Let Me Learn

Let Me Learn's impact spans the globe. Below are overviews of LML international projects which involve other nations.

THE GRUNDTVIG PROJECT

She is an aspiring primary school teacher studying at the University of Malta. As part of her training, she attends staff development workshops that describe the different personal learning processes of the students whose lives she will touch...
He is a worker in Slovenia. His country's economy is undergoing dramatic changes. New kinds of work are being done, and new kinds of workers are needed to do it, and the changes are threatening to leave him unemployed. He attends adult vocational training that helps him learn how he learns-and helps him expand his skills?
She is an executive with a government-owned company in Italy whose mission is to help foster economic growth in her region. To create more qualified employees for the businesses she has identified as having growth potential, she is studying the ways people learn....
He is a member of a group in Spain that studies Mediterranean cultures and supports cultural dialogue and human rights. To bring people together, he wants to study how they learn, and foster mutual tolerance for different ways of learning and experiencing the world of ideas?
She is a member of a London-based organization working to give people throughout Europe more access to higher education. She seeks to make sure that neither gender, ethnic origin, nationality, age, disability, family background, geographic location, nor any other factor separates people who want to learn from the opportunity to learn.

What do all of these people have in common?

All are part of the Grundtvig Project, sponsored by the European Commission. The project makes use of the principles of Let Me Learn to help students, workers, business managers, and the nations they live in maximize human potential. It is based on this principle: Educators and human resource developers can create an environment in which they can hear the voice of the learner, understand the learner, and guide the learner toward success.

Each nation involved in the Grundtvig Project is developing a training model and curriculum to help adult learners succeed, based on the Interactive Learning Model described by Let Me Learn. Learners are understanding the processes and strategies they use to learn, and trainers are creating environments that respect the diversity of students' learning processes.

Together, trainers and learners are recognizing how the differences among learners affect success in the classroom and output in the workplace. Each nation is using the Let Me Learn techniques to enhance economic development training, to train adult learners who are changing careers, or to aid adults who are returning to school in order to increase their potential as employees. This is exciting work--work with tangible benefits for both the individual and the society.

Learn more about the principles and practices of Let Me Learn click here.

PORTRAIT OF A LET ME LEARN FACILITATOR

All agencies participating in the Grundtvig Project are currently certifying trainers to use the tools of the Let Me Learn model, including the Learning Connections Inventory. The trainers are learning how to help learners understand how they learn and how to tailor education to the student's learning patterns. Who are these trainers? Meet a typical candidate who is in the process of becoming a trainer for the economic development region of Umbria/Tuscany, Italy.

Meet Emilia Sorci.

She's 35 years old, and a native of Perugia, Italy.
She holds an "enterprise jurist" degree (business management), after completing professional training sponsored by her provincial government and Perugia University.
She attended courses at the Perugia Notarial School.
She worked with people overcoming drug addiction, teaching them entrepreneurial skills.
She assisted young people in enterprise creation and self-esteem enhancement programs and led orientation seminars.

Emilia Sorci is a high achiever who is learning how best to help others to become high achievers. More than that, as part of her training, she is learning how she learns--so she can apply that knowledge to help others.

Are you interested in becoming a Let Me Learn facilitator? Please contact us for more information.

THE SECOND LET ME LEARN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Educators and business leaders who are engaged with the exciting possibilities offered by the Let Me Learn program had a unique chance to exchange ideas last July in scenic Citta della Pieve, Italy. The three-day, internationally sponsored conference included workshops, forums, and presentations on the theme of "Strategically Positioning Your Learning Organization to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century."

Sponsored by the Let Me Learn Centre of the University of Malta and Rowan University's Center for the Advancement of Learning, as well as by the Sviluppumbria Spa company, the conference's sessions were held at Il Perugino, an international institute for pluridisciplinary study of Italian culture. Sessions included a workshop led by Dr. Frances Johnson on the practical applications of the LML Process and a research presentation delivered by Ms. Ruth Falzon and Ms. Carmen Muscat on the role that Let Me Learn can play in helping children with dyslexia learn to read.

Conferees played as well as worked, of course! Evening trips to Florence and Assisi were scheduled, and there was time to enjoy the unique charm of Citte della Pieve. Located on a hill, 500 metres above sea level, Citta della Pieve blends the cultures of Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio. It belonged to the city-state of Chiusi during the Etruscan-Roman period, as is evident from the archaeological objects, now featured in many European museums, that were found along the Val di Chiana at the base of the hill. The town was at the fulcrum of classical European history when the Roman Empire began to emerge from its Etruscan antecedents. It was a fitting place to ponder the nature of learning, whose ultimate purpose, after all, is the transmission of human knowledge and culture.

MALTA LEADS THE WAY

The nation of Malta, a group of islands south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, has strongly embraced Let Me Learn principles and practices, serving in effect as a kind of laboratory for testing Let Me Learn's effectiveness. Let Me Learn is a part of the national curriculum and part of the primary school preparation courses at the University of Malta. In addition, the University of Malta is the site for the European Unit, the central contact point for European-funded Let Me Learn activities.

The European Unit promotes the development of open and distance learning in connection with efforts across the continent. It also offers its services to corporations and industries that are interested in promoting learning in the workplace. Let Me Learn--Malta is a program within the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta. It promotes a novel way to connect teachers and learners with their learning processes and conducts regular staff development workshops for teachers.

Let Me Learn educators in Malta are exporting their knowledge, too. The Maltese staff has shared the wealth of its experiences with student teachers in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Albania.

Says one Let Me Learn Malta official: "We believe in a foreseeable future in which learners are equipped to manage their learning and realize their potential without mental barriers which hinder their development."

Visit Let Me Learn--Malta and learn more about Let Me Learn and the National Minimum Curriculum.

COMMON DENOMINATORS

"When I first presented the Let Me Learn concepts to the Mediterranean Rim Conference of Ministries of Education sponsored by UNESCO in 1999, I found an amazing interest in how to reach learners. What we have found is that these learning processes cut across both genders, all cultures, races, nationalities, and ethnic communities. They are common denominators that underpin our human makeup." --Dr. Christine Johnston, Ed. D., Rowan University

To read Dr. Johnston's paper "Unlocking the Will to Learn: Identifying a Student's Unique Learning Combination," originally presented at Oxford University click here.