Learning for Real

Yesterday I attempted coaxing the elder calf into writing. I haven't seen you write much for a few days I said, come and sit here and do some of this writing/phonics book with me (old habits die hard), smiling in a way I hope conveyed how exciting it was going to be. 
She gave me a weak, half smile and sat at the table to begin her 'work'. After glancing at a page or two she suddenly declares she has been struck down with a tummy ache and went to lay on her bed. A short while later (feeling genuine concern for her well-being...) I went in to see how she was to find her happily playing lego on the bed with her sister.


Shortly after this, the calves bounded out to me having remembered that we are planning a yard sale for this weekend and needed to prepare. After a little discussion about what was needed, they were sitting and writing advertising posters for the sale. We talked about what we wanted to say and how to write in a way that would grab the attention of passers by. She asked about spelling words she didn't know and guessed at the spelling of others and did pretty well too.  


Here they were, writing, talking about writing and it's purpose, talking about letters and sounds, spelling. This is what I had tried to get her to do not an hour before without success!


What's the difference? Purpose! A real purpose! 
When you remove learning from it's purpose, you remove it from the motivation to learn it.

How many times have you heard children ask, "But WHY do I need to learn this?" I can remember asking exactly that, in high school, many times, and I think it is a very good question. And one we should answer. 
Why do I need to know this specific information, today? Will it enable me to build or create something new? Will it enable me to grow morally, ethically, spiritually?
If I can't remember the date the Cretaceous began and the Jurassic ended, will I still succeed in life? And what if I can remember it? Does that mean that I am of a higher level of intelligence than the kid sitting next to me who can't?


Because I will be tested on it, is not a motivation to a child.


We have segmented and separated knowledge to such a degree that children don't know why they are learning or how it relates to the knowledge they already have. They don't see what they can do with the new knowledge. It is totally removed from the bigger picture, from life.


I hear my friends talk about getting their children to do their homework. I hear them complain about why, having spent 6 hours at school, they still have another hour of work at home. And how they find it difficult to help because they don't know what the children are learning. You know what, for the most part, the children don't know either.




For most people in the western world, knowledge is at our fingertips. I can go online, right now and find out any new information I need. And so can my kids. 
I wanted to char grille capsicum the other day, so like most people, I watched a video on YouTube first on how to do it. I read a cooking forum with a load of comments by people from all around the world who have chargrilled capsicum before. And then I did it.

This is the world our children are living in, now. Given the crises we find ourselves in, one can only guess at what it will be like for them in twenty years. Perhaps in the future, what they will need is creativity, courage, morality, confidence, communication and collaboration skills, and the ability to think critically about what they experience. 
Can these things be taught through curriculum? Through the chopping up of knowledge and experience? Or are they taught by living. Living alongside our friends, families, peers and communities. Being involved in real activities, with real tools, alongside real people, for real purposes.