Learning? How do you do that?

The first media lesson of the year. Despite being in education for 12 years, doing a new subject is always very strange. Will it live up to your expectations? Will you like the teacher? Will you be able to achieve everything that you expected from the subject? It is very early days at the moment, and from the initial lesson it is impossible to tell. One thing that is for certain is that the lesson very thought provoking. When you like to think you're clever it is usually viewed as a positive sign, yet when asked 'what makes someone clever' it is very difficult to answer. You could almost say that you have to be very clever to answer it, as there are many different things that can make someone clever, but can you explain it?

Its not as easy as it sounds, trust me.

Then you have the learning techniques. Would you like to be the Itchy of the class? The one who enjoys the work, learns how to use the techniques in their real life and interacts with real people to try and improve their standard of work and their thought processes? Or the Scratchy? The one who has to be 'Spoon-Fed' information, the person who simply copies things don off the board and doesn't know how to do the work for themselves. Scratchy might not be the brightest person in the world, but he passes his exams due to the teacher doing his work for him. The pair could get the same grades as one another, and so on paper they are exactly the same. But once it comes to having to impress a potential employer or learn a new skill then Scratchy will struggle. Teachers won't be able to help him be successful at an interview, and he will almost appear to be reading from a script. The script that was seemingly used in his lessons, the script that is all of a sudden taken away and he cannot show his individuality because he has been taught to be just like everyone else, and not use his brain to connect to situations when it really matters. It all sounds very familiar, and that is because it is the way teaching is through school. You aren't taught to share your ideas with the class, and lessons become quiet. The world needs more Itchys to come through and be themselves.

Who knew that they would become such a big part of a discussion on learning?