The Contagious Energy of Learning

One of the most powerful things I've learned in this program is that learning isn't just something that happens to us, it spreads through us. I resonated with Learning Key 7; Love of Learning is Contagious that describes how learning, much like a "benign plague," spreads from person to person when curiosity and enthusiasm are visible. The idea that a teacher's genuine excitement can "infect" students reinforces how I want my own presence in the classroom to be.

I've already seen this idea play out in subtle ways during my observation week. When my AT's tone carried genuine curiosity, asking things like, "I wonder what would happen if…" instead of giving an answer, students started mirroring that same curiosity. Even small moments, like him pausing to celebrate a student's creative approach to a problem, seemed to ripple across the room. That spark of interest became a social currency; it makes learning feel relevant and worth sharing. Seifert and Sutton (2017) explain that students' ways of thinking, whether critical, creative or problem-solving, depend heavily on the environment teachers create. A classroom where questions are encouraged and mistakes are treated as opportunities invites students to take intellectual risks. In other words, curiosity doesn't just exist in students, it's modeled by teachers.

The contagion of learning also connects deeply to motivation. When learners see others engaged, they feel a sense of social and emotional energy that pulls them in (Seifert & Sutton, 2017). It's not unlike Learning Key 4's reminder that "failure is feedback." A teacher's openness about their own learning and willingness to fail makes students feel safe to do the same. This emotional transparency helps establish what I think of as classroom "psychological immunity", an environment where curiosity, effort and resilience can spread instead of fear or disengagement.

As a future teacher, I want my classroom to be one where enthusiasm and discovery pass from one learner to another until everyone feels part of something bigger than themselves. If the love of learning is truly contagious, then every moment of joy and wonder we share can multiply far beyond the walls of a single classroom.

ColeK@OTU