Techlearning blog

He flew them.  He fixed them. 

You see, his deafness was an asset because he could get extremely close to WW2 airplane engines.  When this was coupled his acute sense of touch, he could diagnose faulty engine vibrations that his hearing counterparts simply could not sense.  He was an airplane "super mechanic" and was enabled by his hearing loss rather than disabled.

He was surrounded by loving parents who, although they were poor, did all within their power to help their son learn.  He was never limited from pursuing his passion so that eventually, as he trained to be a mechanic on engines, his genius was recognized.  And the pilots, coveting his help, offered to teach him to fly.

Creating passionate students

Businesses are a buzzing  about creating "an emotional connection" with their customers. The best ones are harnessing the power of blogging, youtube, myspace, and every form of content creation that their customers do to get them talking.  One of my favorite business bloggers, Kathy Sierra, has a blog called "Creating Passionate Users" that focuses on helping businesses create passion in the users of their software.

So when educational research scientist John Seely Brown talked this week about passion based learning, my ears perked up.

"He suggested a "hybrid" learning approach. Schools can teach essential knowledge and critical thinking through somewhat traditional means. But they should complement that teaching with what Seely Brown called "passion-based learning" that focuses on getting students more engaged with topic experts."

Awestruck, it hit me! Good education is about creating passionate students.

Are you a passion killer or a passion igniter?

Thomas Friedman in his book, the World is Flat says,

"curious, passionate kids are self-educators and self motivators...nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid."  (Friedman 304)

But don't think that there is just anecdotal evidence supporting this viewpoint.  In the book, What the Best College Teacher's Do, by Ken Bain, the author outlines research conducted at the college level about the teachers who produced not only the greatest passion in their students (as marked by reviews by the students) but the greatest measurable results on standardized tests (MCAT, LSAT, etc.)

In a nutshell, Bain found the following characteristics in the best college level teachers:

1) First and foremost, these teachers have expert subject knowledge.
2) Teaching preparation is a top priority and planning begins with "student learning objectives rather than about what the teacher will do." (Bain 17)
3) A lot is expected from students but rather than arbitrary busy work they assign things that "embody the kind of thinking and acting expected for life." (Bain 17)
4) The students "learn by confronting intriguing, beautiful, or important problems, authentic tasks that challenge them to grapple with ideas, rethink their assumptions, and examine their mental models of reality."  (Bain 18)
5) They trust students and believe that they want to learn.
6) The assessment of students "flow(s) from primary learning objectives" rather than arbitrary standards.  These teachers also have methods to assess their own teaching and make changes to be a better teacher. (That is also not arbitrary.)

The emotion of the matter

Computers are plugged into two power sources and we often forget that.  One plug is into the electricity and the other is into a human being with feelings and emotions. 

So, why would I blog about emotions on a tech learning blog post?

Simply put, those teachers and administrators who refuse to acknowledge the emotional connection of their students and staff to the task of learning and change are doomed to failure.

I listened to three school "turnaround experts" yesterday in a great podcast with John Merrow on PBS (read transcript) and the key component to school turnaround that these principals kept coming back to was relationship.  I came away with the impression that they feel that understanding the emotions of the people involved and creating a relationship with them was the first step in school improvement. 

We as educators must find ways to connect emotionally with the students we teach and the teachers we employ.  (We can learn from good coaches on this one, teachers!  Good coaches inspire passion!) 

Additionally, we must allow access to the tools that our students are passionate about (blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networking, video creation, etc.) so that they can use it to communicate about the content we are passionate about teaching. 

Then, ultimately, they will find what they are passionate about.  This is something that only students can know for themselves.  I believe that students want to learn and also hunger for meaning.  We can give them that meaning or we can take it away.  (If you don't believe me, read Learning Outside the Lines about a severe dyslexic who became an amazing writer DESPITE the teachers who tried to kill his love for learning.)

I believe in helping students find their passion because if my Uncle Buddy had relied on some "adviser" he would have probably ended up in some law office doing legal research and hating life. 

But instead, he learned to fly!




Bibliography

Bain, Ken. What the Best College Teacher's Do. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2004.

Friedman, Thomas L.. The World is Flat. 2.0. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.

LaMonica, Martin. "Futurist: To fix education, think Web 2.0." ZDNET. 01 DEC 2006. ZDNET. 7 Dec 2006 <http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6140175.html?tag=nl.e539>.

Tate, Grey Benson. Providence Smiled: My Deaf Brother's Story. Lexington, KY: JCM Publishing, 1997.