Learning

I started my class late yesterday to allow my students more time to register for their spring classes. The process is typically chaotic with most not getting the classes they need.

I use the word “need” because most of the classes are requirements and depressingly is consistent with their response to this question I asked them: “Do any of you have any classes you’re really looking forward to taking in the spring?”

Only one hand went up. A single student was looking forward to a class on jewelry - where he would learn its history and design some of his own. Sounds fascinating, right?

No other student could think of a single class they were looking forward to taking. While I would assume there would be great excitement or anticipation, their response was more consistent with how one would approach a series of dentist appointments. Only significantly much more expensive.

Similarly I hear kids in middle school or high school talk about how science is boring. Science, boring? How is that even possible with all of the wonder and awe in the natural world?

It seems like something has been lost in education as kids get older. Research shows how critical it is to connect the material being taught to the lives of students. Note, I said the lives of students not their future job prospects.

Recently, I took a group of students on a tour around the City College campus. It was designed as a Social Mobility Awe walk. We visited sites that were hand selected to connect their journeys to events and people who went before them. You could see their eyes open wide when they learned that Alexander Hamilton was an immigrant from the Caribbean like them. They had walked by his house, which is right around the corner from campus, many times before but only now saw the connection. Stop after stop, they learned about people like them with similar challenges and hopes. After we were finished, one student said it was like they could feel the people in the past cheering them on. Another said, they felt inspired to work harder for the next generation. Yet another said, he had begun to question the value of education but now realizes that sometimes it’s good just to learn for learning’s sake.

It is well known that our phones are dopamine delivery machines but so is learning. When we discover new things, it feels like a reward - triggering increased motivation and focus.

Recently, I was listening to a podcast interview with Ken Burns about his new film on the American Revolution. My mind was blown by the variety of new info I was given in this short discussion. Did you know that George Washington was the richest man in the country when he was chosen to lead us into battle? Or that Franklin’s ideas for a democratic republic were inspired by how Native Americans were able to self govern?

A week earlier, I was reading a wonderful book of essays by the late historian, David McCullough, History Matters. In it, he described his own learning process, which included him re-enacted the sprint that Harry Truman made throughout Washington, DC when he was summoned to the White House immediately after FDR had died. Apparently Truman was in better shape than McCullough.

The world is full of wonder, insight, provocation and awe. So why aren’t all classrooms? I want to make sure this comment isn’t construed as a whole cloth criticism of teachers. They do incredible work under constraints and rules that so often are the primary reason the joy of learning plays second fiddle to test scores and career preparation.

By the way, second fiddle is a reference to a subordinate position of the second violinist in an orchestra and dates back to the 18th century. Contrary to popular belief both are crucial. In fact, the “second fiddle” actually lays the foundation on which the first violin’s melody rests.

Similarly, the joy of learning should lay the foundation for education. Without it, how do you think test scores, job prep and spring courses will sound?

Recommendation of the Week: Learn something new and share that joy of learning with someone else.

Send this to a student or a teacher and see what they think.