Learning theory for personal and professional development

One of our defining features as human beings is an enormous capacity to learn new things, be they skills, behaviours or bodies of knowledge. It is something that starts at birth, continues to the grave and shapes our lives at every point in between. This chapter will explore the importance of understanding how you learn and how this knowledge can be used to support your transition from student to newly registered nurse. This chapter will begin by introducing two scenarios based around two student nurses who are at different stages of their nursing programme and who demonstrate similarities and different preferences for learning. Throughout this chapter, you will be provided with opportunities and learning activities to draw on these two scenarios and as the chapter progresses you will be introduced to a third and final scenario in order to make sense of the range of learning theories and how they can be applied to your role transition. Theories include behaviourism, social learning theory, heutagogy, cognitive theories of learning as well as a review of the social aspects of learning. The final section is about understanding your own learning preferences, enabling you to optimise your learning in the future.