Learning Journeys
January 24, 2011The graduate course I teach is generally comprised primarily of teachers. Yet I sometimes observe students that I am sure could have gotten a great deal more out the class had they challenged themselves.
If the destination in education is more important than the journey, then the choice to exert the minimum effort necessary for a grade would be logical. But when I teach teachers, I expect better of them. I expect that they, like me, believe that learning derives its value from the journey rather than the destination.
Learning never ends. It has no final destination. It lasts as long as life lasts. My goal as I teach is that by the end of class, all class participants—including myself—will value the journey of learning more and the degrees and grades that others use to measure that learning less.
