I was engaging in a lively debate this week about children's attitude toward school. I lamented that for most students school is something to be endured, and how sad it was that the majority of a child's life must be spent in tortuous endurance. I wished that school was a place kids would be excited to return to instead of a place where the clock was watched and kids cheered at the final bell as they ran from the prison walls. (Okay, I'll admit it's a little dramatic and hyperbolic, but I was trying to make a point). I was countered with this: well of course kids would rather be at home playing video games. They would rather have fun than work. It's the human condition. Would you rather dig holes or go to Disney? But why can't school be Disney?
Why does school have to be digging holes? This is what I feel I fight against all the time. For me, one of my favourite things to do is learn and read and discover ideas about education and engage in lively conversation as we dream about the possibilities. That's my Disney. Every couple of years I learn a new instrument. That's my Disney. When someone has a brilliant new metaphor that helps me understand how the human body works. That's my Disney. When I push myself to ride my bike on a challenging course. That's my Disney. When I apply food theories and create a new meal that my family loves. That's my Disney. When I hear a quote that challenges my current mindset and I mull it over with someone. That's my Disney. I have never equated learning new things with the drudgery or monotony of digging holes. While learning experiences are often filled with challenges that take endurance, or practice that is repetitive, the synaptic connections of firing neurons in my brain is exhilarating. It pushes me through and creates an insatiable appetite for more learning. Some may critique and say that school can't be all fun and games. I'm not using Disney as a metaphor for the entire day being filled with fun. I'm using it to describe a place where every students wants to be. Where at the end of the day you have to drag their tired bodies home and they wake up at the crack of dawn eager to return. So this is my design challenge as a teacher: how can I help my students feel like coming to school is like going to Disney?
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Terri-AnnPersonal reflections on project-based learning. Archives
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