justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Typographical error –

Is that my subconscious peeking out?

When I was typing a project paper for a graduate educational methods course, I typed “Leaner” when I meant to say “Learner”.

As I was erasing the misspelled word on my erasable typing paper, I reflected on the difference between the spellings of the two words. This was obviously well before White Out or correction tape…and way before computers. (Besides, having spell check turned on even if it was available wouldn’t have helped as both words were spelled correctly!)

After thinking about it a little, I felt to me, the letter “r” represents “responsibility”. It’s the key difference between educating a “leaner” – someone who is dependent upon others for their direction and continuous support, and a learner – someone who learns how to “learn”. A learner who takes responsibility for his or her learning has a good chance to become a lifelong learner.

I’ve heard it said that sometimes, typographical errors are really Freudian slips - our active subconscious coming out. I continue to focus on the “responsibility” part for all learners with whom I come into contact.