The aims of the website are :
- To make available free learning resources for motivated learners
- To share the CRE method
- To provide novel tools for effective lifelong learning
WELCOME TO C.R.E LEARNING !
ABOUT THE CRE METHOD:
CRE is a proven method for rapid self directed learning and confidence building.
CRE applies active relaxation and play to prepare the mind to absorb new knowledge.
As applied here to language learning, business skills, physical and mental wellbeing, and more…
The CRE LEARNING website was created by Dr Bob BOLAND in 2001 to provide free language programs for aid workers travelling to Afghanistan, which at the time was the focus of an intense foreign aid effort.
Working to support Boston University Humanitarian projects, he developed freely available short, intense learning programs to help volunteers better communicate in local languages including Dari, Pashto and Uzbek. In time, working with native speakers from across the globe, CRE language programmes were expanded to cover 80 languages.
Alongside language programs, Dr Bob Boland developed and adapted the CRE method for application to a wide range of subjects including accounting, finance, management, leadership and personal health. All are available on this site.
All the programs are the result of key collaborative efforts and focused research across for each subject areas.
They are free to use, share and adapt to different learning contexts.
A feature of all programs is the key emphasis on using creative relaxation exercises to tap into the mind’s inbuilt ability to learn.
They are available as online courses, and/or downloadable learning materials (pdf/mp3).
Online courses require a simple registration and login to assist with continuity of learning (continue where you left off).
Dr Bob Boland (1926-2020) was a lifelong learner and teacher.
A chartered accountant in his 20s, Bob Boland founded a school of management in his 30s and was a business school dean and international visiting professor in his 40s. He trained in and practiced medicine specialising in public health in his 50s and was an international civil servant in his 60s. He became a clinical hypnotherapist in his 70s, and wrote plays and volunteered as US tax accountant into his 80s and 90s.
He is the author of the AGL (Autonomous Group Learning) Method, a precursor of problem-based learning use to successfully teach finance, marketing and accounting to over 30’000 managers around the world. Whilst at the International Labour Office in the 1980s, he championed environmental auditing and foresaw the environmental impact of human activity, particularly in business.
In later life, he wrote theatrical plays to challenge societal norms and ideas across themes such as health at the end of life, managing psychological trauma and business corruption.
Driving principles in his work, and in his general approach to life, were to find joy in the learning experience and to never stop challenging in the impossible.