Comments on: How children (and everyone else) succeed

By: Philipp Schmidt

Philipp Schmidt — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:26:00 +0000

Finding or fostering a passion for learning is such an interesting problem. Is it a matching challenge, that assumes kids are passionate about specific things and we just have to find the “right” thing to ignite their interest in learning? Or is passion a “habit” that can be modeled by adults, and that depends less on the topic of passion and more on the possibility of getting absorbed in something … anything really.

Do we need meta mentors, or should we showcase passionate butchers, lawyers, or engineers who speak about their work with such fire that one can’t help get inspired?

By: Natalie Rusk

Natalie Rusk — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:46:00 +0000

I’ve been wondering if it would make sense to have “connected learning” mentors (to use the MacArthur Foundation phrase) who would help young people find ways to connect their interests and abilities across more aspects of their lives. Co-explorers/ coaches for trying and persisting with possible areas of interest, finding opportunities for them to create, places and people with whom they can learn.

Some young people already have a parent or someone else who does this for them, noticing what they like to do or catches their interest (I mean in small ways), figuring out what they might like to try, what kind of opportunities are available, and coaching them through the process when they encounter obstacles.

Perhaps “connected learning centers” could provide resources to support this process. They could be small – set up in community centers, libraries, schools, museums, or wherever someone is interested in helping connect more youth to opportunities they might appreciate and helping provide perspective on the process–envisioning “possible selves”, realizing they will encounter obstacles, and anticipating or figuring out possible ways to deal with them (as in the Oettingen research mentioned in How Children Succeed and related work by Oyserman on possible selves ).

But then part of me thinks that having a generalized “connected learning” mentor and space may not be as useful as having specific arts, chess, maker, dance, science, etc. people and places because it’s in the specific community of practice that you actually learn the process and make connections. Well, maybe we need both?

By: Ricarose Roque

Ricarose Roque — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Regarding about the chess club and its members, I think there’s more at work than passion in chess. I believe for some of these kids this might be a rare experience with an adult who passionately cares about what they’re doing — which goes back to the point about relationships. [The "they're in that last sentence is vague. It could be referring to the adult (kids seeing an adult being passionate about something) or the students (students and their activities being cared about by an adult). I think it can be both. Oh English grammer!]

I agree that once you find something you’re passionate about, you’re ready to dive in and forgo lots of things (like sleep, friends, eating – as the chess masters illustrated). However, what if you don’t know what you’re passionate about? Where does one go? How can you support others to find their passions, find others with similar interests to support them, and feel confident about yourself and your future in pursuing it? It’s great that places like the computer clubhouse, scratch, and p2pu exist to encourage people to follow their interests, but what if someone isn’t lucky enough to stumble into places like that? I guess one hope is that college will help you — but I’m not too convinced there. I have lots of friends (including myself) that ended undergrad feeling a bit aimless.

By: Natalie Rusk

Natalie Rusk — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:06:00 +0000

I like how you emphasized:
“It’s not grit itself that the book focuses on, but the structures and environments we have to create to enable kids to develop their sense of grit.”
Hopefully people will not rush out to test kids for grit but rather focus on contributing to those structures and environments, including the supportive relationships within them.

The role of relationships in helping youth learn to problem solve and persist– such as the chess teacher provided– reminded me of David Hawkins’ essay, “I, Thou, It”. How the relationship between teacher and student comes to life when they share a mutual interest and interaction with something in the world.
http://books.google.com/books?id=iiTFxEeCrDIC&pg=PA52

One update: a 2012 APA task force came to the consensus that IQ (test results) can change much more than had previously been thought (though, again, it comes back to improving environments and reducing the effects of poverty, not teaching to the test).