Passionate Teaching to Encourage Passionate Learning by Amanda

Passionate Teaching to Encourage Passionate Learning by Amanda - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

I have periodically throughout my life wondered why learning material I need to know for tests is never as easy as learning the words to a song on the radio. As a musician, and music enthusiast in general, I frequently ask myself why it is I can remember every word and every note to hundreds of songs, even songs I may not have heard in years, and yet it is a struggle to memorize the words from my textbooks or lecture notes. Of course the obvious answer would be that my textbooks and lecture notes are never sung to me to the tune of a catchy beat (although that would be an interesting suggestion on how to teach a class), but the conclusion I came to was that the artists are so passionate about their work that this shines through their music, and I cannot help but to sing along.

I have noticed time and time again throughout my relatively short, however informative, college career that lectures are much less painful to sit through and notes less tedious to study when I have teachers who are clearly passionate about their subject matter. For example, as a double major in Political Science and Economics with hopes of pursuing law, I had little interest in “European History: 1500-1800,” especially not when it was my first of four very long classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. However, it was hard not to enjoy my professor’s lectures, filled with hilarious impressions of European kings and queens, offbeat tales about his own adventures in Italy and Greece, and simply oozing with amusement and joy.

You could just tell the man loved his job. Furthermore, he never seemed to have a lesson plan, nor did he write notes on the board or play a PowerPoint slideshow during his lectures. He spoke as if he was telling the most interesting story of all time, and I wrote down the information I deemed important with ease. When it came time to study for tests and quizzes, I had no problem curling up in my dorm room with my Merriman textbook, reading the official version of what my professor had discussed in class, and chuckling at parts when I recalled his version. I found this to be far more enjoyable than listening to my microeconomics professor lecture about derivatives with a harsh demeanor and severe lack of enthusiasm. I realized that having passion for the subject being taught, while probably will prove to be more important down the road as I prepare for a career, is not necessarily as important as just having a passion for learning. It was that passion for learning that my European history professor had instilled in me.

The best way to excel at teaching, learning, or working is to immerse yourself in whatever you are doing, to be passionate about your material or your objective. My advice to a teacher on how to help students, including myself, learn is to be passionate, to love their work and to have fun. If a teacher is passionate about what they are teaching, this enthusiasm and fervor, like the catchy beat of the newest single on the iTunes Top 100 or the melodic tune of a classic Billy Joel song, will inspire that same passion in students.