Why We Learn Better When We Care?

Have you ever sat through a boring lecture or training session, dutifully taking notes, only to forget everything shortly after? It’s like being at a fancy dinner, and the chef serves a dish with all the best ingredients—but it’s bland. You poke at it, unimpressed, because despite the quality, it lacks what truly matters: flavour. Or perhaps you’ve wondered why some learning experiences stick with you for years while others fade away.  Nick Shackleton-Jones argues that our current education system is much like that dish—designed with good intentions but missing the crucial element that makes learning stick: care. In his thought-provoking book, “How People Learn”, Shackleton-Jones explores why people only learn when they care and how we can redesign education to tap into this powerful, emotional core.

Shackleton-Jones highlights a fundamental truth: people remember what they care about and forget what they don’t. This is why you might vividly recall the joy of your first bike ride or the embarrassment of slipping in public but struggle to remember the content of a dull meeting or a routine class. Like overstuffed suitcases, our brains only pack what’s essential—our most emotionally charged memories.

He uses the metaphor of a banana stunt at a learning conference, where he taped bananas under the audience’s seats and orchestrated a “Banana Munching Olympics.” While the content of his talk was likely forgotten, participants remembered the bananas. This simple, quirky act illustrated that when learning connects emotionally, it endures far longer than any PowerPoint slide ever could.

The Flawed Factory Model of Education

The traditional education system, built on a factory model, is a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s designed to churn out productive workers but often fails to engage learners. Shackleton-Jones describes this as an outdated approach that tries to force knowledge into people’s heads without considering their interests or emotions. It’s like trying to teach someone to cook by throwing random ingredients at them and hoping something edible comes out. This stark comparison highlights the need for a more personalised, engaging approach to education, urging us to rethink and innovate our current system.

When we want to teach someone something, we must get where they’re coming from. Instead of overwhelming people with facts, we should zero in on what matters to them. On the first day at high school, students are more concerned about finding their classes, making new friends, and understanding the school’s rules and routines than learning complex academic theories that don’t seem relevant to their immediate experiences.

The Affective Context Model: Learning as Emotional Mapping

Shackleton-Jones introduces his “Affective Context Model,” where learning is less about absorbing facts and more about emotional mapping. Imagine your mind as a city map, with landmarks representing significant emotional moments. You navigate based on these landmarks—your memories of what mattered, what made you laugh, cry, or cringe.

This explains why two people can share the same experience but remember it differently. It’s not just the event that matters, but how it makes each person feel. Shackleton-Jones argues that the more profound the personal significance, the stronger the memory. This model pushes us to rethink education: instead of asking, “What do I want to teach?” we should ask, “What do I want my learners to feel?” The principles of the Affective Context Model can be applied in various everyday learning situations:

  • In Schools: Teachers can incorporate storytelling and real-life scenarios into lessons to make subjects more relatable.
  • In Corporate Training: Organisations can create workshops that address employees’ specific concerns and aspirations, promoting an environment where learning feels relevant and engaging.
  • In Personal Development: Encourage individuals to reflect on their emotional responses to past experiences to guide their future learning paths.

Design Learning That Resonates: The 5Di Model

To help educators create experiences that resonate, Shackleton-Jones proposes the 5Di Learning Design Model: Define, Discover, Design, Develop, and Deploy. Like crafting the perfect recipe, this model offers a systematic and effective way to design learning experiences. It’s a promising approach that can transform how we think about education, empowering educators to take charge of creating engaging learning experiences.

  • Define success by outcomes rather than learning objectives. Consider a person learning to play the guitar. Instead of just focusing on practising the chords and scales, the outcome-based approach would aim to be able to play a specific song or perform in front of an audience.
  • Discover what matters to your learners. Just like a friend who learns your favourite movies and music to plan a surprise birthday party that you’d love, understanding your learners’ interests and preferences is like a detective uncovering clues to tailor the learning experience accordingly.
  • Design the most efficient, tailored resources and experiences. It’s like tailoring a suit to fit perfectly, ensuring every aspect is customised to suit the individual’s specific needs and preferences.
  • Develop these resources and tools with the learner in mind. It’s like a chef preparing a dish with the diner’s tastes and dietary requirements in mind, ensuring that every ingredient and technique is chosen to cater to their needs.
  • Deploy your solutions iteratively, continuously adjusting based on feedback. Just as a GPS navigation system makes constant course corrections during a journey to ensure reaching the destination despite changing conditions, deploying solutions iteratively and adjusting based on feedback ensures the learning process stays on track and meets the desired outcomes. This emphasises the value of continuous feedback in the learning process, making the audience feel their input is crucial and appreciated.

Just as a chef tweaks a dish based on diners’ reactions, educators must continuously refine their approach, making learning a dynamic and responsive experience. This method doesn’t just transfer knowledge; it transforms it into something meaningful.

Embrace Pull Learning: When They Care, They’ll Learn

 Education often employs a “push” model, forcing information onto learners without considering their interests or motivations.

Shackleton-Jones emphasises ‘pull’ learning—offering resources people seek when they care about a topic. This is akin to how you use Google Maps: You don’t memorise the directions; you pull them up when needed. In education, ‘pull learning’ means providing resources and information when learners actively seek them based on their interests and motivation. This approach respects the learner’s autonomy and encourages self-directed learning. The new approach incorporates both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ strategies. When learners care about a topic, they can access resources (‘pull’) as needed; when they don’t care, educators must create experiences that ignite interest (‘push’).

He argues against forcing content through lectures or e-learning modules, which often end up as unengaging information dumps. Instead, when people already care, give them easy-to-access, practical guides. And when they don’t care, design experiences that make them care—experiences that emotionally connect, like a gripping story or a vivid simulation that mirrors real-life challenges.

Nick Shackleton-Jones’ “How People Learn” urges us to rethink education and training, focusing not on content but on connection. Just as a great story lingers long after the last page is turned, truly impactful learning resonates emotionally, creating lasting impressions. To make education meaningful, we must first make it matter to those learning it.

Ultimately, learning isn’t about cramming facts but creating experiences people care about. Shackleton-Jones says, “The solution is to allow people to learn as they care or to find a way to make them care.” By embracing this human-centred approach, we can transform learning from a chore into a journey that enriches lives.

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