Transfer of Knowlege

One time as a young teen…or maybe even preteen I tried to iron  a shirt tail while I was wearing it.  A few minutes later I had a 3 inch burn on my stomach. I looked down at my wrinkled shirt and then felt the sizzle on my skin and thought, “well, I’m never doing that again.”

Why did I have to feel pain to learn? And how do I know that learning took place? It was because I was forever cautious around irons from that day on, never ironing unless I had proper attire, proper ironing board and watched the proximity of body and iron.  I also applied this knowledge to other things such a stoves, curling irons, hot tea kettles.

In the classroom we call this transfer of knowledge.  This is when a student uses something learned in  new situation without any prompting.  When students are able to transfer knowledge to a normal, non-classroom, experience without any direction from a teacher or person in authority its seen as authentic and as a part of the student’s intrinsic being instead of an extrinsic stimuli.

So here is my question: Am I transferring my knowledge-my life lessons-to other situations in my life?  When I make a mistake, get angry, have unforgiveness, do I transfer my learning from the past into my presence circumstance?

It reminds me of the children of Israel and how they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Their attitudes in faith-challenging situations remained the same and resulted in continued failure, even though they promised God they had learned from the previous situation.

It would have been intrinsic learning if they transferred their knowledge of how they doubted and complained and remembered that learning in the next time God tested their faith.

Remember that time when you were anxious and stressed and wondered about what in the world you were going to do, searching your own mind and strength for solutions?  Take that learning, the miracle or answer God brought you in that situation and place that faith of experience into your present circumstance and be at peace.