Learning Needs a Cool Factor

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Comments

[tim]

Rosa:

I am keenly aware of the resistance that many students have toward learning. It is especially surprising since I see it in the students that I work with on a college campus (they are actually paying to be here!). There are moments where they are in shock that they have to spend so much time reading, learning, and thinking. I think it might be necessary to put a statement on college applications in the near future that says: "You will have to actually read your textbooks and learn the material in order to succeed here."

As you note, there is a dark side within this emerging generation's attitude toward the idea and discipline of lifelong learning. But there is also a bright side. I would offer a few observations:

a) Most students do like to learn, but it needs to be connected to something else (they haven't quite bought into the idea of learning for learning's sake). I've seen students flounder in general ed courses and then spring to life once they find themselves in their upper division work toward their major. It's an age old case of "how will this apply this to anything that I do once I leave college? Will I really NEED this in the REAL world" If student's don't see the connection between what they're learning and real life, they tend to dismiss it easily.

b) This leads me to another observation. We live in a knowledge/information saturated society. Our students are exposed to so much information growing up that they have to figure out some way of filtering, processing, and establishing what's important. They have learned to get their information quickly, colorfully, and in easy-to-chew pieces. This effects learning styles, retention, and unfortunately, adds an "entertainment" mentality to learning. Books tend not to be the most thrilling way to get information. Why buy books when I can get the info off the web, or download it to my laptop, or listen to it as a podcast on my IPod?

3. I think one thing that we need to think about (and you touched on this) is the need to develop learning communities. Our students find so much of their identity based upon the groups that they belong to. If the group defines learning as "cool," then a student will be much more likely to adopt that perspective as well. Many of us have identified learning as a positive thing from an individualistic perspective. I think that today's student is much more inclined toward groupthink.

Where does this leave us?

-Discover ways to tie learning to the passions and interests of our students (coursework that's more selective, hands-on, and interactive).
-Develop new teaching models that incorporate the media tools of this generation (lectures as podcasts, online forums, video & graphics that supplement or, dare I say, supplant written words).
-If adults want to model learning for students, they must bring something to the table with them when they interact (stories, ideas, ebooks, websites, QUESTIONS) with students. I think there's nothing wrong with PUSHING students to learn.
-Simplify. Students are busy. What can we encourage them to take away in order to create more opportunity or SPACE for learning to take place.

These are just some of my thoughts.

tim

[Rosa Say]

Thank you so much Tim, for with the work you do, you certainly are more in tune with this!

You bring up a key insight: If we are to place ourselves in the roles of coaches and mentors, we have to raise our own game.

Reaching others has always meant that we ourselves must be more approachable, and between generations it has always meant that we get challenged to be ‘not-old’ thinkers. Boy do I experience this daily with my kids! Conversations can take the most fascinating twists and turns, and if I’m not up to speed with their communication skills and frame of reference I quickly get sidelined, or they get bored by the game completely and are on to the next thing —without me.

However I also concur with your words about it being okay, even necessary, to push them toward learning, inserting our influence with coaching and mentorship. What we offer for them IS the answer to that age old question ALL students have (even us ‘adult learners’) and that is, “Why must I learn this?” We have the answers on what their practical life’s applications will be. Blessed, golden context.

[Blaine Collins]

Rosa,

I like your ideas about the need to make learning cool, and I think Tim is right to focus on the "packaging and distribution" of learning. In addition, I wonder how much the "timing and pacing" of learning are factors.

Just a couple of generations ago, learning was not seen as lifelong; it was something for children and young adults. Society frontloaded learning through the institutions of elementary and secondary educaton, which we still rely on today.

More recently, lifelong learning has been needed, promoted and adopted by much, but not all, of US society. Frontloaded learning is no longer sufficient or acceptable. However, many of us participating in lifelong learning did not realize during our youth that the learning paradigm was changing. We approached college like our parents - thinking that we would gain the bulk of our lifelong academic knowledge within 4-6 years. We didn't anticipate launching new learning iniatives in our 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.

For today's youth, the model is different. An undergraduate can be fully aware that they are at an early stage of a lenghty process. This awareness is likely to change behavior. Instead of approaching college as the last chance to soak up knowledge, college students may view it as an institutionalized "right of passage" that is necessary to continue on the path of lifelong learning.

No doubt there are many factors contributing to the attitudes you discuss. To the extent that teenagers and young adults recognize learning as a marathon, more so than a sprint, their attitudes may reflect the need for pacing learning over an ever-expanding expected lifetime.

[Rosa Say]

You make a good point Blaine, and I share your optimistic view. My desire is that our conversation here will rattle our cages as the movers and shakers we are, so we focus on supporting this evolution.

In our own generation, we were pretty rebellious, and although our parents held college up as the esteemed high road, many of us took the fork, or opted for a double track: Fresh out of high school we did our learning out of school and on the job. Or, as I unfortunately did, we trimmed as much of the college experience as we could for just the basics of the college bachelor's degree so we could hit the ground running in our careers. In the case of my high school graduating class, our dads were in VietNam (or protesting it!) and our moms were NOT going to be the second wave of Rosie the Riveters.

Then, in our zeal to become the "newly savvy parents" of the next generation, we abandoned our school system as we turned our focus elsewhere. As workplace mentors, we actually may have told those at their own crossroads they may not need college at all (at times I admit I did): Choose the right internship, and learn your way through the college of work.

So now? We have come to the realization that learning can be cool wherever you're doing it. We also realize we have to support our schools again in a much bigger way than we have: It takes way more than money, it requires our active engagement.

Aha moments... Thank goodness for the certainty of eventually growing up!