Working Hard vs. The Joy of Learning
March 14, 2008
Last July, I read (and blogged about) about a powerful study about the positive effects of praising children for their effort instead of praising them for being smart. This year, as a result, I have consistently done just what the study recommends: working hard and putting forth great effort have been major points of emphasis in my classroom.
Today, a new thought occurred to me. It came as I was in the middle of a writing workshop, right in the midst of a moment when I was imploring my students to work hard and to do their best to use every minute of today’s class period to its fullest. My thought was this:
In my attempts to praise effort, have I been inadvertently teaching my students that learning is a hard and painful process, rather than a joyful and exciting adventure?
As painful as it is to admit, I think that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. In addition, I’ve been viewing my own role through that same lens. I figure that if I can just push through one more math problem per class period, my students will become a little bit smarter and I will have been a little more successful as a teacher.
Maybe, just maybe, my goal shouldn’t be to constantly work the students at maximum speed or to cram one more thing into each lesson… maybe my goal should be to inspire students to love learning, so that they eagerly and willingly continue their learning outside the classroom walls. Perhaps the one problem per day that I didn’t teach would be outweighed by the creation of something new: an inspired, self-motivated, lifelong learner.
What do you think? Is learning supposed to be hard work or a joyful process? Or is it not an either/or situation?
Entry Filed under: Education, Elementary Education, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, High Schools, Homeschool, Learning, Middle School, Public Schools, Second Grade, Secondary Education, Students, Teaching, Third Grade, school. .
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1.
Dan | March 15, 2008 at 8:45 am
Obviously we all learn differently. But I’ve never felt any joy during the act of learning. Learning something new can be hard - it’s new. But the real joy for me comes after. The joy is in the accomplishment of learning something new.
2.
oreneta | March 15, 2008 at 9:57 am
Hi there, I have just recently found your blog and I like it a lot…a certain amount of learning has to be learned…multiplication tables come to mind…but overall a constant push to do a little more every day and every class…yes, I agree with you, that could get to be rather a lot, and not so much fun…I do think that instilling and inspiring a joy of learning is very important…I take it that you are working in the elementary level and so keeping it inspiring and interesting seems like a good goal…
Interesting topic, I don’t think that it is an either/or situation…it can be a lot of work and still stimulating and fascinating…it is a balancing act though.
3.
Jen | March 15, 2008 at 10:17 am
Yeah, I think it can go overboard — though better overboard on effort than on false-sounding praise. Having a way to go back and look at progress can help, too, in getting to the fun/feeling of accomplishment part.
My pet peeve is comparing going to school to being a kid’s job. If the parent saying that has a great job he or she loves to do, that’s one thing. The kid sees hard work combined with satisfaction and general happiness. However, in my (urban) district I really wonder about this. If you work crappy hours and make a small amount of money in a less than pleasant job, telling your kids school is like that is perhaps counterproductive, eh? It’s like the teacher I know of who took away recess for punishment and made them do social studies instead. Way to ruin the learning!
4.
Liza Lee Miller | March 15, 2008 at 10:56 am
I think it’s meant to be both! And, I also think that students need to be treated as individuals. I’ve got some students that need to find the joy in accomplishment and I have others who need to discover that by working hard at something, they will do better. But hard work that pays off must be tied with joy and pleasure in the accomplishment or that effort just won’t be sustained.
5.
eyeingtenure | March 15, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Supportiveness gets taken to too far of an extreme, though, and too often the teacher neglects to reinforce the good parts of the learning.
6.
drpezz | March 16, 2008 at 12:29 am
I find the processes used and the repetition required for learning can be the tedious portions, but the exploration and the sense of accomplishment are the fun parts. I’ve never found any aspect of learning or working 100% joyful, but knowing that is part of the battle.
7.
beyond bluestockings | March 16, 2008 at 4:06 am
Viewing education as training for life, I believe there are aspects that will be interesting, and certainly contain joyful discoveries, and there are other aspects that will be mundane and hard work. All facets of your life, whether it is a thrilling career, home duties, sport/adventures, hobbies, or relationships, will have both elements.
It’s a fine lesson that teaches that anything worth doing is worth working hard for. Sometimes the enjoyment is in the process, sometimes it’s in the end result.
Having said that, nurturing a love of learning is a gift that educators and parents bestow upon the young. Your enthusiasm for your subject, and general care for your students as people, will go a long way toward such a goal, regardless of your methodology.
Who can’t remember a teacher at school that made a subject come alive, and school worth attending? Generally it was a teacher who sincerely was interested in the welfare of the students, and gave time to each while commanding respect in return, and exhibited a passion for the subject being taught.
I take my hat off to you for aiming high for your class. One day they will thank you for it!
8.
Core | March 17, 2008 at 12:14 am
Mortimer J. Adler: “Every invitation to learning can promise pleasure only as the result of pain.”
Aristotle: “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
So I think it’s a little of both. But to say learning is all fun and joy and no hard work…is a lie.
And kids smell lies a thousand miles away.
9.
Carnival of Education #16&hellip | March 19, 2008 at 1:08 am
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