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What was your K-12 education like? Were you bored in school? Gatto (2003) shared his view on public education:
Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it. They said they wanted to be doing something real, not just sitting around. They said teachers didn't seem to know much about their subjects and clearly weren't interested in learning more. And the kids were right: their teachers were every bit as bored as they were.
(p. 1)
Ever since the beginning of my Master's program, the way I perceive education has been questioned or brought to my attention. Since viewing Sir Ken Robinson’s “Schools Kills Creativity”, I immediately began reflecting on my philosophy of teaching. I may care for my students and want them to achieve the best that they can by offering differentiated instruction, but is that enough? I went to grade school in the 90s and aside from grade 1 and 2, I was bored in school. I had some issues with my parents growing up since I wasn’t “studious” as they wanted me to. I am not sure if it was whether I was bored that the material was easy/difficult or that the teaching styles that I experienced was the problem. When grade 8 came around, that was when I started to care about my education. I had this gut feeling (and my parents’ praise) that I had to get my act together and start “working hard” in school. In a way, I started to care about grades (quite frankly, that should have not been my motivation). I am somewhat thankful for where my direction of education has gone. However, I wish there was more space for creativity.
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My family, I would say, are highly educated. Majority of my cousins have at least an undergraduate degree and some have continued pursuing professional careers/higher education (doctors, dentists, Masters, PhD). I felt intimidated that these people in my life are able to achieve such success. My parents never pushed me into such careers; they just wanted me to achieve independence by taking care of myself. However, they were very persistent on me getting to the high grades possible. We want our students to gain knowledge and skills that will lead them to their passion, yet kids are not truly engaged in what they are learning. It is true, we think of “success” as synonymous with “schooling” (Gatto, 2003, p. 2). If our parents were educated this way, then of course they will educate their children similarly. Grades continue to be a form of assessment in understanding how our students are doing. Can this also be a factor in students being bored and unmotivated?
Considering that I am a fairly new educator, I will keep Gatto’s theories in mind. I agree that “we could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiousity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight – simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids to truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he/she needs in order to take a risk every now and then.” (Gatto, 2003, p. 2). I am a firm believer of student-based learning and as a teacher, to help children guide through this world logically, independently, and freely. We need to let students manage themselves (Gatto, 2003, p. 7). Isn’t that the best way to learn: by doing?
Passion-Based Learning: The Missing Piece?
There are a variety of instructional strategies in keeping students engaged and to think outside the box: inquiry-based, project-based, design-based and problem-based learning. The concepts of 21st century learning has been advocated in current education practices. Recently, I have been hearing the term passion-based learning here and there but was not quite exactly sure what it entails. Ainissa Ramirez' blog shares an insightful discussion regarding teaching and passion. Can passion-based learning be the key to students not being bored anymore? Passion-based learning consist of:
- Finding out what each child is innately passionate about
- Being an educator that shows passion for the topic, share this excitement with your students
(Ramirez, 2013)
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy right? Unfortunately, I was never given this opportunity to learn. Did you?
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Differentiated instruction (DI) has been a popular theme when I was in teacher's college. DI mainly focusing on different types of learners. By keeping this mind, why don't educators allow some leg room for students to choose what they want to learn? The Ontario curriculum is very structured and has very specific expectations on what students need to learn. By these structural "rules", educators must be creative (a 21st century skill!) in developing lessons that engages students in the curriculum. Yet, we are uniquely different with a variety of interests and students may show interest on some of the units that are laid out in the curriculum. Shouldn't we allow students the choice in deciding what they are passionate to learn? Genius Hour is a time for students to explore their passion. I was very intrigued by Genius Hour as companies such as Google are allowing their team an hour a day to focus on what they want. I'm thinking, "Wow! Why are we not doing this?" I believe activities such as Genius Hour can offer students to think creatively and be engaged in what they are interested in.
We want students to love learning and we especially don't want students to be bored in school. Wouldn't you want to learn passionately?
We want students to love learning and we especially don't want students to be bored in school. Wouldn't you want to learn passionately?
- Tien
References
Gatto, J. T. (2003, September). Against school: How public education cripples our kids, and why. Harper, 33-38. Retrieved on November 19, 2012 from http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm
Gatto, J. T. (2003, September). Against school: How public education cripples our kids, and why. Harper, 33-38. Retrieved on November 19, 2012 from http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm
