Passion for learning LO9098

Walter Derzko (wd@itrc.on.ca)
Wed, 14 Aug 1996 01:41:05 -0400

As I'm marking final exams for a college course that I teach, I couldn't
help reflect on the students who felt a genuine interest for the material
and others who were just going through the motions.

Can one create a passion for learning ?

or in other words: What circumstances can be created to foster learning ?

Two examples come to mind. The lay expert and the environmental activist.

Most of the public is quite ignorant about the details of medicine.
However, I have yet to see a patient, who does not become a lay expert
almost overnight, once they are diagnosed with some form of cancer. They
become sponges of knowledge in that sub-field of cancer and often know
more about the latest treatments, then even their general physicians.

In this case it may be driven by despiration to find a cure. However a
motivation is still there. So my question to the list is: What positive
circumstances can be created to foster a passion for learning ? Or maybe
it's a matter of pushing the right emotional buttons.

Environmental activists can also be considered lay experts in their
fields...of course a number of activists have many years of formal
education and advanced degrees but often it's just a matter of ferocious
reading and very little formal education.

What strategies can we use to create passions for learning ? How about
some form of mentorships or partnerships ?

Walter Derzko
Founder Creativity Consortium
An international club/network for lateral thinkers
wderzko@epas.utoronto.ca (until May)
wd@itrc.on.ca (after)
(416) 588-1122
http://itrc.on.ca/CreativityConsortium/

-- 

Walter Derzko <wd@itrc.on.ca>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>