Continuing education

A new book outlines seven steps to becoming a lifelong learner

by David Valdes Greenwood

When Kim Soucie and Hiram Scott registered for a writing course through the department of continuing education at Emerson College, they didn't know each other. On the surface they had little in common: Soucie, who commutes in from the suburbs, is finishing up a degree in marketing, while Scott, a Dorchester native, is just beginning to study communications. But both are prime examples of "peak learners."

"Peak learning" is a term coined by Ronald Gross in his 1991 motivational book of the same name, which has just been updated in a "21st Century" edition. Chair of the University Seminar on Innovation at Columbia University, with two decades of practical research and 15 books on the potential of the human mind to his credit, Gross specializes in giving confidence to adult learners and helping them maximize the gifts they bring to and take from later-life education.

Gross's enthusiasm for the subject is clear even during a phone interview. His voice is that of a cheerful zealot when he emphasizes the most important thing an adult who wants to be a peak learner should know before approaching new courses of study: "To realize that this time it's completely for you!" he says. This stands in contrast to what many adults remember of college the first time around, when choices may have been made under parental pressure and majors were defined by pre-set courses. "It's hard to get rid of the conditioning and say `It's for me,' " Gross says.

Soucie, 35, agrees. "I was nervous at first . . . but it was fulfilling," she says. "I was doing it on my own, having my own accomplishments. And it's the best thing I've ever done for myself." When she started going back to school five years ago, it filled a need. Coworkers were focused on child-raising, but she was newly divorced. Instead of pursuing a family, she wanted to grow professionally. And after 12 years of being a secretary, she says, she realized she could do more.

At 36, Scott wants more, too. Having produced his own community-access cable program (The Variety Show on BNN-TV 3) for three years, he wanted to expand his knowledge of that field and eventually see what opportunities there were in television and video. He says he knew it would be a time-consuming process, but "being older didn't make me nervous -- I was actually looking forward to it." That eagerness to learn is key to what Gross sees as the "seven essentials for peak learners."

1. You can learn how to learn. Although common myth has it that effective learning is accomplished only in childhood, recent studies have proved otherwise. Our brains are not less receptive as we age, but the way we take in and process information changes. Gross says adult learners simply need to be aware of how they acquire information best. For Scott, that means being direct. "When I go to class, I don't feel like I can't ask something. There are no shackles about asking questions or saying I don't understand."

2. You are already a superb learner on occasion, and you can build on that natural skill to make the rest of your learning easy, enjoyable, and productive. Gross encourages people to think about the subjects in which they soak up information readily. For example, the mind naturally makes room for understanding and storing information about favorite hobbies and pursuits. Work situations, too, can provide evidence that you have the capacity to acquire new skills.

3. You have a personal learning style, which you can identify, take advantage of, and strengthen to become an even more accomplished learner. Do you group big ideas together for a broad picture of a subject, or do you prefer to string step-by-step instructions together into a specific unified whole? Are you attracted to data or personal communication? These are just some of the questions Gross asks learners to contemplate as they search for a course of study that suits them. For Soucie, pursuing a specific degree program met her needs. "I live better and work better with structure and organization," she says. "And having to schedule my classes and time for homework and for team projects in class has helped me be even more organized with everything else in my life."

4. You learn best when you are most active mentally (and sometimes physically), making your own decisions about what, how, where, and when to learn. This idea of active learning -- which requires effort and planning on the part of the learner -- is crucial to the "peak" experience. Gross says that "with the freedom of choosing your path, there must also be responsibility." Scott concurs, noting that "there's no one telling you `you have to do this and this,' so it means you have to be responsible yourself."

5. You can design the environment that makes your learning more comfortable and hence more effective. Gross stresses the importance of finding out whether you are a "lark" or an "owl" (a morning or a night person) and knowing how posture, atmosphere, and physical setting affect how you learn. For instance, if you know you can't write while sitting on your sofa, then write at your desk; if your mind is most active first thing in the morning, do your homework then and exercise later in the day.

6. You learn most enjoyably by choosing from a rich array of media, methods, and experiences. The book suggests expanding your knowledge by availing yourself of paperback literary classics and great artwork reproduced in books, but this can also mean taking a course that offers you something other than a credit toward a major. Soucie expected to gain useful marketing-design and strategy tools in her major classes, but one of her most influential courses turned out to be in public speaking, a general-education elective that made her aware of how she talks. "I think I'm a more articulate person now," she says.

7. You can accelerate your career by l(earning) your living -- mastering new skills and knowledge virtually every day at work. Gross encourages learners to build opportunities for growth and mastery into their work day. Besides encouraging personal development, this can yield praise and an officewide awareness of your contributions. Soucie's study helped her leave secretarial work behind; now she works in marketing for an Internet services company and says, "A lot of my courses have helped me put things together at work. They help me look at problems a little differently."

For more information on "peak learning," visit Ronald Gross's Web site at http://www.lifling.com. His book, Peak Learning: How to Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program for Personal Enlightenment and Professional Success, was recently republished by Putnam and is available for $16.95.

That Soucie has been able to get what she wants is what Gross likes to hear. He doesn't even mind if people think of learning as an analogue to shopping: "Be active, like a consumer. There's no reason to put up with uncongenial people and a more expensive product," he says. His description of what learners/customers must say to themselves sounds like a mantra: "My way, my price, convenient for me." After all, education is indeed big business, and course providers actually do think of students in terms of revenue. "Even continuing-education people," Gross points out, "are still in sales." If they want your money, they absolutely should give you what you want -- and you shouldn't feel bad about making your needs known.

The expense involved -- which can be considerable if you choose a degree program at a private college -- inspires a warning from Scott. "The one thing I'd tell students is to be sure that you can put in the time for homework and projects. If you can't commit to the time, then maybe approach it another way." That is exactly what Gross recommends in his book, suggesting everything from television to networking to zoos as alternative ways of acquiring knowledge. He refers to America itself as the Invisible University and encourages adults to pursue learning even -- or especially -- outside the structure of academia.

In the end, what makes someone a "peak learner" is not the receipt of a diploma or the acquisition of a title, but the blossoming awareness that he or she can learn and is entitled to do so. It's a sense of motivation and pride that gets people up in the morning and makes them succeed, even as they eye the future. Soucie and Scott know this firsthand, and it's pretty likely that Gross -- even without meeting them -- would say they're at their peak.

David Valdes Greenwood is a frequent contributor to the Phoenix.