Policy & Reform
They need to love the act of learning
Hard as engagement is to define, it remains the key to cultivating students who will succeed by pursuing knowledge their whole lives. By Margery Evans.
Across the developed world, a consensus is emerging. Schools may have delivered in the past, but for many students, they are certainly not working as they should for today and tomorrow.
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This is one of the best articles that I have read in sometime. As Principal of a small semi-remote school, I have discovered that many teachers have become satisfied with students who are not discipline problems and who allow teachers to leave classrooms and return without issue. These same teachers are satisfied when students complete set tasks with a minimum of supervision and questioning. Where is life-long learning being fostered here?
Much of this article resonated strongly with me from the perspective that I have been trying now to overcome – for three years – this constant blocking from teachers who believe they do a good job and yet typify the very behaviours that are commented on in this article as needing to be addressed, needing to change.
For three years now, I have attempted to carry out this very work, placing students at the centre of all that I do and with little support. I hope that more people can take on board the content of this article and join a drive for this type of forward thinking. Congratulations!
Why shouldn’t teaching and learning result in a love of learning? Flexible individual teaching in a supportive learning environment. Tick. Project based learning with student choices. Tick. Strong trusting student-teacher relationships. Tick. I’m lucky to be working in this Montessori school where our children love to learn!!