By Luke Weatherson
My job did not exist 10 years ago and if it did when I applied for university, I was certainly unaware of it. In the most general sense, graduating with a degree in Social Work provided me with the skills to do a few things very well in the context in which they were needed. Equally as important, attaining a degree taught me the concept of a learning approach, which entails the mindset to always learn and gives you a perspective on how to learn and understand new concepts, operations and people.
Currently, as the Freedom Registry’s Expansion Coordinator, I support the expansion of our interactive stakeholder database, our learning community and anti-human trafficking commons. I am in situations I could not have anticipated back in my university days and the learning approach has accompanied me this entire journey, enabling me to articulate, digest and deeply understand my situations and experiences.
My experience in the anti-trafficking sector actually began on less of a learning curve within the theoretical construct of a learning approach but eventually I implemented the learning approach by questioning each new thing on the premise of how it functions without prior knowledge or skill set to handle and assess the situation.
The quick international growth of Freedom Registry reinforced this learning approach, as we often have to jump between national contexts daily which requires a learning approach. For example, it is necessary to understand the nature of trafficking in Singapore or the role of a Nepali network in fightight against trafficking within their own cultural context and requires an open interpretation and essentially "beginner" eyes, to find the relations in between the static and (dis)connections.
Through our work at Chab Dai, we also see that we are on a learning curve as well, where the most important skill we use is this learning approach. We see it in our organizational development, through adapting to new circumstances and being proactive to the changes we can anticipate. I’m confident that our members see themselves in a similar light as well.
The learning approach is simple, it’s an attitude that I do not have all the answers and I want to know as much as I can. At the heart is problem solving, because when we discover the consequences or outcomes from our procedures and orientations, and through reflection on our past, we can construct our own understanding. Learning then becomes an active process that demands change within the learner. This is then achieved through the activities that we engage in, the outcomes that are produced and finally, a reflection that brings a deep learning curve within ourselves. Applying it is even simpler and you are probably already using. It’s just a matter of focusing and being open to the myriad of possibilities that arise in a situation and taking action.
