Often times you will hear from children “School is boring,” or “I hate school” or “Why do the teachers just keep teaching us the same thing over and over?” The benefits of interest-based learning is that the teachers have the ability to combine an interest of the child’s with a project, so that learning can be more fun for the student. The above picture is one of Brock’s Academy’s students, Morgan Treat. Morgan was struggling with learning biology, so her tutor came up with a brilliant idea to combine her love of crafts with science. Morgan created a 3-dimentional animal cell out of colorful felt and glue. She labeled all of the cells parts and learned all about the animal cell along the way. She was very proud of herself and had fun while learning.
Research has shown that a student will develop a higher level of mastery of a subject if they are interested and engaged. Students’ affective states contribute to their achievement. To be successful, students must find instruction motivating and meaningful (Caine & Caine, 1991; Schiefele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1995; Tomlinson, 1998).
For an educator, teaching interest-based learning requires a bit more one-on-one and time on the teachers part. The educator has to ask the child the right questions. It requires slowing down and being a careful observer, and taking the time to get to know the child. To encourage the student to be engaged in learning, the teacher should offer the students choices, and relate projects to real life. This will motivate the student and they will be more interested in school. They will look forward to learning rather than dread it. Interest-based learning is nothing new. Parents, educators and kids have all known for a long time that students do better if they are interested and engaged in a topic. Now we just have to encourage schools to practice this form of teaching and our kids will benefit.
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