Passion Based Learning

Marc Prensky on Passion-based Learning - Ewan McIntosh | Digital Media & Learning

Well worth a read and a listen! Adds yet more weight to the ideas in Ken Robinson's book "The Element" - finding the passion that drives an individual to learn!

Technology: significant benefits but …

A friend of mine was recently bemoaning the large numbers of people who appear to have lost the art of conversation and being with people because they spend much of their time accessing various electronic devices such as music and video players, mobile phones, portable gaming consoles and the like.  To be honest, I had to agree and added the difficulties that I’d experienced with interrupting people concentrating on surfing the Internet, playing the latest console game, listening to music or talking on the mobile phone.

 

The technology is clearly bringing significant benefits for many people but only the other day, I was reminded of the negative impact of the technology on learners in schools.  I asked a group of older students to carry out some research as part of an assignment for a course they were following.  Two things happened. 

1. When we discussed possible sources of information, the first thing mentioned was – no prizes for guessing – the Internet.  The Internet has justifiably gained ground as a important source of information.  However, a significant number of the group failed to identify books as a source of information and most failed to identify other people – some even refused to acknowledge books and other people as reliable and valid sources of information!  There is clearly something wrong with what we are doing with ICT in schools if pupils regard the Internet as the only source of information and see it as a source that doesn’t have to be questioned.
2. The second thing was perhaps more worrying.  I asked them to organise themselves so that each person took responsibility for researching an aspect of the task which they could then feed back to the rest of the group in whatever form the group decided was appropriate.  Many of them were reluctant to do this, could not see the point of this way of working and simply wanted to get back to their computers to use the Internet and “get on with the work”.  Few wanted to visit the school library to do research and even fewer were prepared to take responsibility for questioning the people identified as a source of information.

The Internet and other forms of technology are set to become ever more important and quite right too.  However, if one of our responsibilities as teachers is to prepare learners for life after school, then it follows that we have a duty to know the technology, its benefits, limitations and drawbacks and help pupils use it appropriately, safely and securely. How we do this is subject to debate but failing to do so is inappropriate, ignores significant opportunities for learning and many would claim, dangerous.

Long live learning! Long live technology!

Respect in the Classroom

Respect is an issue of great concern for many teachers in schools and rightly so.  We all get angry about the disrespect and rudeness shown by some pupils.  In my experience, inappropriate behaviour and the response from kids when we attempt to deal with it is a major source of frustration and stress and can be associated with teacher illness and possible absence.  Interestingly, though many pupils also complain of being rudely and unfairly treated by teachers and often point to this as a cause of their rudeness.    

 

Young learners these days do not automatically give teachers respect.  I don’t think that they ever did.  Neither does the job itself automatically command respect.  I believe that respect is something that has to be earned.  If we want to be respected, we must be prepared to walk the talk and model the kinds of behaviours that define respect in schools.  In this way we can help young, inexperienced learners understand what it means to be polite and how to deal more appropriately with the difficult situations they may find themselves in.  

 

Whenever I find myself in difficult situations with pupils, I try to remind myself of two things:

1. There are no bad kids.  There are simply difficult situations and circumstances that kids find themselves in.  Given the nature of some of the difficulties that some pupils have to deal with, it is not surprising that they use any opportunity to lash out and express their anger and frustration.  The important thing to remember, I think, is that the behaviour is not necessarily directed at us, it is often their response to whatever has happened to them – we just happen to be there!
2. Rules and expectations are difficult to adhere to and we can all be guilty of breaking them, especially when they are set by others - nobody’s perfect!  I remember my own experiences as a young learner at school and the times that I broke the rules.  I’m better now at keeping to them and meeting the expectations of others but – and I’ll be honest here - I still break some rules and perhaps more often than I’d really care to admit (sometimes I even find myself breaking my own rules)!  In circumstances like these, I would hope that others would deal with me honestly, politely and with some sensitivity and encourage me to accept responsibility for my actions in non-threatening ways.  As teachers, we surely can’t apply different standards to the ones we would want to be applied for ourselves!

These things help me to make decisions about what to say, how to say it and how to behave.  In the heat of the moment though, I often get things wrong.  When I do, I make sure I forgive myself, apologise and find ways of learning from what’s happened so I can do better next time.  Learning is, after all, about being human!

Long live learners!  Long live learning!