I remember Santiago, the old fisherman who brought his mangled hand and the half-eaten marlin back ashore. For days and nights, he fought back against that fish even if that meant the fish was to be eaten up by sharks. From the outsiders, he was an up-to-no-good man with nothing to share but what he found was the battle within himself — the ultimate reward a man could have. He fought for it and he brought that game back home. You think to yourself that old man was crazy to bring a fishbone back home.
Yes, he is an extreme learner. A man who is not afraid to sail out to see what’s awaiting him, a man who believes that exploration is an outward sign of inner battles. A man who marches to his own drumbeat, a man who is not afraid to get to a different place than what he had planned.
So are some middle schoolers. They might or might not do well academically or perhaps share little about their school life. Their lens constantly shifts and turns like waves. Some have masked their motivation underneath refusing to share with you for the fear of judgment or being questioned by the adults around them. Their passion isn’t just about taking classes that interest them but actually starting with a driving question using the world as their text, foreseeing possible problems and hurdles and articulating its premises, and designing, presenting, and sharing their multiple solutions with the world.
Beyond the matrices of cognitive and achievement abilities, the teens are wired to innovate, gamify, and create their worlds and share out our ideas to make differences.
Yes, today’s teens have developed social, emotional, and communal identities beyond cognitive and achievement matrices. The disconnect and the sense of inadequacy the parents feel towards this generation have to do with their inability in directing their thinking processes towards something that are productive and purpose driven. These children grew up embracing digitalized realities and in return, they are able to access innovation, creativity, and multiplicity of values.
Come on guys, it’s time to get on the boat and sail on to the deep!
References
https://www.edutopia.org/article/nurturing-intrinsic-motivation-students
Click to access Hemmingway_The%20Old%20Man%20and%20the%20Sea_1952.pdf
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