Please include attribution to http://mindvalleyacademy.com with this graphic.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Very Interesting Video
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2014/sessions/2014-04-02/guide-pseudo-science-english-language-teaching
On Passion for Learning
School has been about activating the amygdala. It has been about needing educated workers and to obtain educated workers we needed obedience from them first. It has been about activating the center of FEAR. How so? If the student does not do as the institution says he/she will be expelled. If the student does not do homework or work in class, he/she will get a bad grade. If the student is not obedient and compliant he/she will fail and it will remain in their record for the rest of their life and no one will want to hire a failure.
All this was brought about during the industrialization period, but now as this period fades away, there is a new challenge. How do we train creative, independent, innovative artists( students)? We can not use the old tools because resorting to obedience to teach passion definitely does not work. The easy to-use tool of activating the amygdala does not work anymore, and I do not think it ever will. Students are aware that if they fail at school, they can still be very successful, probably even more so, because they will want to do what they love to do.
There are too many examples now-a-days of highly successful people who did poorly in school. Students know. That leaves us teachers in a predicament. Is passion teachable? How do we teach it? Then, we must also take into consideration how life has changed for everyone. The new civic, scientific, and professional life is all about doubt. We question everything. Why does the government do what it does? Why does this work the way it works? It's about questioning the status quo, marketing, and political claims, and most of all, questioning what is next.
Not too long ago I helped my dear friend Alejandra Acosta with her final essay for her Phd certification. She hired me as her editor. I felt her essay was directed to a very interesting topic. One of the main points was that students were not asked about what they wanted to learn. I felt her observations were excellent, but I'm almost positive that people in charge of revising her work were not in agreement because she was questioning the status quo. How then does a teacher go about helping students become passionate about school?
All this was brought about during the industrialization period, but now as this period fades away, there is a new challenge. How do we train creative, independent, innovative artists( students)? We can not use the old tools because resorting to obedience to teach passion definitely does not work. The easy to-use tool of activating the amygdala does not work anymore, and I do not think it ever will. Students are aware that if they fail at school, they can still be very successful, probably even more so, because they will want to do what they love to do.
There are too many examples now-a-days of highly successful people who did poorly in school. Students know. That leaves us teachers in a predicament. Is passion teachable? How do we teach it? Then, we must also take into consideration how life has changed for everyone. The new civic, scientific, and professional life is all about doubt. We question everything. Why does the government do what it does? Why does this work the way it works? It's about questioning the status quo, marketing, and political claims, and most of all, questioning what is next.
Not too long ago I helped my dear friend Alejandra Acosta with her final essay for her Phd certification. She hired me as her editor. I felt her essay was directed to a very interesting topic. One of the main points was that students were not asked about what they wanted to learn. I felt her observations were excellent, but I'm almost positive that people in charge of revising her work were not in agreement because she was questioning the status quo. How then does a teacher go about helping students become passionate about school?
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
I feel
Funny, I feel weird. I was looking at my blog and I saw that lately I have just posted infographics. I haven't done any writing. I don't think that is healthy for someone who likes to write. So, I better get myself to doing what I like to do.
Maybe writing a book will help...
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Trip
Here I am waiting to board a plane that will take me to Guadalajara to see my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters. I feel so excited to be going. Guadalajara and Tepa, here I come!
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