective practice was a successive series of triggers and reframing - how an event would cause him to reflect on his actions, which he then reframed and applied the reflection while performing the modified action. [3] In either case, the reflective practice demonstrates the importance of the process.

Process 2: Transformative Learning

Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning may represent the most distinct process within adult learning. His early description of the learning process had an almost rigid quality, where the learning occurred in a crisply defined set of ten cognitive-based steps. His theory focused on cognitive transformation, and even though he shifted his view to see that more emotion and intuition could impact the process, ultimately the act of transformation still depended on a rational, sequential process.

Although later professionals saw transformative learning as far more dependent on emotions, their theories actually still reflect the requirement of following process. John Dirkx beautifully asserts how transformation must embrace what lies within our soul, and shares how the ancient Greeks believed education (educare) existed for us to connect to a deeper consciousness within. [4] 

Loosely, this process would follow a sequence such as:

1. We first experience some type of epiphany triggered by emotion. I saw a friend laughing and joking with her daughter and a feeling of envy bubbled up.

2. We acknowledge and attend to this emotion. Surprised at the feeling, I realized I was envious that I did not have the same type of relationship with my own daughter.

3. We elaborate on the meaning of the emotion. I thought about whether I was angry, resentful, or just sad. What was the source emotion v. the presenting emotion?

4. We label the emotion and explore the reason for the emotion. I understood that I felt sadness and disappointment.

5. We may then take action based on the previous step. I interpreted the content of a book on negotiation as a tool I could use at home with my daughter, and applied the new skills.

Even without naming a specific order of steps, the transformation, the connection to our soul, still requires a process.

From love to learning

While we may view so much of life as magic that just unfolds before us, the truth actually lies in the process behind creating the magic. I hope you too can begin to see how life around us is a symphony of sequence, so that you may leverage the beauty of process for creating your own magic…whether it be love, adult learning, or anything else you hope to create!

References

1. Experiential Learning | Center for Teaching & Learning. (n.d.). © 2022 Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/ctl/guides/experiential-learning/

2. EBLS. (2019, August 4). 8 Things To Know About the Experiential Learning Cycle (Part 1) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PWtLC7u6jg

3. Russell, T. (2017). A teacher educator’s lessons learned from reflective practice. European Journal of Teacher Education, 41(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2017.1395852

4. Dirkx, J. M. (2012). Self-Formation and Transformative Learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(4), 399–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713612456420