Interest is Everything

My academic career, before I got to college, was all over the place. Throughout the years my record was checkered with a pretty equal distribution of Cs and Bs with a handful of Ds and a couple As here and there, which were almost exclusively in my English classes. I was barely a mediocre student. Although my grades would lead one to believe otherwise, I truly loved to learn and I spent a lot of time outside of school researching, reading, and writing about whatever caught my interest. After a brief unit in 7th grade I was interested in Greek Mythology and read all sorts of books on the subject and spent hours imagining what life in that time period was all about. I put in extra effort into my school work during that unit and wrote essays twice as long as those of my peers because I found the subject so fascinating. During this unit, you could not pull me away from my homework.

When history brought us to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, my eyes were glued to the history channel documentaries everyone else suffered through in class and I went out of my way to read novel after novel about witchcraft and magic and I even pulled out the Encyclopedias to read what they had to say about it all. I have always had a hunger for knowledge but my motivation is born out of interest. When something sparks my interest, all I want to do is read, write, and talk about it. I get so consumed by subjects sometimes that I could spend three days straight locked in my room doing nothing but studying and it is as if no time has gone by. Unfortunately, during those researching binges, the math textbooks and the chemistry worksheets were left neglected in my backpack. I just couldn’t bear to tear myself from the story I was writing, or my beloved mythology book. And when I did attempt to pound out the answers to my math homework, I rushed through them as quickly as possible, often asking friends to copy their answers just so I could get back to my own intellectual pursuits.

Now, I’m not saying that math is not important, because as a researcher, I love and appreciate statistics, now. And I am so thankful for my ability to calculate percentages when I go out to dinner or figure out the sale prices when I’m shopping. What I am saying is that I think there is a better way to teach these skills that is more enjoyable for both teachers and students that is less like trying to pull teeth from a violently terrified child. It wasn’t that I was bad at math either, I was actually quite good at it until algebra happened and I could no longer understand why it was important for me to keep learning it when there were so many more interesting things I could have been studying. Somewhere between 6th and 8th grades, math lost its relevance in my life and thus my interest went right along with it. Simply solving equation after equation, just to find the answer added no noticeable value to my life except that it might earn me a better grade. But to me, grades were just not a strong enough motivator to get me to put down the stories I was reading and writing and focus on something that seemed like little more than a waste of time.

There are many students out there, we all know a few, who are highly motivated by grades, but are these students really learning more about the subjects they are “studying” or are they simply trying to please their teachers and parents, fearful of breaking the social mores of the achievement culture in which we live? This is the kind of learning our system of education currently encourages, just getting things done with all the right answers on tests and homework assignments regardless of what learning actually takes place. Ask most teachers and they will tell you, they would rather their students actually learn, but unfortunately this standardized model of education we have moved towards is in direct contradiction with actual learning. What does it matter how a student scores on a test if everything he learned is forgotten within a few weeks or months of completion?

It may sound cliche, but learning really is about the process rather than the product (ie. grade) and in order to motivate students to really learn, their interests need to be sparked. And we as a society ought to be in favor of such intrinsically motivating educational programs, like the ones that Alfie Kohn and Ken Robinson suggest (the Project Approach, Reggio Emilia and Montessori inspired programs, and the Studio model are great examples). When students are interested, not only do they learn more (and thus accomplish more), but they increase their confidence because they are met with greater success and increase their chances of finding an authentic career. If everyone was able to find the kind of work that they both excelled at and enjoyed, imagine what we as a people could accomplish.

Interest is one of the greatest motivators and unfortunately it is far too often left out of the equation when we discuss education reform. Improvement does not need to be complicated. Allow students more say in what they are learning, how they go about learning it, and how to best represent their knowledge and we will all be amazed by the result. Of course this is not even close to everything I have to say on the subject of interest, or on education reform, but for now, I will leave you to imagine how school might have been different for you, had you been allowed more room to pursue your own intellectual interests and have more of a say in your education. I know for me, it wouldn’t have taken me until college to realize how much I love learning.

A New Adventure

In the world of education, there is always a lot of talk about what to teach and how to teach it, but rarely is the question raised, “why do we teach?” In my search for an answer to this, a few great thinkers have repeatedly left me feeling inspired and excited about my future in education. For one, I am in love with Ken Robinson’s idea of searching for one’s Element, the place in life where our greatest passions and strengths converge. Alfie Kohn’s thoughts on giving students a say in what and how they learn have also heavily influenced my perspective. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence and Isabel Briggs-Myers’ work with personality type are responsible for guiding me toward my true calling as an educator. And of course there is the Reggio Emilia Approach, which is what I have spent the past two years immersing myself in at Bella Mente in Seattle, WA where (up until next week) I have served as a teacher and Curriculum Development Specialist.



When I was growing up, school was a major source of anxiety for me because I wasn’t very good at it. It was not that I didn’t try or that I wasn’t smart or capable, but I just was not interested in it much of a time and I was one of those kids whom you could not get to sit still for more than a few minutes unless I was intrinsically motivated to do so. In my graduate research on learning style I realized that our current public school system is designed for a very specific type of learner and because I did not fit that mold, the cards were stacked against me from the beginning. So I spent my entire pre-college career anxious, embarrassed, and believing that I was not a “good student” because I did not get good grades and school did not come easily to me.

Flash forward to my first semester in college (I went here and then here) and suddenly everyone was asking me for help with their homework, ME! I was in shock. Reading and analyzing texts, writing papers, and having meaningful discussions about the issues and ideas I cared most about meant that I could finally shine as a student. So what was the difference? Well, in college I chose what I was learning, so my intrinsic motivation skyrocketed, and I was able to process information and demonstrate my knowledge in ways that were far more authentic for me. I felt for the first time, that school was easy. Looking back, I feel a bit jipped. It wasn’t fair that I had to wait until my education cost me $20,000 (or more) per year to finally start enjoying myself and finding success. So now I am doing what I can to create a more positive academic experience for future students.

Philosophy of education may be an obscure field, as most people who go to school do so for the training. I, on the other hand, have always been a theory junky. I want to know as much as I can about how people learn so that I can increase the chances of students finding success in school and later in life. Through my research, I have come to the understanding that one of the most important factors in determining how well a people will learn something (anything) is how much it sparks their interest. Searching for ways to make education more authentic and effective is what sparks my interest so this blog is my chance to share what I have found.

Everyone deserves to find success and enjoyment in school and not share my unnecessarily miserable experience, and not just for personal satisfaction but for the good of our society. People who are passionate about what they do (in work and school) end up happier, healthier, and more productive and that is just what America needs right now in this turbulent era of change and uncertainty. Although I might seem crazy for leaving a secure, well-paying job to set out on my own for a while, I am so excited to at last be doing the work that makes me come most come alive. Because really, what else is there?