How do we Spark Interest as Educators?

As a future educator, the topic of interest relating to motivation in learning has always been extremely interesting (pun intended) and intriguing to me. Getting the chance to present this learning key during week 3 was very beneficial for me to have the chance to delve deeper into this topic. 

How do we, as educators, spark interest in our students and eventually have them reach the goal of interest in lifelong learning? Interest isn't something us future teachers can simply "give" students. We can, however, invite curiosity and support those thoughts, helping them become more engaged in the topic, and eventually in more topics along the way. 

I really like the phrase "spark it, support it, let it grow" as a simple but effective statement for motivation in learning. "Spark it": Initially grab students' interest in an engaging manner. "Support it": After the initial flicker of interest occurs, we encourage it and provide opportunities to allow it to be examined further. "Let it grow": We allow students to take ownership of their interest and thus their learning.

I do not have extensive experience regarding teaching in a formal manner (yet!). I do, however, have experience working as an educator at Reptilia Zoo. This position was actually my turning point for becoming a future educator. I was responsible for teaching the kids about animal behaviour, wildlife conservation, and basic scientific concepts. Some of the kids were excited to be "on a field trip" and out of their usual classroom; others, not so much, as they had little to no interest in reptiles. In hopes of initially sparking their interest, I would bring out live reptiles and allow the kids to physically touch them while I was teaching my lesson. They were interested and thus began asking (and answering) questions about the animals or about other scientific concepts. Many of the kids had expressed disinterest in science but after being able to touch and interact with the lesson, they became engaged and were excited to learn about some of the concepts I was teaching them. Great! We could check off situational interest as occurring in this scenario. But how could we move into individual and general interest, and eventually lifelong learning?

Individual interest deepens that temporary spark of curiosity. These are specific to each individual. The initial interest becomes a personal preference while the student realizes they are interested in the topic at hand. General interest means that as the interest grows, there is the idea that anything can be interesting, not just your individual interests. This belief gradually extends to areas that may be dissimilar to individual interests as their curiosity generalizes. Finally, for lifelong learning, the student no longer needs a classroom to learn as they realize that they enjoy learning as a whole. It is like reaching critical mass; enough reaction has occurred that it sets forward a chain reaction that will continue. 

As future educators, we need to become comfortable with the idea that this learning is progressive and gradual, and to continue to build momentum toward interest in our students. Eventually, it will not be as dependent on us as teachers, but rather driven by the student as this momentum builds. I want my students to feel that my classroom is a safe space to actively participate, sharing their own thoughts and feelings about a topic, rather than passively gain information.

"Spark it, support it, let it grow!"

EmmaS@OTU