Does anyone want to learn?
by Gustavo Alonso *
Introduction… 1
Let's see… 1
The student-learning relationship… 1
Interest and motivation… 2
So that everyone wants to learn… 3
Introduction
Many of us have become too excited, at least for a moment, when watching “The Matrix” (the first in the series) we were surprised and hopeful at the same time with the scene “The training”: the one in which Neo received classes in Jujitsu, Kung-Fu and even "drunk boxing", while his body rested in an armchair… For a moment we imagined the possibility of acquiring knowledge or new skills just by "installing" a program, without the need for effort, dedication and “Waste of time” that any learning process demands.
And another case is the one that we can observe in any classroom of any university, where in each exam the possibility of surprising a student looking at the classmate's sheet always remains latent, when not using some “memory aid” (machete, bah). And we are talking about vocational training, right? The one that one chose because he likes it, by vocation or for any other reason… We assumed that this stage of training could be faced with greater responsibility.
The paradox seems installed: we all want to "know", but, apparently, it is much more comfortable when "learning" is not needed to achieve it, then?
Let's see…
The student-learning relationship
Go one to know why, from children we begin to live the experiences of kindergarten, primary and secondary school (these last two, now: EGB and Polimodal), as something that can not be avoided and that, for the worse, we have less time of games and recreation.
Then, we proceed to categorize and everything that has to do with learning something happens to receive a not entirely positive connotation and to experience itself as a kind of "burden".
And also the issue of experienced roles must assume an important role in explaining the way in which we relate today with those who teach us in some way: the position of authority from which our first teachers looked at us, was going to mark in us how we should relate to our future "instructors" from then on.
But not everything passes exclusively through a relationship of authority; Another point that also deserves some analysis may be that of the passivity with which we used to receive the knowledge that was imparted to us, so, from that point of view, we could not get too involved in the process, but rather that we should sit down to "listen and learn"…
With all this and some other things that we have not referred to, we can already begin to understand why what has to do with learning something is not usually seen as too exciting a experience.
Interest and motivation
For all of the above, it is necessary to work hard to capture the interest of our students, motivate them and involve them in the process. We have already learned that considering students as "empty sacks" desiring to be "filled" with knowledge does not seem to be the best model or the most appropriate approach.
And to arouse interest in a course, for example, nothing better than a good degree. The title is essential because it is the first impression; and as some commercial deodorant from the nineties said: "the first impression is what counts". The title should be short and impactful. The title must translate the benefit that everyone who takes the course or seminar or whatever will receive. And when you can't convey all that with just the title, a good description can help our purposes, but always emphasizing the benefits, empathically thinking about what our potential students may need or what they would motivate to "waste time" taking that course.
But neither is the title everything: just as "love at first sight" does not guarantee success, but rather you have to strive every day to build the relationship, a teacher-student relationship must also be built day by day or class by class, even when it comes to relationships that do not share the same time or physical space.
And for the construction of that relationship, one of the most important aspects lies in being clear and precise in communication and in what you want to convey in each class. It goes without saying "in difficult" what can be transmitted in another way. A simple and direct language is at least as academic as any other more complex.The complexity does not do to the interest of the student, but the ideas that try to be transmitted. It is very difficult to keep a student "hooked", when he spends most of his time understanding the teacher's language, and that is a waste of time in most cases. The student's attention should be centered around the content, in the message. A complicated message is a lost message. And when a class is not understood, we must carefully review what is the share of responsibility of each of the parties involved. In the same way, it is known that attention cannot be maintained for a long time if "breaks" are not included in which students can relax, at least for a few minutes, and then return to class with renewed attention.
Another aspect that cannot be neglected is student participation. Leaving the student relegated to the role of listener or reader may be the best way to make a teaching process ineffective. We must invite our students to take responsibility for their training, we must invite them to take on challenges, to make decisions, and all of this can be achieved by structuring open and participatory teaching, where the student has a leading and active role.
So everyone wants to learn
As we have seen so far, the task is not easy. Even more considering that we are not proposing, neither more nor less than a paradigm shift in the teaching process. A paradigm shift from which students want to learn, not only to get to a different "place" in regards to their current knowledge, but also because they enjoy the "journey". And this is the challenge.
We must stop considering the student as a simple "receiver" (or much worse: "container"), to help them occupy the place that they not only deserve, but must occupy to make learning a motivating, pleasant and enriching experience. An experience that has him as the protagonist and that makes him participate, think, apply, that helps him understand, that invites him to repeat it over and over again, with the ever-present motivation to acquire knowledge that favors the generation of new “knowledge”, but "knowledge" that has to do with the history of each student, personalized "knowledge" and contextualized to the circumstance of each one of them. There is no point in becoming an expert “repeater” or a “spokesperson” for other people's knowledge: that is not learning.
True learning takes place when it is accompanied by a critical sense; when the formation of an own criterion, prevails to any facilitator intention to adopt the concept that is, of who it is and without conditions. True learning begins when before accepting, before "knowing" (in quotes), we are concerned with understanding (without quotes).
It is, therefore, the responsibility of those who contribute to the training of students, promote new learning or, better said, true learning. A learning that invites reflection, that provokes thinking, that promotes analysis and, fundamentally, is useful.
© 2005 - All rights reserved to Gustavo Alonso
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