It hasn’t been easy, but over the course of these first few weeks at BCIS I have been spending as much time as I can getting into classrooms and talking with students. Part of that is simply because I am new and trying to learn as much as I can about the school, but I also really enjoy it. There is something about being around students who are genuinely engaged in learning that reminds me why I got into education in the first place.
Earlier today, I stopped by an HL Math class. Students were working together on some pretty complicated equations, certainly more complicated than anything I was prepared to jump in and help with. What caught my attention, though, wasn’t really the math. It was the students. They were leaning into the work together, comparing answers, talking through their thinking, and getting genuinely excited when they figured something out. There were smiles and laughter, and a real sense of accomplishment when they got an answer right.
I had a similar version of that experience in a conversation with a student about her Chinese Language and Literature class. I asked what she was reading, and she immediately started telling me about the book and why she liked it. She was so enthusiastic about it that she wanted me to read it too. Given that reading a novel in Chinese is probably a little outside my current skill set, she suggested that I could at least watch the movie. That seemed like a much more reasonable goal.
And then there have been the one-on-one meetings with students in my office. One student talked excitedly about robotics and the things he wants to explore and build. Another wanted to talk about philosophy and ways he could share his love of the subject with other students in the school. What I loved about those conversations was that neither student was talking about something because he had to. They were just genuinely curious. They wanted to learn more.
I keep thinking about these moments because one of the phrases in the BCIS mission that really resonated with me when I first learned about the school was “challenging and joyful learning.” I love the idea of putting those two words together.
Sometimes I think we unintentionally separate them. Challenging learning is supposed to be serious and difficult. Joyful learning is supposed to be fun. But what I have been seeing these first few weeks is that they aren’t opposites at all.
Those students in the math class weren’t excited despite the equations being difficult. They were excited because they were figuring them out. The student telling me about her book wasn’t enthusiastic because her class lacked academic challenge. She was enthusiastic because something she was reading had captured her imagination. The students talking with me about robotics and philosophy weren’t trying to avoid difficult questions. The difficult questions were exactly what interested them.
I think there is an important reminder in that for all of us who work with young people. Our job isn’t to make learning easier so students will enjoy it. It is to create the conditions where students feel supported enough to take on something difficult, curious enough to stick with it, and confident enough to experience the satisfaction that comes when they begin to figure it out.
That kind of learning can absolutely be challenging. And, as I have been reminded quite a few times during my first few weeks at BCIS, it can also be a whole lot of fun.
Garrenteed Learning 