My friend’s son Byron is such an awesome kid. He’s ten years old and taught himself Origami by watching videos on YouTube and documentaries on Netflix. He has gotten so good at it that he has a small business where he sells his creations to a stationary company. He also teaches origami to his dad’s speech team as a way to help them stimulate the use of both hemispheres of the brain.
For me, Byron is perfect example of how genuine passion only needs to be pointed towards helpful resources in order to bloom. He didn’t need to be assigned homework in: geometry, accounting, neuroscience, or Japanese art history. His need to understand these topics came naturally in the pursuit of his passion.
Perhaps the noblest and most frightening thing we can do for our students is to believe that their passions can drive them to learn the skills they need in order to be successful in the world. As single subject teachers, it’s scary to know that our students don’t really need us to learn the facts and skills. They now have 24/7 access to extreme experts, willing to teach them in whatever way works for them (video, pictures, skype, etc.).
What our students do need, is for us to show genuine interest in them finding and maintaining passions in their lives. They need teachers to direct them towards quality resources, and if appropriate, be the resource. Our students have already moved towards a passion driven model of learning…it’s probably about time we joined them.
Do you think that this avenue of following passions for individual children is only now a possibility in this modern digital age? Referring to the fact that Byron needed the youtube videos to push him forwards.
Great article.
Rick
I think that there has always been the possibility for people to follow their passions. Resources like google or YouTube help to even the playing field. Time, money, and space are less of a factor/excuse in gaining skills.