Lost

A group of secondary school pupils is taking part in a programme designed to explore the diversity of learning styles. All of them are struggling academically. The programme aims to help them understand how their minds work and to identify the learning methods that suit them best at this stage of their lives. The interactions during these sessions are enriching and sometimes challenging, both for the participants and for me as the programme leader.

There are, of course, the usual factors that contribute to difficulties: attention, understanding instructions, making logical connections, setting priorities, and so on. But above all, there is a profound lack of understanding.

A lack of understanding that lies at the very heart of all learning: why am I going to class? Why do I have to take this course? Why do I have to learn this lesson?

When asked about the purpose of learning different subjects, the most common response is that it’s pointless. “It’s no use. I will never use this in my life. ” As if their lives were already mapped out and calling them elsewhere. As if they were waiting to be set free to live “the real life”. But also, as if they were doomed to a passive role.

So they drift from lesson to lesson, skimming the surface of the subject matter. Finding no practical purpose in their learning, they do not engage. At a time when we are questioning the needs of this or that type of learner, when we are ‘gamifying’ lessons, the question of the meaning of learning proves essential.

When learning comes to mean living, and when a vital meaning is given to learning beyond mere existence, these students will awaken.