Tip #4 Love Learning

 If you asked me to use one sentence that best describes my philosophy of education, I would say that my goal is to give my students a love for learning and give them the skills/tools to pursue those passions. For me, no matter what occupation you have, where you travel or how you want to spend your adult years, a love of learning will undergird all that you aim for. 

Undergird: to strengthen; secure, as by passing a rope or chain under and around, to give fundamental support; provide with a sound or secure basis

When I think of a love of learning, I am reminded of a quote in Sister Act 2 when Sister Mary Clarence is talking to a girl who wants to be a singer. "If you wake up in the morning and you can't think of anything but singing, then you should be a singer, girl."

What if we applied that to us? "If you wake up in the morning and you can't think of anything but learning, then you should not only be a learner but teach others to be a learner too." 

Sounds corny now when I write it but my heart is still in it. If we want to teach our students to love learning, then we need to be passionate about learning. We need to have a curious mind and a willingness to grow in our knowledge. The moment we think, "I know it all now" is the moment we lose our love for learning.

Years ago I was walking in the woods in Washington State, USA and my partner showed me the marks that the woodpecker had made in the trees, he explained the tracks the snow had left as it had melted down the mountain and pushed away the growth and we watched salmon battling against the tide to get home. I saw a deer standing on the road and I approached quietly so I could take a photo. My partner looked at me and wondered that he took it all for granted having seen it so many times.

When I was doing my Masters, I loved the learning part of all the subjects. Some topics were more intense than others. When I was doing 'Child Abuse and Neglect' and reading real life cases, I had to get up and do something every hour or so, to take a break. When I was doing 'Individual Testing and Assessment', I called my friend Sharyn and asked how she could love data and stats so much. But overall, I loved researching and learning! It wasn't all new, some of it confirmed what I had already learned, but what a privilege it is to discover information that is relevant to your situation and gives you ideas and strategies for ensuring your students learn in the best possible way for them.

We all learn in different ways. As teachers we know there are different styles of learning, we have created individual learning plans for our students, we have considered their strengths and weaknesses and we have been educated in how different learning needs to be addressed in order for our students to achieve their learning goals. 

But what about you? What is your learning style? What are you actively learning at the moment? Are you learning to play an instrument or maybe learning about an area of history you are interested in? It is important for your own wellbeing that you are learning about something you're passionate about. While I write this, my guitar sits in the corner inviting me to come and revise what I started learning a few years ago and then to learn some more. Maybe tomorrow I'll pick it up and strum a few chords or at least, tune it....

For fun, I took a free Language Learning Style Quiz while writing this post. The last time I took a similar test was a few years ago but the results were still basically the same. My optimal learning situation is: 

• Good engagement of feelings and highly emotional situations.
• Practical end to the project – i.e. a certification or reward.
• Active learning methods that involve communication and presentation of ideas.
• Repetition of material and thorough examples.
• Physical materials available to study and engage with.

I certainly don't disagree with any of that. If you haven't done any learning style quizzes, have a go - just for fun. 

Tip #4 Love learning and make it a priority to learn about something you love.