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| Back Bay, Boston. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/165_3342090/1/165_3342090/cite. Accessed 28 Nov 2018. |
Over the weekend of Nov. 16-18, I attended the Learning and the Brain conference in Boston. The title of this conference was Reaching for Greatness: Unleash the Potential, Passions and Creative Talents in Students with Cognitive Science. I must admit that while I love this conference, what interested me most this year was hearing from one of the main keynotes: Sir Ken Robinson. Anyone who has viewed his TED talk about creativity knows what an inspiring presenter he is and that he advocates for drastically changing our current model of schooling to leverage students' interests and passions. He did not disappoint. In his talk he advocated for reaching students wherever they are and nurturing their innate talents. This might at first seem obvious, but he mentioned case after case where kids were overlooked by the existing school system. His belief in creating a broad curriculum, rather than one that focuses on narrow skill building and test preparation, allows for students to connect their own passions and interest to the material. His final words have stayed with me...
"Great teachers are students. Great students are teachers."I love this idea. It reminds me that, as teachers, we need to take every opportunity to explore our own interests.Not only will this allow us to model curiosity and inquiry for our students, it will also make us better teachers.
One of my favorite things about attending this conference is hearing about the latest research and how it impacts learning. Judith M. Harackiewicz's (PhD) current research relates to personal interest and its role in learning. Her talk was entitled, Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education. She and her colleagues posit that interest isn't a static idea. It evolves over time. At first, an interest grabs a person's attention. Through curiosity and exploration, the interest develops. Eventually as a person learns more, they make connections to their own lives by continuing to ask deeper questions independently. Teachers can support and cultivate these developing interests in children by presenting materials in a variety of ways and making the material personally relevant to them. She suggests that teachers provide problem-based questions where students can discover a variety of solutions. Finally, she believes teachers should help kids to understand the value of what they learn. Her research suggests that
if students can decide for themselves how the material relates to their lives rather than having a teacher explain why, meaningful learning increases.I have been pondering how to deliberately set aside time for students to think and share how an idea relates to their lives as I introduce a new concept to spark their personal interest. The next step is to create learning opportunities that leverage these personal interests as the students proceed.
I found the other workshops and keynotes to be equally thought-provoking. Topics included learning lessons from people who had failed, implementing personalized learning and using STEAM to teach innovation. As a Library Department we encourage teachers to transition from traditional research projects to more inquiry and project-based ones. Cultivating students' interests and getting them to recognize the relevance of these ideas to their lives are key components that will allow our students to engage productively in these projects and effectively grapple with unfamiliar situations and new ideas.
Certainly, if we want our students "To learn their powers and be answerable for their use," they must begin by making personal connection to ideas in order to do the deeper work of investigating, exploring and applying new concepts.Thank you to the PD committee for approving my request. I learned so much at this conference and came away with a number of ideas that I can implement immediately into my teaching practice. The conference helped me make the connection that if we really want students to take ownership of their learning and dive deep into inquiry we must begin with discovering and cultivating a spark of interest in the topic for each student.