Assignment

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Assignment 1: Who am I as an adult learner?
Ravneet Boparai
10054769
EDUC 455 S03
University of Calgary

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Who am I as an adult learner? It is a question I have never thought of before. I am not
even sure what it means to be an adult. Legally I might be considered an adult, but at heart I
still feel like a child. I bear no real responsibilities and I am still confused about where my
life is going.
I have only recently begun to reflect on such questions that might lead to answering
the overarching question of who I am as an adult learner. Who am I as a person? What has
brought me to where I am now? Growing up in an upper middle class, Indian family I have
smoothly been sailing through my life from the time I was born until now. My parents have
always been supportive of the choices I have made in my life. They only question my choice
of being a teacher; they feel I am settling for less and I have more potential. Whatever
that means. Nonetheless, they are not forcing or persuading me to pursue anything else. My
parents feel that I have not opened up to other options, that I was set on going into
education and never really thought twice about it. However, for them as long as I am happy
doing something with my life, they will support me.
Life has been simple and tedious. I went to elementary. I went to junior high. I
graduated from high school. I was an exceptional student in school as I was always buried
in my books and never really explored the world around me; I was really shut off and
sheltered. A turning point emerged after high school when I began transitioning into
adulthood-well maybe what I understood as adulthood at that time. I remember making
those tough decisions of what university I should go to. What degree do I choose? Where
do I go? I recall those moments of me telling everyone as a child that I wanted to be a
teacher. That is all I could see myself doing. That is all I wanted to do, but I still was not sure.
I liked science and thus decided to pursue my university career in cellular microbial

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molecular biology. I stayed in Calgary, as I knew I wasnt ready to move away from my
family and friends; I was not independent.
Independency came much later, as a university student when I started opening up
and breaking out of the shell that comforted me for most of my childhood. I needed to
expand my horizon a little more. First off, I needed a real job and not just work for my
family. The job process was a learning process. I didnt even know how to give an interview.
I failed my first one. It was one of the most discouraging things for me at that time. I was not
able to come up with answers regarding my own achievements and I could not for the life of
me understand why my interviewers saw my scholarships as achievements because I sure
didnt. They were very standard for me. Learning from that experience I moved on to give
more interviews until I finally got a job. With work, came more independence, especially
from my parents. I began earning and financially was more capable of taking care of myself.
Now with two jobs, working as a customer service representative and a tutor, I
began getting more comfortable with strangers and started forming this larger radius of
friends around me, cracking the shell even more. I finally learned to interact without being
socially awkward. This is where discussions involving communities of practice have caught
my attention. Communities of practice (CoPs) can be described as social learning systems
where individuals share their own experience and practices to realign each other as
partners and better solve problems (Groen & Kawalilak, 2014). Through dialogue, learners
are encouraged to contribute to their own learning and the learning of others. Being a part
of these social collectives, learners enhance their knowledge and shape their
understandings. They develop a sense of cognitive unity and social identity.

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The exchange of experience among members of a community was what I lacked in
the past. Looking at my progression further into society, Ive come to appreciate what it
means to be a part of a community; whether it is at home, school, or work. By being closed
off in my shell, I developed a tendency to isolate myself from others and work on my
assignments and labs often alone during my school life; I was on the periphery of any
community I belonged to. Without the social interaction with others and the interchange of
meaningful dialogue, I was missing the importance of engaging in informal learning. Upon
entering university and getting a job, I was pushed out of my comfort zone to work and
collaborate with cohorts. I came to value the sharing of ideas and experiences as a member
of a community; I grew individually but also as a member in my community. I was truly
transitioning into an adult, as I became more independent and had a few more
responsibilities that accompanied me with my job and extracurricular activities.
Furthermore, as time neared towards the end of my degree, my fear of not knowing
where my life was going grew. What was I going to do? Where will I work? I for sure did not
want to be a doctor like many of my other peers and friends. I knew that from the time I
began my degree. I did not want to research either. Then what was I going to do? Time was
spent examining my past choices, experiences and thinking of who I was and what I wanted
from life. Finding new opportunities and ways of thinking became an all-encompassing goal.
I now understand this development as transformative learning.
Transformative learning also known as reflective thinking is when our new
experiences misalign with our previous knowledge and understanding of things we have
learned (Groen & Kawalilak, 2014). Transformation occurs when an individual has to access
and modify the old assumptions of the past or become open to new understandings in order

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to engage in society (Beavers, 2009). Redefining my perspectives of the world and myself
was an arduous task. Where my life was going did not align with the choices and decisions I
had previously made. I had to stop and review my previous decisions along with
determining who I was and what I wanted in the world.
During this time of transformative learning, a moment that resonated for me in my
past was my grade six experience with my teacher, Ms.McCullough. She was an inspiration
not only for me, but also for many of my fellow classmates. The positive impact Ms.
McCullough had on her students lives with her teaching methods and personality was
incredible. As a child I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be like her. From my work
experience I realized the happiness and self-fulfillment I got when I helped out a student
struggling with math, science, English and most importantly personal life. Being able to be
there for and guide a student and giving that student courage and hope to get through his or
her struggles is a true achievement and nothing else beats that feeling. With this in mind, I
was reassured by my decision to become a teacher.
Whether my decision to be an educator will be the right decision in the future, I am
not sure. I want to be passionate about what I am going to. I want to be able to inspire, to
engage, and to be able to make a positive difference. I feel this is where I am supposed to be
after reflecting in to my past experiences as a student, as a peer helper in class, and as a
class tutor today.
As I reminisce back to the moment when I had to make careful decisions that
impacted my future, I realized that I was learning contextually. Groen and Colleen (2014)
also address this idea of adults learning in context. For adult learning what matters is how
we transform individually from a specific learning experience. What contextual factors have

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contributed to my learning? A variety of things come to mind: family, friends, culture,
interests, and mentors. Much of my past experience and past dialogues with others in the
different contexts have transformed my thinking or have opened my mind to look for
alternatives in my life.
I now ask myself again, who I am as an adult learner? I see myself as an individual
constantly transitioning within the continuum of learning. I see myself as a contributor.
Having been shielded in my shell for too long, I have now begun to realize the significance
of contextual learning and the impacts of the transformations that occur in the various
formal or informal contexts. As a learner I still have much more to explore. Learning is
endless and more of my shell needs to be shattered to let it all in.

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Resources

Beavers, A. (2009). Teachers as learners: Impolications of adult education for professional
development. Journal of College Teaching and Learning, 6(7), 25-30.

Groen, J., & Kawalilak, C. (2014). Pathways of adult learning: Professional and education
narratives. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars Press.