Joy in school?

I wonder . . .

What if we helped students find what brings them joy, then built upon that as a foundation until they had achieved what they wanted to in the ways that they want to.  I suppose we'd lose some of the "well rounded" features of a liberal arts education, but I wonder how we could bring out the best of our students in the ways that they want, instead of the ways we think they need.  I think, at its best, Montessori schools and Paideia schools do this.  At Classical Magnet, we use the Paideia philosophy, which, at its best, finds and develops the strengths and the passions of each student.  We have Socratic dialogue and seminar, which coaches students into their best selves, while encouraging them to think critically about themselves and the world around them.  We have coached projects, which allow our students to showcase their talents in a way that can't be assessed on tests and papers.  Our artists get to create, our musicians to play, our comedians and dancers to entertain.  They develop the skills that they have innately, whether or not those skills are ever measurable on a standardized test.  We do assess them, on rubrics which require them to have good sources and correct citations, but we also assess their creativity, their interest in their subject, and the way they portray their chosen topic.

I believe that testing can help us ascertain whether students have certain skills.  They need pre-assessments to help us edit our instruction to best fit their needs, formative assessments to see how they are progressing, and summative assessments to see whether they actually learned what we intended.  These are all necessary to inform good instruction, help students learn, and make sure they have learned.  However, if all we do is teach them a single subject, instead of letting them engage in their passions and showing us what they care about, we don't see the whole student.  I teach math, but I am happiest when I see my students, at the end of a coached project or Socratic Seminar, talking about what drives them, what they love, and what keeps them moving forward.  I don't teach because I can help students get higher scores on the SAT or my assessments in math, though I can and do accomplish that as well.  I teach because of those aha moments, where students realize the greater connections to their lives.  I teach because the kid who wants to be a rapper will someday not be swindled by their accountant if and when they make it.  I teach because the math skills I possess have helped me to live a better life.  I've gotten better deals at banks and car dealerships, found efficiency in my life, looked at my expenditures through the lens of an actuary, and found underground tanks using an old diagram and the Pythagorean theorem to figure out where to dig.

Anyway . . . that's how math has helped me.  But as to how I became inspired: I did Junior Engineering Team competitions with a math teacher.  I learned how to build 3d models in Cadkey 98 and Autocad, which helped me understand the math I was doing in my calculus class.  I dreamed of building things, designing things, and improving things.  I created a computer program that used mathematics to create fractals.  All of this allowed me to be in flow.  I stopped caring about time because I was so into what I was doing.  I've experienced flow as a musician as well, but never when I was told to do something.  It was always because I chose to.  We have to give our students choices, then support what they choose until they learn what they want to learn.  They need the basics in everything as well, but they need, more importantly, to find what drives them and expound upon that until they have learned to love learning.

I think flow is the expression of joy in what you are doing.  I find it in nature, I find it in music that tingles my spine, and I find it in the beauty of mathematics and computer science.  I also find it in the students I teach learning to love something they are doing.  It doesn't have to be (and usually isn't) math.  They just have to love it, and want to learn more, and be willing to involve me in that process.