Wisdom from the Young

As the 1996-1997 academic year ground to a halt, most teacher educators did their faculty duty by attending graduation at their institutions where they listened to the obligatory exhortations to the young to make the world a better place or some other platitude. At Nauset High School in North Eastham, Massachusetts, parents and classmates listened to graduating senior Tim Lovelock give his salutatorian address. In it, he reacted to the responses of John Silbur, chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, to letters he had received from some third graders who wanted learning to be fun. More important for teacher educators, Tim described some of his high school experiences during which he learned a great deal while also having fun. His text follows: Several weeks ago, while trying to think of a topic for this speech, I read about the latest exploit by John Silbur, the chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, or the Education Czar as he is often affectionately called. Several third-grade students from Plymouth wrote a letter to Mr. Silbur, suggesting that Massachusetts could improve education by making it more fun, and included several examples from their own classes. Not only did Silbur read their letter in front of the Board of Education, ridiculing their syntax and logic, but wrote back to the students, proclaiming that life isn't always fun, and therefore education shouldn't be either. Personally, I was shocked when I read this. Not only is it wrong to crush the optimism of these third graders, but he is wrong in thinking that education should not be fun. There is an illusion held by Silbur and certain others that when students are having fun, they are not learning. This would lead me to think then that education should not be fun. Considering that students spend an average of 900 hours in school each year, and a total of 13 years in school, this adds up to almost 12,000 hours during which kids cannot enjoy themselves. In my mind, this is not only ridiculous, but also inhumane. Naturally, not everything in school or in life can be fun, but students can still learn while having fun. The best learning environment is an active learning environment, where students are truly involved in their learning experience. This environment helps students learn through frequent interaction, both with the teacher and fellow students. An active learning environment is also much more enjoyable than sitting all day in a passive lecture taking notes. Fun learning experiences make up an essential part of this active learning environment. At Nauset, I have had several teachers who have successfully involved my classmates and myself in learning, and have found fun ways to help us master concepts. Though I'm sure he will hate me for saying this, I actually had fun in many of Mr. Bakker's classes. This year, we examined several key points in U.S. history using the Choice units. During each class, each student was assigned a particular viewpoint from the time period, such as just before the American Revolution. We then used role-playing to examine the various aspects of each viewpoint, and their respective advantages and disadvantages. This approach was not only fun, but it allowed us to better understand the variety and complexity of the various opinions and options for action that were present at the time. In Mr. Chamberlain's classes, both in Chemistry and Biology, we alternated between lecture and lab. The labs themselves were often fun, allowing us to explore hands-on many of the concepts we had learned. However, the lectures were also highly enjoyable. Mr. Chamberlain successfully combined learning with humor, making the class much more interesting. Also, he frequently asked us to discover the logic behind certain principles, such as the periodic table. I truly appreciated his class because I was able to learn from it, but also because it was an enjoyable experience

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