Deep Dive | Learning to Be

What exactly do you mean by "Learning to Be"?

The following is a Deep Dive into "Learning to Be" at Acton Lincoln.

At Acton Academy we promise Heroes will find a calling that will change the world by:

• Learning to learn;
• Learning to do; and
• Learning to be.

The final “learning to be” promise means finding ways through difficult challenges and decisions to deeply etch habits of positive character traits into each soul, while rubbing away the negative habits that take away from who we are destined to become, if we want to reach our full potential.

Acton Academy’s Learning Philosophy is:

• Clear thinking leads to good decisions,
• Good decisions lead to the right habits,
• The right habits lead to character and
• Character becomes destiny.
  
  

Learning to learn means finding the recipes, processes and algorithms that help us make better decisions and more deeply embed the right habits of critical thinking.  

Learning to do means making practical decisions in the real world to accomplish great tasks, as a way to change the world.    

But however important the tasks of learning to learn and learning to do, the most important part of finding the Grail in the Hero’s Journey is not the Grail itself, but how the hero is changed in the process.  This is the essence of learning to be.

We want Eagles near the end of a successful, satisfying and fulfilling life to have answer to three important questions:

1. Did I contribute something meaningful?
2. Was I a good person?  and
3. Who did I love and who loved me?
   
   

As such, through launches, studio processes and Servant Leader badges we continually stress the connection between daily tasks and “learning to be” or the process of becoming who you were meant to become.

Variation Across Studios

In the Elementary Studio, much of the “learning to be” impact comes from hero stories, working together in curiosity-filled quests and “learning to be” badges, supported by Full-Circle Feedback from peers.

In the Middle School Studio, 360 feedback and Hero Bucks become even more critical for earning additional freedom and responsibility through Freedom Levels, all supporting the habits of self-management and self-governance, as recorded in Servant Leader Badges.

By Launchpad, many of the most important “learn to be” habits are deeply embedded, and increasingly put into action in lower studios through Servant Leader badges, while attention shifts towards who Launch padders will become in their “next great adventure” in the real world.