Engage Me or Enrage Me! (Pt.1)
How to Start Engaging Students with Passion-Based Learning:
Recently I attended Alan November’s Building Learning Communities Conference where I participated in a session for educators exploring how to become transformational leaders. A participant at my table said, “This is all nice, but kids need to learn that school isn’t always interesting. Sometimes school is just boring.” “Not true!” I responded. “School shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be boring.”
When I shared this with Alan he recommended I ask this participant, “Which teachers should teach students that they have to learn that school is boring?“ This certainly would not be me. While I’ve witnessed teachers who accept that students are disengaged, sometimes even falling asleep in their class, I do not believe a teacher passionate about his/her career would embrace the idea that it is okay for their students to be bored. In fact, I contend that if every teacher prioritized just one thing, we could eradicate boredom in our classrooms, deeply engage students, and dramatically decrease the dropout rate. That one thing is…
Supporting Students in Finding Their Passion:
Not long ago I wrote about a school that supports students in finding their passions in my post You Can Get a Dalton Education at a NYC Public School. I was more formally introduced to the concept of educator’s supporting students in finding and developing their passions when I went to Confratute, a conference that focused on the Schoolwide Enrichment model which provides enriched learning experiences and higher learning standards for students through three goals: 1) developing talents in all students; 2) providing a broad range of advanced-level enrichment experiences for all students; and 3) providing advanced follow-up opportunities for students based on their strengths and interests. Most recently, I was introduced to another formalized way to name what it is I have been talking and thinking about through this status update which I saw on Facebook:
Mark Wagner Today: “Blogs, Wikis, Docs: Which is right for your lesson?” http://bit.ly/XAUUx
Yesterday at 5:01pm via Twitter
As I followed the link, I discovered a slew of resources about what education scholar John Seely Brown calls “passion based learning” as discussed in an article on CNET. I was thrilled to find this body of work, as I felt this concept beautifully captured what it is I’ve been thinking about education. I dove in to read more and was anxious to share my findings with others. Here’s what I’ve learned -
Passion-Based Learning:
In the article on CNET Brown says that, schools should complement teaching with what he calls “passion-based learning” that focuses on getting students more engaged with topic experts.” Education expert Will Richardson shares that what really resonates for him is that Seely Brown praised situations where students who are passionate about specific topics study in groups and participate in online communities.
Richardson says, “To me, this is the one biggest advantages of the Read/Write Web, the ability to connect to others who are passionate about whatever it is that you want to learn. How rare is it to have that happen in physical space, where everyone in the room is ready and excited to learn?”
The same topic came up in response to a blog post a school administrator wrote about steps he plans to take to become a transformational leader. In response to his idea about renaming their computer lab and calling it the Global Communication Center, High School teacher Susan Ettenheim made this comment:
“It is wonderful for a class to share with another class across the world, but it is possibly even more exciting for one student to find that there are other people who can teach and share with them and take action to make the world a better place through a shared personal interest.”
In my own conversations with educators about our role as passion detectives, explorers and connectors for students, I have come up against resistance from some who ask, “Are you saying that students should just be able to skateboard all day, sit around watching Harry Potter movies, or worse persue some type of distructive behavior?” Of course not and I think Seely Brown hits on the reason for the resistance by some when he says, “For educators to really take advantage of the potential of technology, we need to rethink our practice.”
Will Richardson believes, and I concur, that the best way to do that is to get involved in “passion based learning” ourselves. He believes this so much so that he has referred to himself as a blogevangelist and I credit him with being my “blogfather”. When Will would run into me at conferences, speaking engagements and the like where I was often passionately engaged in a topic of conversation, he would ask when I was going to join the conversation and begin authentically publishing and connecting with those with similar passions. The reality is that it wasn’t until I began doing that, that deep, TRANSFERABLE learning occurred for me that I could confidently and credibly share with other educators.
Technology provides the window to connections and learning around areas of passion and deep personal interest that were never before possible. Some educators I have discussed this concept with have scoffed at the idea for various reasons believing it would be too much work for them to make individualized, differentiated connections for each student. I’ve suggested that their job is not to determine a student’s passion, or find the experts and make the connections, but rather to support their students in doing so.
That doesn’t mean have all the students in your class create blogs where they respond to your prompts or make a podcast about a topic you are studying in social studies. That really, isn’t an effective means to helping students explore their passions, publish authentically to an audience they care about, or connect with others with their similar interests. This is a big shift. Here are some smart ways educators might engage in passion-based learning with our students.
(Continued on Wednesday…)
“Engage Me or Enrage Me” is a quote from “Dr. Kip Leland, online learning specialist and the founder of the Los Angeles Virtual Academy (LAVA) within the LAUSD.
3 Comments
Masha
Friday, 21st August 2009 at 8:25 am
I completely agree about the importance of passion based learning, with this condition:
To be a good teacher, I must also teach my students to be passionate about things that do not immediately appeal to them.
This is my great challenge as much of what I teach is not good in the instant gratification department. But with a little bit of perseverance, a student can reap the rewards of self confidence in having achieved a difficult task in an area they thought they did not find interesting.
For me, this is a life skill as well. If I am not interested in my job, I perform poorly. Its a skill to find an angle that will hook my interest and improve my performance.
Of course, everyone is going to have areas that they are innately more interested in. But I believe in pushing my boundaries, and those of my students.
Shelly Terrell
Saturday, 22nd August 2009 at 10:05 am
What a great post about supporting student passion! I wish every educator believed in this concept because the world would truly be a better place. If students are motivated by their passions to learn then they are less likely to commit violence and involve themselves in danger. I think when teachers lose passion this often translates to their students. Therefore, I additionally believe teachers should find what motivates them.
Kay Stoner
Thursday, 24th December 2009 at 8:08 pm
Sounds like you might appreciate this:
“Perceptual Pleasure and the Brain.” American Scientist, Biederman, I., & Vessel, E. A. (2006). http://geon.usc.edu/%7Ebiederman/publications/Biederman_Vessel_2006.pdf
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