hook_theme_example.module

<?php
// Hook theme.
function tlr_learning_rating_theme() {
  return array(
    'learning_rating_rate' => array(
      'template' => 'templates/block_learning_rating_rate',
    ),
  );
}
?>

<!-- Somewhere in a template file. -->
<?php print theme('learning_rating_rate'); ?>

<?php
// Somewhere in a module file where you are passing view data to be displayed.
$array_of_data = array();  // Fetch some view data.
print theme('learning_rating_rate', $array_of_data);
?>