The notion of passion-based learning (PBL) has come up in my reading this week. While I very much respect the notion of PBL and the value of student-directed learning, I also respect the notion that program planners have some notions of balance in the matter of education. As dieticians have a good many things to say to the general population concerning a proper diet, I believe librarians and other educators can very much direct students attentions toward education as a broadening and enriching experience that students might not otherwise gravitate towards.
Students need to be able to study subjects they are passionate about, but they need to pursue these along with a balance educational curiosity about many things in the world. Learning need not be directed along a single path of interest. Athletes can be excellent readers, and writers can be excellent field researchers. An intermingling of study pursuits provides for a very healthy integration of perspective that cannot be provided by more singular focus.
I believe that what the real issue is is whether assignments given to students are sufficiently flexible to allow students to find an area of passion to explore within the completion of the assignment. This requires careful attention on the part of educators to provide options for study along with options for the desired products of study. Students can be encouraged to integrate assignments and interests in order to create passion in their efforts; they can also be provided a wide variety (and a wise variety) of suggestions for how they will choose to demonstrate their learning, whether through individual or cooperative work, traditional text or non-traditional media, and so forth. In allowing students to find their passions and apply them to the subjects they are learning, the key is flexibility in the assignment, not in the domain of information studied.
For more information on passion-based learning, see http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/pbl-is-passion-based-learning-show-me-your-passion/
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