This week I’d like to talk about Johari’s Window, which is how we learn new things. It’s a time-tested theory that not only shows how we learn, but how others learn. By understanding this theory, we are more understanding of those we are teaching.
Here are the four parts of the “window”, which proved to be exactly true when I was learning the continental way of doing the cha-cha.
Draw a window with four panes of glass. The first one is the upper left. The second is the upper right. The third one is the lower right and the fourth one is the lower left. By starting with the first one and going clockwise all around the window you will realize the learning process.
The First Pane: You don’t know that you don’t know.
I came into my dance lessons thinking I knew the cha-cha. After all, it couldn’t be that much different than how I’d been doing it for years.
The Second Pane: You know you don’t know.
After she showed me how to do the continental method of the dance, I knew that I didn’t know it and would have to learn it.
The Third Pane: You know that you know.
By Week 3 I had it pretty well mastered it. I felt confident and started on the correct foot on the correct beat almost every time.
The Fourth Pane: You don’t know you know.
As we moved through the classes, I just launched into the dance with the new count and correct foot each time. It just came naturally to me.
The above example is how we learn. Be patient with yourself and with anyone else you teach. They will thank you for working with them to learn the new skill you taught them.
