Human Development in Driving - Assignment Example

Human Development I want to ask in my assignment, is there any critically analyse of theories or/and readinds in question 2 & 3. Because I need it in my assignment as well. Please reply me as soon as possible Hello, the theories that I have incorporated in this work are three: The theory of knowledge management found in multi-tasking skills, social responsibility, and process oriented learning where experience and practice is important. These are highlighted with the underlined titles. Experience Summary Excitement in my driving lessons involved fear before I actually sat in the driver’s seat. However, when the lessons started, from fear came the need to be attentive and trusting to my own senses. All the points that I have reviewed was instantly put to practice. Each time the car stopped, I got very embarrassed but I didn’t have time to mull over it and so my embarrassment and tension easily went away as soon as it got in. I was very conscious of the teacher since I wanted to impress however, when I hit the road, I barely though that the teacher was beside me. I was going so slowly at first because I was taking a mental note of all the things I need to do, all at the same time. However, after an hour of practicing, I got into the basics well. Parking was difficult because I was afraid to bump into cars that were not moving. I needed to get all the geometry in my mind so that I can park well. Learning how to drive was in summary a very magnificent learning experience. It is true when people say that driving is just like learning how to bike. Once you learn how to drive, your body, mind and spirit won’t forget it. Learning: Multi tasking – knowledge management Driving involves multi-sensory activities all working at the same time. Driving would seem just simply cruising but it’s actually working foot controls working on gas and brakes, both hands maneuvering the gears, the steering wheel and signal buttons, eyes on various mirrors, and ears listening to immediate environments. Eyesight should actually be looking up ahead to forecast directions so that the driver would know how to steer the car seconds ahead. And if all these not a handful yet, the driver, prioritizing safety of travel needs to be sensitive to his surroundings to be able to react and put his quick decision making abilities when needed. Much of the driver’s reflex is based on how quick he could assess what he observe and decide what actions to take based on his observations. Knowledge management has been one of the global paradigm shifts that have affected societies, locally and globally. Due to this increase of ways to access information, knowledge management has helped individuals and groups to handle and process information so that should there be overloads, discernment is still realizable. Csikszenmihalyi elaborates. “Csikszentmihalyi provides a definition of complexity based on the degree to which something is simultaneously differentiated and integrated. His point is that complexity evolves along a corridor and he provides some very interesting examples as to why complexity evolves. What is more highly differentiated and integrated is more complex. While high levels of differentiation without integration promote the complicated, that which is highly integrated, without differentiation, produces mundane. And, it should be rather obvious from personal experience that we tend to avoid the complicated and are uninterested in the mundane. The complexity that exists between these two alternatives is the path we generally find most attractive.” (Bellinger, 2004) Knowledge management is a skill very much used while a person is driving his car. Seemingly in a simple situation, the individual still acts out all the processes involved in knowledge management like gathering of information, differentiating these data, decision making and implementation of decision. Learning: Social responsibility Development cannot take place in a sustainable form if there is no social responsibility. This concept is very evident in driving. Whether with companions in the car or alone, or a lone driver is treading one long stretch of highway, complacency and irresponsibility in driving is inexcusable. Driving is very dangerous to the driver and the community if care is not given seriously. Driving is only allowed when a person reaches 18 and has passed the driving exams both theoretical and practical. These are very strictly enforced because accidents on the roads almost always cause lives and resources, not to mention time wasted when accidents cause road blocks. Social responsibility is a concept that defines how a good citizen in a civilized society is guided as he becomes a part of society. Development without a sense of social responsibility is misguided and would lead to chaos. Safety in driving is part of a bigger concept of social responsibility. Companies have taken safety to very serious heights. Safety consciousness not only deals with personal safety but safety of others. If I remain as a safe driver, then other drivers will also remain safe when driving alongside me. Safety is a behavior that has been well defined by scientists. “Behavior-based safety management is essentially an extension of applied behavior analysis or behavior modification. It makes use of well-established and powerful principles of operant conditioning and reinforcement theory. Although these principles were developed initially through laboratory experiments with animals, they have been shown to have wide applicability to behavior change efforts in a variety of clinical and applied contexts.” (Kazdin, 1973; Nemeroff and Karoly, 1991). Learning: Practice makes perfect Learning is development. My driving experience is definitely both of learning and development at the same time. There is no development without learning. Driving is a skill. It is an essential skill just like swimming. Physical