My personal learning narrative

Drawing on Jackson’s (n.d.) concept of a learning ecology as a framework, I will construct and share a narrative of my learning across my lifespan and my learning across spaces and contexts in which I have found myself in. Among other things, Jackson’s (n.d.) learning ecology highlights themes from ranging from contexts, history, relationships, motivations and learning outcomes. With this scaffold as an outline, I will attempt to paint a vivid and succinct highlight narrative of my life and the experiences that have played a pivotal role in my ever-continuing learning journey of my life.

I was born in a city called Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa some forty odd years ago. My earliest memories of learning was a story my mother told me, about what must have been my first learning experience. This was when I was first sent to the nursery school. That was the beginning of my journey onto the road of formal education. I still had a strong attachment to my feeding bottle. My mother had tried several times before to get me off the bottle, so I could switch to using a spoon. After about a couple of days at the nursery school, I refused to be fed from my bottle. I had adapted to my new environment and realized all my peers did not use feeding bottles. I did conform with the ways and norms of my immediate environment. I was quickly learning from the other children around me. I eventually gave up my bottle and learnt to eat with a spoon as the others. Despite my young age, I had already started informally learning from others. Learning from others, as an integral  part from of lifelong learning occurs through relationship with others in the form of socialization.

I had the greater part of my formal education in my home country of Ghana. Right from pre-school,to my graduate MBA was all done in Ghana.. My parents instilled in me the importance of reading. This is one habit that has never deserted me till this day. I am very much an avid reader and reading has and remains my favourite pastime.  Reading has been a source of adding to my ever-growing repertoire of knowledge. What I do not know, I do not hesitate in seeking knowledge through books or the internet. My parents were my first teachers in the informal rudiments of life. Reading and seeking knowledge for its own sake has been on my strong learning motivations. To have a meaningful conversation and at least have a general idea of topics that come up during conversations keeps me wanting to read all the time. My desire to know is more self-motivated and self- directed and this has stayed with me. Reading has also been one source of escape for me since I came to Canada. I find utter solace in reading and it helps lifts me up when I am down. I will identify myself as a bibliophile.

I entered the professional world of banking after university. I stayed on for a little over fourteen years. Starting as management trainee, going on to be branch manager and eventually quitting as an associate director in corporate banking. There was a lot of workplace training during this period. I did learn a lot, formally and informally on managing the intricacies of the corporate world. A lot of my training involved travelling to several countries on the African continent. The travels brought me in touch with different cultures. Looking back and connecting the dots with what I know now as an adult learner, I did learn a lot informally and incidentally as well. My working life as a corporate banker was promising and rewarding. Yearly bonuses were fantastic. Along the line, I started to feel a disconnect. I learnt that true happiness was not about money. It was more of the peace within and following my passion. A void started to build up in me and I started to lose the joy I had in my job. I started asking myself questions, deep introspection and reflection ensued about my profession. I can relate with what (Jarvis, 2007) refers to as a “ disjuncture, the sense of not feeling at home in the world” . I felt so disconnected within the world of banking. This was one pivotal moment in my life and I started looking for meaning in my life. The seeds of migration to were sown at this point and I strongly felt the need to follow my heart and pursue my passion. 

for me. I began to question myself the values that held true for me. I wanted fulfillment in my life. I believed I had much more to offer than just making money. I believed in unearthing my latent talent and purpose of being an educator. Deep inside within me a “hidden like buried  treasure…that must be left untapped” (Delors, 1996) I stepped out into the world. Learning to become was the way forward for me. I virtually come alive when I have any opportunity to learn. My goal is to proceed and make my new learning in adult learning a vocation. With my prior experience in banking and my ongoing knowledge acquisition in adult learning I aspire to go on share my knowledge in a developing region of the world.

It is worth mentioning another epic event shook the very foundation of my life. This is the most significant and meaningful event in my life. It took a tragedy for me to take a step back and take stock of my life. I lost my little brother in a motor accident. This event shook and rustled my very being. It got me looking at life through a more spiritual lens. Prior to this I was living the high life of a bachelor and philandering all over the place. Life was bliss. The loss of my brother slowed me down. I settled down and got married shortly after. I got in touch with my inner self and I grew up spiritually. This was another key learning event for me. According to Groen and Kawalilak (2014), when stressful events occur, they have the potential for significant learning, far often greater than the learning resulting from typical and expected life transitions. Marriage and having a family had a profound effect on me.  These new relationships in my life came with a steep learning curve. I began learning to be husband and father. These are relationship roles I continue to learn about every day.

The culmination of all my past experiences and what I continue to learn every day, what I have learnt formally and informally is the individual I have become today. The cyclical journey of learning commences the very moment we rise from our beds in the morning till nightfall. Learning only stops only we have no breath in us, when we finally go to our graves, that is when our learning odyssey stops. As an adult educator and learner, my potential to learn knows no boundaries. Looking back, reflecting and connecting all the dots in my life of learning brings in its wake greater meaning and a sense of appreciation of all what I have learnt to date. It is worth mentioning that all my learning was not done in isolation. The context and society in which I found myself at any given time helped shape me as an individual. Relationships, places and events have been props that have helped in my learning on this stage called life. I count myself fortunate, having the opportunity to learn in Canada from a western perspective, in a different socio-cultural environment, combining this with my past learning experience from an African context, not only broadens my horizon in terms of my outlook and thinking, but goes a long way to make me a cosmopolitan learner and educator.

References

Delors, J. (1996). Learning: the Treasure Within. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/00109 5/109590eo.pdf 

Groen, J. & Kawalilak, C. (2014) Pathways of adult learning: Professional and education narratives. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholar’s Press.

Jackson, N. J. (n.d.). Lifewide learning and education in universities and colleges: Concepts and conceptual aids. In N. J. Jackson & J. Willis (Eds.), Lifewide learning and education in universities and colleges (pp. 1-25). Retrieved from http://www.learninglives.co.uk/ebook.html 

Jarvis, P. (2007). Globalization, lifelong learning and the learning society: Sociological perspectives. New York: Routledge.