Do it with PASSION

Project-based learning has been a recurring topic in many of my education courses over the last couple years. I love the idea of students learning while doing a major project, instead of traditionally being taught knowledge and regurgitating it for a test or assignment.

Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear

I am constantly looking for inspiration on different ways I can apply project-based learning in my future classroom. For example, last year I came across a picture book called Julia, Child written by Kyo Maclear. This is a fictional story about a little girl who noticed that the world was filled with so many busy grown-ups “who did not know how to have a marvelous time” (Maclear, 2014). Little Julia spent her days creating recipes that would help grown-ups grow young and remember how to have fun again. I loved the message in the story and started brainstorming how I could integrate it into a unit about healthy eating. I would let my class open a “restaurant” in the classroom and all parents would be invited to a meal. This would be such a fun project for students to work on, because there are so many components involved. They could name the restaurant, make a sign, design a menu, learn napkin origami and so much more.

While this is a fun project that I hope to use one day, I realize that it may be inspired by my own personal passion for cooking. I realized this in lecture a couple weeks ago when we discussed passion-based learning. This teaching method takes project-based learning one step further because the learning is inspired and driven by the students own interests in order to foster high engagement and intrinsic motivation. In passion-based learning the teacher acts as a provocateur and models to students how to take personal interests and extend them into meaningful learning experiences. This is a teaching method that requires critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, innovation and perseverance – all 21^st century skills.

Grade 12 Presents: Big Fish - cast photo

After talking about passion-based learning in class I had a conversation with my fellow classmates about passion-based learning and I was the only one who ever experienced this type of learning. In my Gr.12 drama class we were required to put on a play instead of writing an exam. We picked the play, found the script, built the set, designed the costumes, composed the music, choreographed the dances… we did everything. We adapted the movie Big Fish directed by Tim Burton. If you have seen the movie you know there are a lot of characters and scenes that would have been difficult to adapt to a live stage play but by working together we figured out a way to make the full story come to life on stage. We took this course because we were all passionate about theatre, and there was no way we would have been motivated to work as hard as we did if it wasn’t something we really cared about.
          Not only was this my most memorable experience in high school, it was also one of my most significant learning experiences. I want to give my future students the same opportunity I had and allow them the chance to take something they love and turn it into something magnificent. While I have so many passions that I would love to share with my students, such as cooking, I realize that is is more important for them to share their passions with me. One of my top priorities as a teacher is to make sure students are fully engaged in their education, and I think passion-based learning is the best way to accomplish this.