You make a great point. Balance, as in many areas, is the key. We owe it to our children and students to open their eyes to many things and let them find their bliss. If we have academic goals to achieve, it might make sense to allow students to follow their current passion while accomplishing other goals such as writing, collaboration, media creation, etc. In a time when technology makes it possible for students to learn so much from so many, it just does not make sense to limit their focus too early.

(I am a Special Education Resource Teacher, I work primarily with struggling students who do not respond well to ‘the typical school day’. I work with students as young as Gr. 2 (8 yrs old) who I see all ready tuning out and giving up on the school system.)

Some of the ideas I’ve been drawn to in my researches this summer include: using popular culture, multimedia, technology, and the arts (drama, music, art, etc) as well as technology to engage interest. It’s the idea of using material that appeals to interests, strengths, etc. The idea of learning as play. It’s a way to engage and ‘sneak in’ all that ‘higher/academic learning’.

The other thing I’ve come across which you allude to here is this whole issue of academic vs. applied learning. I’ve struggling students I work with who are not academically inclined…but are much more responsive to applied/skill/purposeful learning tasks. In some of my readings I’ve come across the idea of merging of the two…try to get at the academic thru applied strategies. Such as effective writing skills through purposeful writing tasks, thru tech, for instance, such as student blogging or classroom discussion forums.

Thx for a great post!

Julie Johnson
betterthanworksheets.com

I think there is a place for passion based learning. It just can’t be the end of the line.

You can DIY a 5*7 = 35 or a 1+4 = 5 but how do you DIY a [2(ab-3)(3x+40)]-[59(x-3)]=0?. What we put into education at this age is the summary of the knowledge on the subject since the beginning of human history. You can’t take 5 apples, put it into the equation and hope to get anything out of it. We are stating facts and making students remember it, not teaching them how it came about because it is not efficient to go through the history on the subject.

As a nation and a society we need to stop worshiping the almighty dollar and focus on the appreciation and support of our children, our communities, our Earth, and culture in general. As the saying goes, “It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”

The best example is gaming. I started playing MMORPGs with the kids (after having been annoyed by gaming for a couple of years) and now I totally understand the value of the games. I learned to delegate, value the abilities of others, and share responsibility by playing an online game – skills I DID NOT HAVE at age 45. Gaming is the future of education. Learning to function in complex environments, with long-term goals, where you are more successful (and sometime only successful) if you are collaborative is it. Sitting alone with a PC with a pair of headphones on your head (like most school computer labs) is NOT IT.

Withholding technology or doling it out as reward for other successes is IDIOCY. For kids today, their future success is absolutely dependent on their comfort level/ability to fully utilize technology. To have that, they must have access to today’s tech today.

Thanks for the post!

Thanks for the comment. While I think there are times when extrinsic motivations are worth pursuing, my biggest hope is that my own kids will be motivated to learn because they love to learn. Wondering if you’ve read Dan Pink’s new book “Drive”?

Also, I very much appreciated your Open Mic session at PLP last Thursday. I plan to be there as often as I can. Hopefully, many others will join in as well.