My god, I watched and listened in awe: eyes wide open, mouth dropped, goose bumps, some tears, or even a lump in the throat. After these past few weeks, I learned that you don't have to travel the world over to find the beautiful; it's right there in front of your classroom nose. The students just finished their "Dr Seuss Project" and the "Song Thing Project." In communities, they took the information in, critically thought about it, sifted through it, shuffled it about, took ownership, found purpose and relevance, and it came out in new and interesting ways. They're starting, arduously starting, just starting, to learn how to think in different and deeper ways; they're better able to remember the details because the information is embedded in a meaningful, purposeful, context. That's called relevance, critical thinking, and creativity. It's the stuff of real, deep, and lasting learning. And, you should have seen it: the imagination, the creativity, the laughter, the fun, the sense of accomplishment, the wonderment at their creativity, the amazement at their imagination, the surprise at their own abilities and talents. More important, the learning, the understanding, the insight. These are people who said they couldn't write writing magnificent and insightful verses and lyrics; these people who were afraid to take risks, taking risks; these are people who said they couldn't do it, doing it; these people who said they weren't creative being creative. Yeah, they complained, they cursed, they grimaced, and they struggled. Sure, they were confused and they were afraid of being wrong. But, in the end, most of them, and all, overcame the barriers. The whole spirit of these past few weeks evolved into an ever reinforcing and proud "Damn, I can do it!" If I had to, I would take the work of these supposed "average" students and hold it up against anything--anything--coming out from our honors program. If these students knew how to listen to themselves, as I listen to them, in the stillness of their quiet, they would hear, as I do, the whisper of their minds and hearts slowly giving strength to weakness, energy to lethargy, courage to fear, faith to disbelief, belief to doubts, confidence to self-depreciation, fun to somberness, hope to despair, excellence to mediocrity, can to can't. They would see that the teacher and learner are located in the same person. They would hear that there is nothing "average" or "mediocre" about any of them.
Someone once said that it's really a mistake to think that the joy of learning can be promoted by threat or that a love of learning can be imposed by coercion or that happiness with learning can be injected with fear. How true, how true. And, yet, isn't that the very hallmark of our educational system: fear, threat, and coercion. Joy, love, and especially fun seem to be taken as the antithesis of seriousness and work. Do we really understand that we can have serious fun; that the opposite of fun is debilitating boredom, not work? Do we really understand how difficult it is for students to learn something when they are rushed, threatened, or given failing grades. How many of us can think clearly, perceive sharply, be creative and imaginative, when we're rushed, anxious, afraid, or see no purpose to it all? When we make students afraid to make decisions, to take risks, to have the courage to fail, we stop learning dead in its tracks. When we demand students mindlessly enslave themselves to a serving up "what do you want," we stop learning in its tracks. When we don't answer the student's question, "why do I have to do this," we stop learning in its tracks. I remember when my sons where kids. They were so curious. They were fearless adventurers, almost too bold. They were questers, asking about all sorts of things at all sorts of times. They wanted to make sense out of things, out of everything. They wanted to find out how things work. They were open, perceptive, and testing. They did more than merely observe people and things around him. They were learners and involvers. Their hands were always on, in, and around. Their eyes peered. They climbed up and over. They crawled into and under. They patiently played with, touched, tasted, twisted, lifted, bent, and even broke. They never thought about being afraid to make mistakes. They tolerated lots of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance. Sure, they often got frustrated, but they so loved suspense, they kept at it. They often would wrench away when I offered to help, It was theirs to find. And, boy, were they proud when they found it, did it, and got it. Like the Enterprise in Star Trek, they boldly went where they had never been before. Alas, our k-12 and higher education campuses, with their orgies of tests, scores, quizzes, grades, GPAs, herd-like lecture halls, standardization, credentialing, suck the life, joy, fun, and happiness out of that kind of adventurousness. They are not places that give all that much time, or opportunity, or recognition for this kind of exploring, thinking, doing, and learning. No, we gotta "cover the material!" We gotta get "mastery of the subject." I guess what gets to me is that if Robert Louis Stevenson was on our campuses he would probably write a story titled " Dr. Educator and Mr. Academic." All too often our campuses are populated by an intellectual version of academic commercialism that's threatens to do, if it hasn't already done, to education what so many have done to Christmas. It creates a competition betweeen spirit and "stuff" that takes all the spirit and meaning and purpose out of the stuff. We are overemphasizing the importance of grades and other measurements; we are overemphasizing content; we are underemphasizing, if not ignoring, the importance of resourcefulness, optimism, people skills, communication skills, a confident can-do attitude, self-esteem, creativity; we devalue vital connectedness. Talk of good grades if you wish, talk of content is you wish, as long as you balance this by equally talking, seriously talking about, about emotional and social health. Talk of "cognitive" intelligence is you wish, as long you balance this by equally talking about, seriously talking about, emotional and social intelligence. Play and fun are critical sources for the joy and love of learning. Doing exactly what you are told to do is not fun. Memorization by rote is not joy of learning. Studying merely to take a test and get a grade is not the love of learning. Being in a "rat race" curving-the-grades competition is not the fun of learning. I am demanding of each student, but I want her or his achievement and success not to be measured solely by her or his grades. I want their success be measured also, if not more, by their ability to be playful, loving, and creative. To paraphrase Carl Jung, the creative mind and heart play with the things they love. Now they're beginning to work on their "Sculpture Thing" project. Make it a good day -Louis- Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org<http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/> Department of History http://www.therandomthoughts.com<http://www.therandomthoughts.com/> Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ (O) 229-333-5947 /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ / \ (C) 229-630-0821 / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \ /\ \ //\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/ \_/__\ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\ _ / \ don't practice on mole hills" - / \_ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5333 or send a blank email to leave-5333-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
