Reflection of the Principles of Learning

            There are nine principles of learning that can help to understand the different intelligences of the person. Out of this nine I chose two principles, as a subject of my personal reflection. The first principle is the “one of the richest resources for learning is the learner himself.” The other one is “the process of learning is emotional as well as intellectual.” These two principles are closely related to each other and I feel easy to share my own experience in the learning process I enter into.

            For me the first principle is giving more emphasis on the natural gift of capacity and capability of a person that he may use in his learning process. This natural gift of capacity and capability of a person can be acquired through personal experience. This could be also genetically acquired from the parents.

One example of having acquired through experience is that the rice terraces made by Ifugaos. This is a concrete manifestation that Ifugaos have a capacity to build a rice terraces which became one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They don’t have any formal training of land escaping nor as an architect. But their necessity to have a food for their basic needs and that area is available for planting out of their creativity they made as productive. In this sense Ifugaos themselves has rich resources for their learning. One example also of genetically acquired intelligence is that both parents have high IQ and talented. Then the child will have the greater possibility that he has also high level of IQ.

The second principles emphasize that there are two levels of learning process which are emotional level and intellectual level. It means that a person knows how to understand and articulate for a certain situations and circumstances then he is using his cognitive level. The person using his feeling and emotion in understanding the certain situation and circumstances, then he is using his affective level. In other words there must be a balance in the learning process so that the development happened to a person is holistic. This will help to avoid the two imbalances. First imbalance is that intellectually giant but emotionally dwarf. The other one is emotionally giant but intellectually dwarf.

In my own learning process as a student and as a seminarian these two principles is very helpful for my theological reflection and for my concrete manifestation how to live the values and virtues of Christ. I need high level of intellectual capacity to understand the concepts and communicate these ideas to others.  I need also a depth emotional capacity to feel and understand the critical situation which involves the affective level. One concrete example of this is the giving of the homilies by the priest or deacons. The content of the homilies must be both have informative and transformative so that the parishioners who heard that homilies will know and  also feel the presence of God.

Finally these two principles is only a guide for the learning process. This is only a tool in order for us to know more and understand better the things we need in life.