So\u2026what\u2019s the point?\u00a0 Why would anyone write a book about telling someone else about ways to study?\u00a0 Rowntree noted that he didn\u2019t write the book to tell anyone how to study, but instead to introduce various ways of learning.\u00a0 Yup, that makes it clear as mud!\u00a0 Sometimes, books really hold little meaning, as noted in the following humorous interaction:<\/p>\n
Teacher to student:\u00a0 \u201cIsaac Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity.\u00a0 What did you learn from that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Student to teacher:\u00a0 \u201cI learned that if he had been sitting in class looking at books like us, he wouldn\u2019t have discovered anything!\u201d<\/p>\n
So basically, learning is about application, right?\u00a0 So, then it\u2019s true that learning to study is about experiencing as well.\u00a0 \u00a0Rowntree noted that \u2018the idea of learning involves the capacity to relate new ideas to existing ideas and apply them in new ways.\u2019[1]<\/a>\u00a0 This allows the opportunity to pursue the implication of the new ideas and see how they connect with other ideas of interest.<\/p>\n When I first began working with human trafficking victims nearly ten years ago (long before \u2018human trafficking\u2019 became a buzz word), I had an agenda in place of how to help these broken individuals.\u00a0 I knew that there were steps that needed to be taken to help these girls find their way back from the trauma of human trafficking.\u00a0 My plans included:<\/p>\n But one day, I was truly listening to a survivor and realized that my agenda was not HER agenda.\u00a0 She noted her greatest desire was to just to start with a bike.\u00a0 She had always wanted a bike as a child and it was the desire of her heart.\u00a0 I suddenly realized that small steps were all these individuals needed, as too big of steps created anxiety and fear for them.\u00a0 Of all the things there were to accomplish in this world after crisis, her goal was not even in the top 100 of my agenda items.\u00a0 Yet, this was what was important to her \u2013 and I had to learn that her agenda was all that mattered at that point in time.<\/p>\n So, as Rowntree explored in his book, I \u2018switched approaches\u2019 and took a deep approach instead of a surface approach to find out what a survivor desired most.\u00a0 I called it \u2018my miracle question.\u2019 \u00a0It was as simple as asking, \u2018If you woke up tomorrow and your world became everything you wanted it to be, what would that look like for you?\u2019[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Through this \u2018miracle question,\u2019 I was able to see the world through the eyes of the survivor.\u00a0 And my knowledge about what it was that SHE was seeking became most important.<\/p>\n Rowntree noted that we acquire our vast fund of everyday facts not through memorizing them, but through living with them. He explained that \u2018the focus should be on what people and places and things mean to us and how we relate to them and one another.\u2019[3]<\/a>\u00a0 This is a powerful statement and I agree with his philosophy.\u00a0 Interaction is the key to retaining knowledge, which, as the author notes, becomes part of the narrative of our lives.<\/p>\n A cute story to end with that pertains to facts and knowledge that I can so relate to:<\/p>\n The teacher of the earth science class was lecturing on map reading.\u00a0 After explaining about latitude, longitude, degrees and minutes, the teacher asked, \u201cSuppose I asked you to meet me for lunch as 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude?\u201d<\/p>\n After a confused silence, a voice volunteered, \u201cI guess you\u2019d be eating alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Facts are just facts and hold little meaning to us \u2013 unless we learn to understand the meaning of them within our lives in a deep style of embracing how they relate to us in the end.\u00a0 And, with that, I bid you a Cantonese goodbye:\u00a0 \u201cbai.bai\u201d<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Derek Rowntree, Learn How to Study: \u00a0Developing the Study skills and Approaches to Learning That Will Help You<\/em> Succeed in University<\/em>, 6 ed. (Amazon Digital Services:\u00a0 Kindle Edition, 2016).<\/p>\n\n