A simple framework to understand how we learn, process, and refine skills through stages of experience.
Handout Content Overview
Introduction
Stage 1: Information Comes In
Stage 2: Make Sense of It
Stage 3: Make More Sense
Stage 4: Check Your Skill
Essential 100 Words – 10 Points Checklist
Introduction
There’s a lot written about learning. This handout gives you a basic framework I use, blending classic models, personal tweaks, and a few borrowed ideas too.
Stage 1: Information Comes In
Learning starts through your senses:
Primary: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic (VAK)
Secondary: Olfactory, Gustatory (OG)
Extra: Emotion — emotional state affects how well we learn
Sensory Acuity: Balance your senses to enrich the information you take in
Stage 2: Make Sense of It
You process input based on your style:
Theorist: Asks questions, wants detail
Activist: Jumps straight in
Reflector: Has a go, then works things out
Pragmatist: Observes, then engages
Stage 3: Make More Sense (Secondary Processing)
Experience adds depth:
Theorist: Now asks more relevant, experience-driven questions
Activist: Might charge on or shift style
Reflector: Reflects deeply, gains insights
Pragmatist: Continues learning by observing
A coach may observe 48 different learning styles from combining:
3 sensory preferences
4 primary styles
4 secondary styles
Learning Loop: Plan – Do – Review
Plan (30%): Work out how to learn it
Do (20%): Act and practice
Review (50%): Reflect, adapt, repeat
Stage 4: Check Your Skill (6-Level Scale)
Early Awareness – Just starting, little success
Late Awareness – Aha moment, some clarity
Early Practice – Occasional success
Late Practice – Working well with focus
Early Acquired – Natural, low attention needed
Late Acquired – Fully integrated skill
Your Learning Pathway
Identify your VAK/OG preference
Know your primary and secondary styles (Theorist, Activist, etc.)
Plan how to learn based on this
Do the learning
Review (try RT2: SWOT or RT3: WWW/EBI)
Reassess your skill level
Essential 100 Words – 10 Points Checklist
Learn through VAK + emotion
Balance your senses
Process with your preferred style
Refine with experience
Know the 48 combinations
Use Plan–Do–Review
Track progress on the 6-point scale
Identify your unique style
Apply your learning strategy
Review, adapt, and grow
how-we-learn