If you have ever heard phrases like “You must be looking forward to the holidays, right?”, “I know this is a bit boring, but we have to learn it,” or “Hang in there, it’s already Thursday!”, you have probably realized that the person saying them is trying to make us believe that going to school and learning is not fun or exciting.
Far from the truth! Learning is an exciting task in every sense. Did you know that amazing things are constantly happening in our brains when we are learning something new and challenging? Furthermore, when we manage to understand something difficult, the satisfaction we feel is almost indescribable; I imagine it to be as wonderful as watching a fireworks display.
But what happens when we transmit the opposite idea? What if we say that learning is boring, or if we associate it with something that must be done but not something we want to do? Well, as you might be thinking, what happens is that we believe it, and we start wishing for classes to end so we can go “have fun.” Many end up quitting their studies because they come to feel that it is not a motivating task for them.
However, we can counter this false notion with life experiences, stories from people close to us, and also from scientists who have contributed to saving and improving our lives. Many people have experienced that fun and learning go hand in hand and cannot be conceived as opposites. One of these people is Katalin Karikó, who explains it this way in her book Breaking Through:
“And of all the early lessons that prepared me to be a scientist, I believe this is the most important of all: that work and play can merge, become one and the same, until the very idea of their distinction seems meaningless.”
The false idea that learning is boring is often present in society, but it is even more prominent in vulnerable and socially excluded environments, where it negatively impacts people’s lives. For students who experience adverse situations in their childhood, it becomes even more urgent that schools offer a cognitively stimulating environment, one that includes challenges and high-level learning to counteract the gaps they may have in their contexts. This must go hand in hand with a desire to learn, with the idea that learning is the most exciting activity that can be offered to a child. If adults do not recognize this and believe that we should offer “easier learning and more playtime” disconnected from learning itself, we will be contributing to their developmental setbacks, condemning many students to academic failure.
Returning to the example of Katalin Karikó, her childhood was not easy. She lived through a period of war, extreme poverty, and disease, and experienced a global pandemic. Her school was far from her home, and she had to walk for hours… But she had teachers who never lowered their expectations, she was able to join a chemistry club (because it existed at her school), and they never believed that because her life was tough, the “difficulties” should be reduced. In this environment, she learned that learning is fun and that no one is inherently a good or bad student; it depends on what effort is put into the work.
“And it turns out that the brain is malleable. What we practice, we strengthen. I practiced being an excellent student; it was an active practice. Like an athlete, I improved.”
Instilling a passion for learning in students from a young age can be the best gift. This is especially important when they are going through challenging situations in their lives, as Karikó reflects in her book. While we cannot change some circumstances, we can choose to desire to learn more and work hard to improve our own lives and the lives of others.
“When we face setbacks or failures, we should not blame others; assigning blame keeps us focused on things over which we have no control. Instead, we can respond to misfortune by learning more, working harder, and being more creative.”
Article translated from Periódico Educación
PhD in Education - Adjunct Professor at the University of Valencia.
For 23 years, she was a teacher of therapeutic pedagogy and primary education, and for 8 years, the director of CEIP L'Escolaica.