Learning Competencies

What learning competencies exist and how do you build them? Clearly presented in a KAWA.

What do KAWA and KAGA actually mean?

KAWA according to Birkenbihl is an acronym and stands for: Creative yield from word associations. However, KAWA is easier to remember. Hence the name. You can create KAWAs on any topic that interests you.

How does a KAWA work and why is this technique so effective?

First, write the topic in large letters in the center. By the way, I always use the paper in landscape orientation for this. In our mind map template pad, KAWAs are drawn on the left-hand white page. Now, you let your thoughts wander and consider what comes to mind about the term and what is important enough to be written down. The difficulty here: what is written down must begin with one of the letters in the center. The smaller the term, the fewer letters you have available, and the more you have to think. Here, it is the scarcity of letters that makes you think through a topic more intensely than an ABC list would. The goal should be to find a suitable term for each letter. Suppose you want to create a KAWA about your best friend Eva, then you only have three letters available. However, you can use these multiple times. Perhaps E stands for elegant, successful, eloquent; for V, you find her trustworthy, wacky, and in love; and for A, you have associated silly and single. If your best friend had been named Hannelore, you would, of course, have had more letters available. I often take notes in KAWA form during meetings. It keeps me alert, no matter how unimportant or boring a meeting is. And you catch everything. Below you will see some of my KAWAs.