Saturday, March 26, 2016

Tell me and I forget but involve me and I learn!

I must confess that I’m like most that get bored rather easily when it comes to the typical classroom type of learning scenario. Why is it the case that our educational system continues to use outdated methodology to train up the kids who will become the leaders of tomorrow? As I begin the grandpa journey of watching my grandson grow up I want him to love life and love to see learning as something for a lifetime. Yet, I know that the major responsibility of training a child isn’t in the typical classroom but out in the real world with mom, dad and clearly the GRANDPARENTS!

Take a minute and consider who has influenced you the most when it comes to loving your life and becoming a life long learner regardless of your age and educational background. I had already finished a science degree before I was influenced the most about real life learning! Don’t get me wrong the education I received at Cal-Poly SLO town was exceptional! Yet, it wasn’t until my religious studies and philosophy degree at San Jose State University that I was taught how to learn outside the box!

It was one of my religious studies profs, Richard Keading, who believed that learning was seldom accomplished in the classroom but out in the real world. I’m so grateful for this former priest turned PhD Theologian who invited us into his home for wine, cheese and a vibrant discussion about life, death and before blogging was popular how to journal via Alan Progoff. I had been accustomed to grueling tests in my Biochem studies that caused you to lose sleep. Whereas Dr. Keading created an environment where tests were actually a time of sharing in a group context what you had learned, what challenged you the most and what was your take away.

I remember laughing with a few fellow philosophy buds how much fun college had become with this one prof! Yes, we still wrote papers that ranged from a few pages to I think my longest was over 25! Remember this was the pre-fossil or dinosaur era before PC’s or the first Apple II was for sale. My take away from all of this is that the best and most effective way of teaching is always outside the classroom in the real world where the stars shine at night, the Grand Canyon or Half Dome take away your breath and inspire you to do something that before you considered impossible!

I know that writing was never my real passion in undergrad but it was after my philosophy degree that my Anne’s influence in my life helped me to learn how to see what others would miss! So I really applaud teachers and parents who challenge and direct their students and kids to pursue excellence but to never define what learning looks like for them. So it’s amazing to see an older adult who couldn’t read learn one page at a time how to decipher words and then in time express their hearts in a written form. Much like I long for the day when my grandson will both sit in my lap and read about lions or marine fish but will also walk with me at the zoo or the big aquarium that’s being build.

I confess to being a Mac guy that does believe that creativity can be real for everyone but you have be willing to dive into the arts and not worry about what others think or say. I applaud the life example of so many of my mentors and teachers in life who brought to life for me the stark reality that learning happens best by being involved in a hands on fashion where you actually do something instead of just talking about it.

This last Saturday I forced a couple of my teens to get up in the pre-dawn hours to help with doing a large concrete job. We poured a large room addition that required almost 30 yards of concrete. These two guys were initially clueless about how to shovel or wheel concrete but by the end of the day they were starting to figure it out! I had talked about what we were going to do but it made little sense to these youngsters. It wasn’t until Isaiah dumped his first wheelbarrow of concrete that he figured out the art of pushing a load and dumping it into the footing instead of on his foot!


So please quit lecturing and start involving me in what you want me to learn!

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