Human development is fascinating isn’t it? There are many remarkable transitions in life. When we stop and take a mental picture, and compare it to one taken at an earlier age, the transitions become glaringly obvious; babies holding their own bottles, children reading books, teens traveling into town alone, young adults earning their living or starting their own families, etc. Each transition is barely noticeable while it is happening but striking when seen from the perspective that time can provide.
One of the more interesting developmental transitions is seen in the educational process. The desire to learn undergoes a radical transformation as we mature. Little kids will go to school and do their homework for a very simple reason – they are told to do so by their parents and teachers. They do not question their reality. This is the first phase of learning.
It doesn’t last.
I am often consulted by parents who are struggling to motivate their teenagers. The problem they face is that most adolescents go through a second phase of learning – the “why the heck should I know this stuff?” phase. They will no longer do things “just because they are told.” Instead, they develop a strong sense of independence. Unfortunately, this independence is not yet paired with an understanding of why it is good to learn. Such an appreciation normally requires a certain degree of life experience to develop. When it does, a person is in the third phase of learning – the phase where they want to learn for their own benefit.
When I was in high school I always gave my math teacher a hard time. I was a decent student but I saw no purpose whatsoever in algebra and trigonometry – or in any science for that matter. In university I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid. My career choices were limited by the gaps in my learning. While I ended up in a career that pleases me, throughout much of my adult life I secretly harboured a desire to be a theoretical physicist – physics being the basis of chemistry, which is the basis of biology, which is the basis of psychology (Plus you get to make and play with laser beams. Who doesn’t like that?). Unfortunately, despite my collection of popular physics books, I have absolutely no idea what they’re really talking about. (Quantum chromodynamics is a pretty cool-sounding phrase but don’t ask me to explain it.) It’s too bad I spent so much time in phase II.
So at some point, at least for most of us, we go from learning for others to learning for ourselves. When we want to learn for ourselves, the motivational cycle of learning is complete.
These are the phases described in my column of last week:
For whom the school bell tolls
(Source: Pourquoi devrais-je étudier? Journal Métro, September 14, 2010)
It’s back to school time again, a time of year that is heaven to retailers and nightmarish for most kids. Yet learning isn’t such a bad thing is it? We have to do something during the day. We certainly can’t spend the rest of our lives bouncing a rubber ball against the garage door.
When it comes to education, I think there are three phases most of us pass through.
Phase I: Teacher told me to
Little kids rarely question their worlds. They go to school and do homework for one simple reason; their parents and teachers tell them to. Even though they may occasionally understand the need to add and subtract when buying a bag of chips, for example, kids will usually do school work because they see no alternative. “I’ll get in trouble if I don’t.”
Phase II: Why do I need to know this crap?
At some point students start to resent the routine and boredom of having to do things just because they are told to. Without the life experience to understand why certain things may be important, they start to question the necessity of education and defy authority. “When will I ever use this dumb quadratic equation and who the hell cares about Mesopotamia?” In this phase, students don’t want to study for their teachers and parents, and they don’t want to learn for themselves either.
Phase III: I want to learn
Eventually students start to get out there and face their futures. Many of them get summer jobs flipping burgers or stacking boxes in a warehouse. That’s when they start to worry about their own futures and wonder, “Hey, what am I going to do in life?” That’s when the motivation to learn comes back. “So what was that you said about the quadratic thingie there?” Those who learn for themselves and their own futures no longer need to be told to learn. They already want to.
The transition between phases differs from person to person. Some students go quickly from Phase I to Phase III, sometimes even skipping Phase II entirely. Others may take a few years to get to Phase III but eventually do so. Unfortunately, some people never leave Phase II. They are the ones who never quite get it.
Of course I am not referring only to formal education. For those who do get it, the learning process and the desire to learn really only ends when they stop breathing.
Tagged as education, educational phases, human development, kids, learning, parents, school, teacher, teenagers.
Posted in Life.
Posted on 24 Sep 2010
