Human beings are on a quest for discovery. We have been from time immemorial. Not talking ’bout no Indiana Jones stuff here! (Sorry, grammatically incorrect, but double negative used for emphasis.) Just talking about what teachers can do to motivate their students to Love to Learn. To me learning things that were new to me was always rewarding.
I am talking about finding this morning’s sun glinting of freshly fallen crystals of snow; of the intricate patterns made by the squirrel tracks on snow-covered ground; of the shape and colour of the dead tree across the road…. You get it? And all I was doing was taking our dog Pyper out for her morning constitutional.
Somewhere earlier today I found the following:
William Blake wrote in his searing defense of the imagination that “the tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way, [for] as a man is, so he sees,”
“…as a man is so he sees…” Is Blake here stating what is a direct challenge for teachers, and for all of us? I personally needed to teach myself to see the beauty of that tree. As a human being I can teach others, perhaps by silent example, perhaps by words and actions, to appreciate and understand the quest for knowledge and the beauty inherent in awareness of my environment.
What totally titillates my senses affects yours in a different way. As has been said elsewhere, your mileage may vary. A question of perspective? The result of experience? Or perhaps it is caused by a mind not yet opened up to the beauty, to the quest for knowledge. And, may I suggest, therein lies the secret to the Love of Knowledge. Teachers, you have your work cut out for you. In fact we all must face that challenge in order to make the world a better place. And we can and should begin with ourselves.
Have a Very Happy Valentine’s Day.