mobility leads to other types of mobility, like learning is. I study so that I can build a career where I could move vertically or horizontally in the field I chose to build my career on. With skills such as driving, there is self-satisfaction in knowing that I finally know how to drive and that I can use it whenever I need to or I have to. Skills help develop a person’s capacity to grow. It offers more options for people to bank on so that they can succeed in their endeavors. My learning to drive is just an example of what learning really is. Learning like driving is upgrading my skills, knowledge and attitudes in order for me to increase my mobility, geographically, socially or and intellectually. Another insight from the driving lesson is that development is a process. Learning how to drive is not magic put upon one’s brain like how the do it in the movie, The Matrix. Learning is a gradual process and sometimes painstaking. If I focused more on my fears, I wouldn’t have overcome it and the hurdle will still be a hopeful dream. Practice has very much an integral role in my learning how to driver. Through experience, I gained self confidence. It’s not enough that I learned the theories. Experience was essential as I realized when the teacher was showing me how to use the emergency breaks, or how to do a sharp curve. It’s one thing when you hear or read the theories or the traffic sign. But experiencing is anther thing, altogether. Experience learning has very much helped me learn how to drive and this is elaborated from my reading of Lewin. “Lewin mention four stages which follow from each other in the experience theory: Concrete Experience is followed by Reflection on that experience on a personal basis. This may then be followed by the derivation of general rules describing the experience, or the application of known theories to it (Abstract Conceptualisation), and hence to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience (Active Experimentation), leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience. All this may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a "wheels within wheels" process at the same time. (Lewin, 1942)” Lewin’s process that leads to experience has very much summarized the learning process that I myself experienced in driving. Now that I know how to drive, I know that I have the capability to integrate my observations, conceptualizations and decisions to make the things I experience more worthwhile. Self-assessment: Insights a. What insights did I get from this exercise? This exercise made me realize who I am and what I can accomplish if I put my focus on things such as driving. I realize that inspiration is not enough. For endeavours to succeed, one must be resolved and be committed to the idea or task at hand. Driving is a commitment to safety and following rules both written and non-written. The road is not private. There are other users of these roads thereby making driving courtesy an essential tool of the driver Writing my insights has also made me reflect deeply on the learning process that is innate to me. It makes me happy that learning is something that can be enjoined. b. How far did I extend myself/ take risks? Holding the steering wheel gave me a sense of freedom because I was in control of things. The more control I had in one thing, the more I was afraid to take risks. I was afraid to risk not that I was afraid for my life but because the risks involved in driving included people I didn’t know like pedestrians or other cars and buses. The risks I needed to take were surely calculated risk. Should I turn left, should I overtake? If I missed a turn and I had a window to do it but I didn’t signal to, then I cannot take the turn and risk accidents. No matter how safe cars are, just looking at accidents on television, the human body is stands at nothing when hit to steel, metal or glass. Calculated risk needs my quick summation of the situation and acting according to what should be the case and not act out based on what I like to do. c. How might I apply any insights about human learning and development in the future? These insights tell me that one; I am fully capable of learning. Driving is not merely skill but a complete integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes that help me acquire mobility in society. Driving has shown me that as a human being, as learning is developed, so does responsibility. The more skills I acquire, the more awareness is expected of me. And third; that I should not be afraid of experience because it will teach me valuable lessons that will help me develop as a person. These concepts will not leave me or be taken away from me. Once I learn how to drive, my body and mind will remember it. The process that I’ve learned will help me in future learnings that I need to do. There will be more learnings that will come for me and I am more confident now on how to approach these learnings. Developing oneself is a process. A person develops himself by acquiring skills and knowledge. But these elements are not only for oneself but for the greater good of a large community therefore, in my future undertakings, my study and self-development must be geared towards becoming a human being capable of being a part of a bigger human society. References: Bellinger, Gene. (2004) Knowledge Management Emerging Perspectives. Retrieved March 26, 2006 http://www.systems-thinking.org/kmgmt/kmgmt.htm#csi94 Csikszentmihalyi, Miahly. (1994) The Evolving-Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium, Harperperennial Library Kazdin, E.E., 1973. Methodological and assessment considerations in evaluating reinforcement programs in applied settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 6, 517–531. Lewin K (1942) "Field Theory and Learning" in D Cartwright (ed.) Field Theory in Social Science: selected theoretical papers, London; Social Science Paperbacks, 1951. Read More