A set of cards designed to stimulate storytelling, reflection and dialogue about your learning biography, learning in groups and learning in general. A great tool for trainer, learning coaches, facilitators and engaged lifelong learners.

 

What is the set of cards Learning in Transition about?

Learning in Transition is based on a story-telling approach and the concept of learning biography. We learn predominantly through experiences and stories have the power to re-connect us with these experiences – and make it possible to learn from them, to gain awareness about oneself as well as others. Stories – especially personal ones – have the potential to unmask, reveal and let emerge new insights; since they often come from a deeper source than the brain.

Furthermore Learning in Transition is following the path of constructivist learning. The key to learning is in the meaning you give to experiences and information rather than the content itself. Therefore the cards also stimulate (self-)reflection and peer exchange – to (re-) construct on your own or in groups learning about (your) learning.

 

What is in the Learning in Transition box?

On each card you find the beginning of a sentence that can inspire you to tell a story or share a reflection.
There are 3 main categories of cards:

• The green EXPLORE cards (24 cards): This set of cards invite you to tell stories connected to you as a learner, to your learning biography.
• The orange ENGAGING cards (24 cards): This set of cards can help you to design or adjust your profile as a learner. What kind of learner are you, what supports you or block you?
• The blue EMERGING cards (19 cards): This set of cards is designed to stimulate discussions and to exchange viewpoints on and around the topic of learning. It is not about having THE right answer but gaining more perspectives on the topic.

 

How to use the cards?

These cards are yours, of course, to use in whatever ways make sense and work for you: for your self-reflection as a learner, to gain more awareness as an educator, to reflect together with colleagues on your approach to learning, in trainings to work with groups on the topic of learning to learn, in mentoring and coaching, and many other contexts.

As the three categories already hint Learning in Transition is there to explore, engage and (let) emerge. If your wish is to explore and connect to your learning biography(ies) focus on the green cards and tell stories. If your wish is more to discover your current learning preferences or styles and share this in a group to see the diversity take the orange pack. If your wish is to have dialogue about learning more in general the blue set of cards are most useful.

If you feel there was already enough talking and you have a need to activate other intelligences include the “Activity-Cards” – Riming, Miming, Drawing, Telling and Joker; and suddenly there is reflection, storytelling and exchange also using non-verbal methods.

In the box you will find some proposals for exercises with the cards – but of course many more are possible.

 

Acknowledgments

Learning in transition is a follow-up product of the vivid and fruitful efforts of the UNIQUE community to explore what supports the learning to learn (L2L) competence in adults.

UNIQUE is a network of facilitators, educators, and researchers in non-formal learning across Europe – including the two authors of Learning in Transition, Paola Bortini and Peter Hofmann.

A special thanks goes to the members of the Learning Partnership “Learning Activators”, 2010-12, the participants of the “UNIQUE Spaces”, Portugal in 2012, and Paul Kloosterman, Mark Taylor, editors of the “Handbook for facilitators: Learning to learn in practice”, 2010.

Additional activities and exercises developed by the UNIQUE network to support the L2L competence, as well as an ongoing reflection on L2L and self-(directed) learning can be found in the online platform of UNIQUE.

 

How to get the set of cards?

Just tell us in our contact form how many boxes you want, where to send them to and who is the receiver of the invoice. We will send you an invoice with the cost of the box (22 Euros) + shipping costs. After the bank transfer has been done we will send you the box(es). There is of course a reduction in price the more you order (3 boxes for 60 Euros, 5 for 100 Euros, 10 for 200 Euros).