We tend to use words like "journey" and "pathways" in describing learning, but what if that's the wrong way to think about it?

In my work as a Learning Experience Designer, I've been speaking to a type of people that I've dubbed learning superheroes.

These learning superheroes aren't the top in their fields, nor are they interested to become "experts".

Their superpower is understanding how to make learning sustainable.

Our experiences in formal education teaches us that learning happens in a step-by-step manner. You finish the syllabus for year one, before moving onto year two.

We've done this for so long that even the teachers have begun to think about learning as a linear journey.

But what we found is that this step-by-step learning creates a false expectation.

In reality, the road to mastery isn't a road at all; it's a terrain waiting for every nook and cranny to be discovered.

Instead of thinking about learning as going down a path led by a singular goal, it could be much more effective to imagine that knowledge requires a fundamental desire to expand and excavate.

To become a learning superhero, it is important for learners to build up areas of disparate knowledge, before expecting to delve deeper into the overall area of study.

In this way, the illuminators of the terrain become important. Every new expert can light a new lamppost in the darkness and establish an outpost for knowledge.

Not everyone has the stamina it takes to run a marathon. But everybody has the capacity for putting building blocks together.