Friday, August 12, 2011

LEARNING MUST BE FUN, NOT WORK « Teachers Fight Back

LEARNING MUST BE FUN, NOT WORK « Teachers Fight Back

LEARNING MUST BE FUN, NOT WORK

My son was telling me of an incident in one of his graduate education classes. The professor was emphasising how important it was that all learning be fun. The students were all in agreement and nodded approvingly as the professor spoke. My son raised his hand and asked a question. He wanted to know why it was wrong to expect hard work to be a part of learning. The class and professor looked at him in disbelief.

Yes, our elementary and junior highs are now centers of fun and not work. I have mentioned before how many districts have outlawed rote memorization. Teaching styles that actually depended on the students to provide most of the work are long gone. It’s amazing that our current crop of teachers are so talented as to almost always make learning fun. I tip my hat to them, I know how much planning and work it is for the teachers to make sure their lessons are appealing and fun for the students.

I would suggest we start to rename some of the old and tired terms to meet the new standards of fun in learning.