July 22, 2014
Here is an interesting visual I recently stumbled upon on Teachthought. This visual features the 4 characteristics of a learning leader as surmised by Heutagogy of Community Practice. While these characteristics are meant to decry a professional learner, they are also the same ethos that underly the concept of life-long learning in general. Things like project management skills, ability to research and learn, ability to self-regulate,optimism, and empathy are all elemental components of the psychological and intellectual makeup of a lifelong learner.
Here is the full list of leading learner characteristics.
1. Ability to deal with ambiguity
- Low need for control
- Openness to Experience (one of the Big 5 personality traits)
- Moderate perfectionism
- High Stability (low anxiety)
- Project management skills
- Ability to use social media
- Optimism
- An understanding of how to motivate others
- Ability to foster a shared purpose and vision
- An understanding of human needs
- Interpersonal effectiveness
- Ability to self-regulate
- Empathy
- Ability to research and learn
- Being thoroughly on top of one’s subject area
- Wide and accessible networks
- Able to share with others
- Knowledge management skills
- The ability to foster collaborative learning
- The capacity to scan the external environment
- Able to foster participative democracy/collaboration decision-making and process
- Able to actively diffuse power
- Capacity to work in a team
- Ongoing internal and external analysis of effectiveness (continuous improvement)
