Sunday, 12 May 2013
Joy is NOT Fun: An article(snippet) by Steven Wok
A quote comes from John Goodlad's A Place Called School (1984). After finding an "extraordinary sameness" in our schools, Goodlad wrote, "Boredom is a disease of epidemic proportions. … Why are our schools not places of joy?" (p. 242). Now, a generation later, if you were to ask students for a list of adjectives that describe school, I doubt that joyful would make the list. The hearts and minds of children and young adults are wide open to the wonders of learning and the fascinating complexities of life. But school still manages to turn that into a joyless experience.
We should ask ourselves some fundamental questions: What is the purpose of school? What dispositions about learning, reading, school, the world, and the self do we want to cultivate? Ask young adults why they go to school. You will hear nothing about joy.
I am not using the word joy as a synonym for fun. For many children, having fun is hanging out at the mall, watching TV, text-messaging their friends, or zipping down a roller-coaster. Having fun certainly brings us joy, but students don't need to be having fun in school to experience joy. According to my Random House dictionary, joy means, "The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying." Surely our schools can do some of that. Joy and learning—including school content—are not mutually exclusive. Many of our greatest joys in life are related to our learning. Unfortunately, most of that joyful learning takes place outside school.
As educators, we have the responsibility to educate and inspire the whole child—mind, heart, and soul.
Find the Pleasure in Learning
Why do people learn? I don't mean inside school—I mean learning as a part of life. Surely a large part of our learning is necessary for survival and a basic quality of life.
But there is another, entirely different, reason to learn. Learning gives us pleasure. This kind of learning is often (but not always) motivated from within, and no outside forces or coercions are needed. We also don't mind the possible difficulties in this learning. We often expect the challenges we encounter; we tend to see them as a natural part of the learning process, so we are far more open to taking risks. Some love to learn about cars, others love to learn about history, and some find great joy in learning how to dance.
If we want students to experience more flow in school—if we want them to see school and learning as joyful—we need to rethink how and what we teach. No longer can schooling be primarily about creating workers and test takers, but rather about nurturing human beings (Wolk, 2007). By helping students find the pleasure in learning, we can make that learning infinitely more successful.
We should ask ourselves some fundamental questions: What is the purpose of school? What dispositions about learning, reading, school, the world, and the self do we want to cultivate? Ask young adults why they go to school. You will hear nothing about joy.
I am not using the word joy as a synonym for fun. For many children, having fun is hanging out at the mall, watching TV, text-messaging their friends, or zipping down a roller-coaster. Having fun certainly brings us joy, but students don't need to be having fun in school to experience joy. According to my Random House dictionary, joy means, "The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying." Surely our schools can do some of that. Joy and learning—including school content—are not mutually exclusive. Many of our greatest joys in life are related to our learning. Unfortunately, most of that joyful learning takes place outside school.
As educators, we have the responsibility to educate and inspire the whole child—mind, heart, and soul.
Find the Pleasure in Learning
Why do people learn? I don't mean inside school—I mean learning as a part of life. Surely a large part of our learning is necessary for survival and a basic quality of life.
But there is another, entirely different, reason to learn. Learning gives us pleasure. This kind of learning is often (but not always) motivated from within, and no outside forces or coercions are needed. We also don't mind the possible difficulties in this learning. We often expect the challenges we encounter; we tend to see them as a natural part of the learning process, so we are far more open to taking risks. Some love to learn about cars, others love to learn about history, and some find great joy in learning how to dance.
If we want students to experience more flow in school—if we want them to see school and learning as joyful—we need to rethink how and what we teach. No longer can schooling be primarily about creating workers and test takers, but rather about nurturing human beings (Wolk, 2007). By helping students find the pleasure in learning, we can make that learning infinitely more successful.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Curosity Classes: Joy of Learning!
We all have seen and appreciated the movie 3 idiots- Have we (as parents) ever dreamed of our children studying for the joy of learning!Always...But Does it happen...Never....
School's Focus: Excellent Results,Top Marks,Top Positions
Teacher's Focus: Syllabus Completion, Excellent Results
Parents Focus: Want Best for the child
Summer Camps: Timepass with little fun :-(
Child's Focus: Where I can learn and not rote?
Curosity Classes:Joy of Learning!!
The focus on Syllabus completion and exams at school and home is immense and that does take away the joy of learning.If you ever get to talk to a child studying abroad , you will find it quite impressive that the children knows a whole lot of information about themselves, environment surrounding them, animals, birds, insects, what they eat, where they are found, their predators, about countries, continents, Oceans.And you will find these kids MUCH more interesting to talk to! :-)).
The truth is Our children’s global counterparts are much ahead because of focus on General Awareness about the environment surrounding them.
Our education system and we as parents don’t encourage children to ask questions and guide them/interact with them to satisfy their curiosity. You know why?
“He must be too small to learn this”
An early childhood surrounded by knowledge and facts will leave positive fingerprints on a person's brain well into their complete life..
Slowly and steadily each and every thing that child is taught can become either an interesting fact or just a subject to cram.
Because learning is an attitude not a subject!!
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)