Why students need to learn how to learn

Building lifelong learners
The greatest value of learning how to learn is that its benefits extend beyond school. Subjects change, textbooks become outdated and particular technologies eventually disappear. The ability to learn, however, remains useful.

A student may graduate with knowledge of a particular computer programme, scientific process or professional method, only to discover that the field has changed several years later. If that person has only learnt how to memorise information for examinations, adapting may be difficult. If they have learnt how to research, practise, evaluate information and acquire new skills, adapting becomes more manageable.

This is one reason lifelong learning has become an increasingly important part of education. The OECD describes learning strategies, motivation and self-belief as interconnected elements that support students’ ability to continue learning throughout their lives. Its PISA 2022 findings also indicate that learning strategies are associated with mathematics performance, although strong academic performance alone does not define an effective lifelong learner.

Learning how to learn can also change how students respond to failure. A poor result does not have to become proof that a student lacks ability. It can become information about what needs to change.

For example, a student who repeatedly struggles with mathematics might discover that the problem is not an inability to understand numbers but a tendency to avoid practising unfamiliar questions. Another student may realise that they understand lessons in class but cannot recall the material during tests because they rarely practise retrieving it independently.

Such discoveries give students something they can work on. Instead of seeing academic ability as a fixed quality that they either possess or lack, they can begin to view learning as a process that involves strategy, practice, feedback and adjustment.

This does not mean telling students that effort alone guarantees success. Effort matters, but how students use that effort also matters. A student can spend many hours studying inefficiently and become exhausted without making the expected progress. Learning how to learn helps students ask whether their effort is producing meaningful understanding.

It can also make students more confident. When students know how to approach unfamiliar material, they are less likely to panic when they encounter something they do not immediately understand. They may not know the answer, but they have a process for finding it.

That confidence can be particularly valuable in higher education and employment. University students are expected to read widely, conduct research and work with less direct supervision. Employees, too, increasingly have to acquire new knowledge as organisations, technologies and professional expectations change.

For Nigerian students, this lesson is particularly relevant. Academic success is often strongly associated with examination results and certificates, but the ability to continue learning after obtaining a qualification is equally important. A degree can open a door, but it cannot guarantee that everything a graduate will need throughout a career has already been taught.

Schools therefore have an opportunity to move beyond preparing students simply to remember enough information to pass examinations. They can help students become curious about how knowledge is acquired, how mistakes can be analysed and how difficult problems can be approached.

Parents can reinforce this at home by asking children to explain how they arrived at an answer rather than focusing only on whether the answer is correct. Teachers can encourage reflection after assessments instead of treating examination results as the final stage of learning. Students themselves can begin to take greater ownership by paying attention to which study approaches help them understand and remember.
Conclusion
Ultimately, learning how to learn is about giving students a level of control over their education. It teaches them that learning is not something that happens only when a teacher is speaking or an examination is approaching. It is an active process that involves questioning, connecting ideas, practising, reflecting, seeking feedback and adjusting when something does not work.

The strongest education does not simply leave students with a collection of facts. It leaves them with the confidence and ability to keep acquiring knowledge long after the lesson, examination and school year have ended.

A student who knows what to learn may succeed in the next examination. A student who knows how to learn has a skill that can continue serving them long after the examination is forgotten.