Nothing matter if they don't matter.

I remember my days in university, where I was passionate about selectively learning some things, like now that I really enjoy learning about applied digital learning but how frustrating it was to learn something that didn't interest me.

I remember studying "costs and accounting" I had never considered myself so good with numbers or maths, and this subject really brought out my frustration, boredom, and interaction in a superficial way. I procrastinated on my assignments, even knowing that I had to do them. Within me, there was no motivation or interest in wanting to learn anything about this type of subject.

Although my teacher was a person with a lot of knowledge in the subject, now I understand that he had not adopted an adequate learning environment for the learning of his students; there was a transfer of information, but there was no time for reflection, little appropriation on the part of the student and much less voice, indeed what was there was terror! Terror and anxiety to get a grade.

Now think about this exact situation with a child of 3, 4, and 5 years old, where they are not interested in anything more than playing, where learning fun is essential for them.

I remember having a flashback of frustration as a child for not understanding math (now that I think about it, I have had this fear all my life). My mom tried her best to teach me and improve my grades, but I remember crying at my dining room table for not understanding, not knowing, and just listening: you have to do it!

The reality is that what drives learning is motivation. Adults and children will want to learn when motivation and curiosity are active. Children between the ages of 3 - 5 are curious and lose that curiosity as they approach 13 years of age, so the question is, how can we maintain that curiosity and motivation through the school years?

The answer is the connection, creating learning environments that motivate students to learn, giving them a choice, and ownership, through authentic learning, COVA, to prevent students from superficially continuing to interact with education. When a student interacts superficially with the material, the information is not really being processed, much less the student interacting with it.

Let's think about why we keep trying to create and transfer curriculum, using tools when we have to change our mindset and focus learning on the needs and pace of each of our students. Let's think that none of this matters if they don't matter.

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References:

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the New Psychology of Success. Random House. kindle version

Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2015). Blended. Jossey-Bass. Kindel Edition.

‌Richardson, W. (2017, February 11). Curiosity is the cat. Retrieved from https://willrichardson.com/curiosity-is-the-cat/

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