Photo CC: Neil Conway
“What will I learn? What will I solve? What will I create (Couros, 2015)?” Three very essential questions asked by George Couros for passion-based learning in his article, 3 Questions to Drive Passion Based Learning. What is passion-based learning and what does it have to do with school education? Passion is that thing that keeps the world up to date, it is the thing that can keep students so into a lesson that they will still be thinking about it days later. When students find something that they are passionate about, it makes it easier to teach them. As a future teacher, I have already realized that it won’t be easy to find what drives my students to be passionate about something that I teach, but that doesn’t mean that I will not try!
One of my favorite definitions of passion comes from an article titled Passion-Based Learning written by Ainissa Ramirez. “Passion is hot. It is a force that sells movies and margarine and everything in between. It is a force the can move mountains, inspire art and make the weak strong. We need to bring passion back into learning, in teaching and all around. Passion motivates. It makes a way out of no way. It allows students to overcome hardships to achieve a goal that is meaningful to them (Ramirez, 2013).”
It’s what drives students. Well, it’s what drives most students. Some students haven’t had the chance to find what drives them; they honestly don’t know what they are passionate about. That’s what I’m going to be there for, finding that passion and giving them the opportunity to grow as students and explore. To think what would happen if students were able to ask those three questions. What will I learn? What will I solve? What will I create? The places that they would get the chance to go would be endless and the ability to grow would be of great value. Yet, we are expected to teach students from the standards that will appear on state tests. Are students in today’s schools great learners, or are they just learning stuff. It’s my job to make sure that my students are actual learners, not just learning stuff. A school is not just about learning, it’s about making connections and growing but you can’t do all of that without being a learner. A learner is someone who explores creativity in and out of the classroom, it can happen anywhere and anytime, it’s finding that passion that drives a student to come to class and see what else they can find out.
Let’s make students learners through passion-based learning and not simply have them learning stuff. It’s time to change the education field and take a second look at what really matters: The students.
I’m here and I absolutely can’t wait to be The Next Teacher.
The Next Teacher 
Mikaela, I chose the same article as you! I thought it was a great resource to explore passion based learning more. I loved the quote about how passion based learning allows students to create their own course and find their own destination. I think that really sums up passion based learning so well. I also liked how you mentioned the quote about passion is what motivates students. It is amazing to see a student who is engaged and passionate about what they are learning and how much more motivated they are to learn. Do you have in other tips to motivate students?
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My main tip for motivating student to learn is to make sure that students are having fun while doing it. Don’t make learning boring because once they get into their mind that all learning is boring, then you’ve pretty much lost them. Keep them engaged into what you are teaching. That’s really just my mind set on for motivation!
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Thats my mindset too Mikaela! I think that is the mindset of most of us in this new generation of teachers!
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Great post. I really liked the quote that you included. I agree that many students don’t know what they are passionate about. Many adults don’t have the answer to this either. I think what we are passionate about changes and that is a good thing.
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